i need to know what the black box that is located in front of my drivers wheel is called. you can see it if you remove the spash shield under the engine. it has 2 rubber hoses attached to it. my box is melted where the one hose connects. if anyone know what this is called and why it could of melted please let me know so i can get a new one.
AJ, i think that is what it is after looking at the line drawing of it. the bottom side where that hose goes into is melted. and i do have a secondary air code. can you tell me what the heck this thing does and if its hurting the performance of my N*??? also where can i get one besides a dealer??
Ranger is pretty close.
On cold starts the engine needs more fuel and less air to run. This makes for a rich mixture.
Dumping a rich mixture from a cold engine into a cold catalyst will cause the catalyst to go bad.
Pumping fresh air, including O2, into the exhaust stream allows the already burning air fuel mixture to feed O2 to the smoking hot Hydro-Carbons (HC) to allow them to burn.
This can help warm up the catalyst and prevent damage.
It is likely you have a bad check valve that is allowing exhaust gas to flow back to the pump and which has caused it to melt.
You'll need to replace whatever is damaged visibly, then check the system for failures and replace any components that have allowed the check valves to work improperly.
BTW, once the engine reaches operating temperatures or goes into "closed loop" operation the AIR pump is no longer needed so it is shut off.
Green be damned, the A.I.R. pump, cat, and associated plumbing need to be operating or your car won't run worth a hoot. You'll come to realize that every engine control system in these vehicles is tied together into a package. Mess one part up, and extended troubles.
A.I.R. has been around, in one form or another, since the late 60's. It didn't happen yesterday. Secondary A.I.R. has been around for a while, also, but it is only used upon cold cat lightoff.
BTW, if you live in an emissions state, or sell the car, the system must operate properly......
It all boils down to what cars can pass the EPA tests with low enough readings.
If the cars are too high on cold start emissions it is a cheap and easy fix to toss an air pump on it.
Some years are worse than others. Everything had an air pump (just about) in the 80's but with advances in technology they have found ways to eliminate them on a lot of cars.
Some of it depends on the specs too, some CA cars might have AIR pumps while 48 state cars might not.
Catalysts are expensive because of the precious metals. Most AIR systems really aren't that troublesome anymore, of course maybe it is because they don't use them much anymore that I think that...
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