Software options to disable cold air start and secondary air pump

[stevehifi]

Hi Everyone,

I have a CEL related to the secondary air pump failure (27AF -P1411). Failure is probably due to bad valves allowing the pump to be subjected to hot exhaust gases and burning out.
I have the part numbers for the pump, valves and tubes however the labor involved looks complicated and expensive (since access to the valves/pump is difficult). (parts alone are $600-$700)
As an alternative I was thinking of leaving the bad hardware alone and simply disabling the cold start/air pump altogether. I know there are tuners out there (turnermotosports/BPM) that have software to do this but they want $1k since their tuning involves increases in performance, rev limiter adjustment and other options.

Are there other software tuning companies/options out there that can just allow me to disable the cold start/air pump at a lower cost? If anyone knows let me know.

Thanks,

Steve

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by stevehifi

Hi Everyone,

I have a CEL related to the secondary air pump failure (27AF -P1411). Failure is probably due to bad valves allowing the pump to be subjected to hot exhaust gases and burning out.
I have the part numbers for the pump, valves and tubes however the labor involved looks complicated and expensive (since access to the valves/pump is difficult). (parts alone are $600-$700)
As an alternative I was thinking of leaving the bad hardware alone and simply disabling the cold start/air pump altogether. I know there are tuners out there (turnermotosports/BPM) that have software to do this but they want $1k since their tuning involves increases in performance, rev limiter adjustment and other options.

Are there other software tuning companies/options out there that can just allow me to disable the cold start/air pump at a lower cost? If anyone knows let me know.

Thanks,

Steve

If you want a cheaper option you can mail the DME in and just get the cold start removal alone. A few people have done this.

[stevehifi]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

If you want a cheaper option you can mail the DME in and just get the cold start removal alone. A few people have done this.

Thanks.. any idea on how much this would cost? Do you know which tuners have this option?

Also I've read that disabling the cold start may cause premature failure of the cats over time due to the rich unburnt mixture not being warmed up or pre-burned by having the air pump intervene. Is this true?

[SYT_Shadow]

Mike Benvo is a tuner

[deansbimmer]

It will shorten cat lifespan yes. You can get a used air pump for $100 and valves for $40 per side. The labor isn't that bad... And it's diy easy.

I would suggest replacing damaged parts rather than mask their leaks with an electrical modification.

[stevehifi]

The pump is easy removal, but does anyone have a DIY on how to remove the valves?
It looks pretty difficult to access the valves from the top or bottom of the car.

Any help would be appreciated.

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by stevehifi

The pump is easy removal, but does anyone have a DIY on how to remove the valves?
It looks pretty difficult to access the valves from the top or bottom of the car.

Any help would be appreciated.

I have not seen a diy, but it's a simple matter of gaining access to them, which means just taking off the strut brace bars, intake plenum, cabin filter cowls, and using a small 10mm combination wrench and socket to unscrew the two nuts on each valve.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by stevehifi

Thanks.. any idea on how much this would cost? Do you know which tuners have this option?

Also I've read that disabling the cold start may cause premature failure of the cats over time due to the rich unburnt mixture not being warmed up or pre-burned by having the air pump intervene. Is this true?

I don't think so, it's not spitting unburnt fuel into the cats just because this cycle is off. It's just warming up less quickly.

Yes, it's richer on cold start, but this is irrespective of whether the cold start heating cycle is on or not.

We offer this. You can PM/Email/Call as I'm not allowed to discuss pricing here.

Thanks

[Richbot]

Rich mixture + cold cats for longer = fouled faster, the catalyst doesn't self-clean properly when it's cold and the longer it's cold the more likely you're going to foul it; whether it matters is up for debate, probably doesn't matter if the car gets warmed up whenever it's driven so it can't go into a death spiral.