I have been trying to figure out what this is for and if i need it? Thanks for any help.

 

i believe that goes to the smog pump... i could be wrong but i'm pretty sure thast what its for...

 

I think the smog pump is part of the serpentine belt routing.

 

thanks for the information. I am looking in to putting a turbo on the car and think it might be in the way of the down pipe. I would like to remove all of my smog stuff however I need to pass a PA Visual Inspection. I just wish I knew a way around that.

 

When in doubt, follow the tubes and find out where they lead.

 

Yup, that's the air diverter valve. It receives the air from the air pump and sends it to the exhaust manifolds and cat. I think it would be hard to pass a visual without it.

 

i'd get rid of it, and then ask around until you find a friend of a friend of a cousins friend that works at an inspection station that you can give $50 or a case of beer to, to pass the inspection.
or, take your chance. maybe they don't know what to look for.

 

Is your visual inspection done yearly? If so, and you want to get rid of the air diverter, I would leave the air pump intact, just to pump fresh air into the convertor.
That grilled looking thing is just a plastic cap snapped overtop the diverter. Just pop that off and then it is easily accessible.
I am not 100% sure how long your catalytic convertor would last w/o the addition of the air pump, so I wouldn't take my chances.
If you need, I can show you what I am talking about in your pic.

 

This is a relay area where your smog pump is pumping air into it to your exhaust so that at cold starts it heats up your manifold or headers which ever apply and its supposed to get it hot enough to burn off emitions more efficiently and sooner. You can see this mounted on the back side of the mount that holds the actual smog pump which is belt driven by your surpentine belt. It is good to keep it on for the visual inspection for smog at least it is in CA I dont know about every state. It doesnt necessarily have performence implications, rather emitions.

 

Thanks for all this great information. I went to an inspection station today because i needed a need sticker for my car(windshield was just replace) and was talking to the guy. I had a breif conversation with the guy about how they know what the car should have as far as emissions. He gave me the impression that they go by some sticker on the car that shows what type of emissions should be on the car. For example a car that is supposed to have the A.I.R. system would say A.I.R. or maybe some kind of code for it. I am not sure if he was just telling me that or what and I have not got a chance to look at the stickers and plaques on my car yet. Maybe if that is true I will need to make sure mine is still there and does not need replacing . I am going to try searching for information about this. In PA I only have to pass a visual inspection (http://www.drivecleanpa.state.pa.us/), so I would think there would be something marked on the car saying what emission equipment would be on the car because I doubt every garage is expected or would know every cars smog equipment. Any information that could be provided on that would be of great help and I will post my findings.

 

I have found this following site http://people.ucsc.edu/~kbrandt/mustang/smog.shtml It mentions that there is a sticker under the hood with how the codes relate to the smog equipment in it. I wonder if I could just remove the A.I.R. system if my car doesnt happen to say it had one on this sticker. I have not checked my car to make sure there is one yet because it is dark and raining. Anyone know for sure if that is what an inspection station goes by for sure?

 

I went through alot of trouble replacing my stock manifolds for headers that have the A.I.R tubes in the headers. I heard alot of rumors about original equipment and emissions for '78 and up vehicles. I spent alot of time trying to make sure I could upgrade my engine a little and still be legal. After I went through all this, I went and had the car inspected at one of those "shade-tree" gas stations only to find that the rumors only applied to '96 and up. although the smog and A.I.R. systems have there advantages and purposes, I would have loved to have jerked all that mess out and simplified things. From my understanding about the air tubes, if you remove them, you'll need to remove the cat pipe. The A.I.R. valve you pointed out has a dual function. Not only does it heat up the convertor when the engine is cold, it also cools the convertor when the engine is hot. In other words, if you remove the smog pump and air tubes, you'll need to "gut" or remove the cat pipe (or it'll burn up). To make a long story short (too late), inspection stations that are not doing the emission tests with the computer plug-ins and "sniffers" are mainly concerned with the safety checks. No matter how strict the laws get, there's always some that'll slap a sticker on.

 

if you remove the AIR tube on a stock cat it will not burn on.. i know 3 people that has cut the tube off the cat and welded it close. with no problems

 

I did find that sticker on my car. Does anyone know for sure if that is all an inspection station goes by for checking emissions?

 

yes this is appart of visual inspection and they will not pass you if you show up without it. I am in california and as of yet this is the law out here. The sticker is simply the reference for the station to go by. Trust me they have manuals showing them exactly what is it that they have to be looking for so simply taking the sticker off will not make your life any easier!! Also keep in mind that they do not allow breathers only plugs for your valve covers but once again Im in cali and thats how it rolls out here. After visual they do the emissions test to make sure that it doesnt pollute more then their defalt standards which have been appointed to each car by the state. oh yea they test your check engine light too to see if it works just by simply turning the key forward but not turning on the car the check engine light should come on as well as your accessaries and if your check engine light comes on during the test you fail auto maticaly does not matter if there is an actual problem or not its a death kiss!! For me after I rebuilt the motor it comes on every once in a while then it turns off about 30 secs to a minute later. SO when I took it to get smoged I failed it because the light came on not because I failed emitions out put or failed visual soooooo another 50 dollars later I prayed for that light to take a nap and it passed!! Got to love the things they make us do for our fun.

 

yes this is appart of visual inspection and they will not pass you if you show up without it. I am in california and as of yet this is the law out here. The sticker is simply the reference for the station to go by. Trust me they have manuals showing them exactly what is it that they have to be looking for so simply taking the sticker off will not make your life any easier!! Also keep in mind that they do not allow breathers only plugs for your valve covers but once again Im in cali and thats how it rolls out here. After visual they do the emissions test to make sure that it doesnt pollute more then their defalt standards which have been appointed to each car by the state. oh yea they test your check engine light too to see if it works just by simply turning the key forward but not turning on the car the check engine light should come on as well as your accessaries and if your check engine light comes on during the test you fail auto maticaly does not matter if there is an actual problem or not its a death kiss!! For me after I rebuilt the motor it comes on every once in a while then it turns off about 30 secs to a minute later. SO when I took it to get smoged I failed it because the light came on not because I failed emitions out put or failed visual soooooo another 50 dollars later I prayed for that light to take a nap and it passed!! Got to love the things they make us do for our fun.