I cleaned the Secondary Air Injection Ports
10-10-2004, 12:51 AM
#1
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I cleaned the Secondary Air Injection Ports
I just finished cleaning out the air injection ports. It was a lot easier
than I expected. I did deviate from the recommended procedure in one respect, which I think made it easier. I replaced the check valve between the air pump and the camshaft housing. Instead of pulling off the solid pipes that supply the camshaft housings, as some have recommended, I poured Techron in the hole that the check valve came out of. Doing it this way, I didn't have to mess with the power steering pump or any of the plastic parts on the left side of the engine. The only issue was that I had to plug all six ports at once. To do this, I cleaned the exhaust port with a carb cleaner and a small wire brush on the end of a drill and then plugged the holes with used chewing gum. It wasn't
perfect, but it worked well enough to get the job done. After running the
Techron through, I sprayed carb cleaner both from the top and from the
bottom using the little red plastic tube that comes with the carb cleaner.
It was flexible enough that I was able to stick it into each port and spray the
carb cleaner up into the passage way. I then blew compressed air through
from the top and let everything dry out. All of the air ports were open,
though the #3 exhaust port itself had more carbon build up than the others.
The whole job took about 6 hours, which included about an hour of trial and error modifications to a 15/16ths inch wrench with a bench grinder and a torch to fabricate a tool to remove the check valve. One reason it was fairly easy is that I did the work wtih the car on a lift. I imagine it would have taken longer with jack stands. Now that I have the tool to remove the check valve and know what I'm doing, I figure I could do this again in about 4 hours. It gives me a certain peace of mind knowing that I could see that the
ports are completely clear and that the dreaded check engine light isn't
going to come on at any time---not because of clogged secondary air
injection ports anyway.
than I expected. I did deviate from the recommended procedure in one respect, which I think made it easier. I replaced the check valve between the air pump and the camshaft housing. Instead of pulling off the solid pipes that supply the camshaft housings, as some have recommended, I poured Techron in the hole that the check valve came out of. Doing it this way, I didn't have to mess with the power steering pump or any of the plastic parts on the left side of the engine. The only issue was that I had to plug all six ports at once. To do this, I cleaned the exhaust port with a carb cleaner and a small wire brush on the end of a drill and then plugged the holes with used chewing gum. It wasn't
perfect, but it worked well enough to get the job done. After running the
Techron through, I sprayed carb cleaner both from the top and from the
bottom using the little red plastic tube that comes with the carb cleaner.
It was flexible enough that I was able to stick it into each port and spray the
carb cleaner up into the passage way. I then blew compressed air through
from the top and let everything dry out. All of the air ports were open,
though the #3 exhaust port itself had more carbon build up than the others.
The whole job took about 6 hours, which included about an hour of trial and error modifications to a 15/16ths inch wrench with a bench grinder and a torch to fabricate a tool to remove the check valve. One reason it was fairly easy is that I did the work wtih the car on a lift. I imagine it would have taken longer with jack stands. Now that I have the tool to remove the check valve and know what I'm doing, I figure I could do this again in about 4 hours. It gives me a certain peace of mind knowing that I could see that the
ports are completely clear and that the dreaded check engine light isn't
going to come on at any time---not because of clogged secondary air
injection ports anyway.
10-10-2004, 01:19 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
10-10-2004, 03:19 AM
#5
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Amazing! Perhaps a DIY w/ some pictires for those of us that aren't as resourceful as you? 
Congrats on tackling a real sore point with these cars and finding a solution. Did it make any difference as to how it ran after you cleaned it?
Congrats on tackling a real sore point with these cars and finding a solution. Did it make any difference as to how it ran after you cleaned it?
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10-10-2004, 08:45 AM
#8
Nice work Rob.
(1) How many miles are on your car and how often do you anticipate having to do this (preventative maintenance)? I have a 1996 C4S with 21500 miles, should I worry about this yet?
(2) Do you think this procedure could be done after a port(s) is already clogged?
(1) How many miles are on your car and how often do you anticipate having to do this (preventative maintenance)? I have a 1996 C4S with 21500 miles, should I worry about this yet?
(2) Do you think this procedure could be done after a port(s) is already clogged?
10-10-2004, 12:04 PM
#9
Great accomplishment! Guess it's too late for pics but you can't do something that cool without at least writing the "term paper" the rest of us can use. We'll give you extra credit! 
10-10-2004, 12:22 PM
#10
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Thread Starter
The car has 40,000 miles on it. Joel Reiser on the PCA website recommends doing this every 15,000 miles. For me that would be every two to two and a half years, so that's probably what I will do. I will probably replace the check valve every other time, so every 30,000 miles. I think 15,000 miles on the check valve would be overkill.
Kurt:
Regarding your mileage, I don't know if this is something to worry about yet. I'm not an expert, just a man with a lift who needed some to justify the expense to my wife. You might want to start a thread and ask at what mileage other had the check engine light come on. I would be curious to know that. With your car, I personally would wait until at least 30,000 miles. I suppose it's like chicken soup: it may not help, but it sure won't hurt. Yes, I do think this could be done after the ports are clogged, however, I think it would be much more difficult to clean the ports if they are totally clogged. It would also depend on exactly where in the passageway the clog was. If it was right where the port open into the exhaust, then it would be fairly easy as you can get a piece of wire in there and physically remove the clog. Also, I have read about some shops letting the solvent soak in there overnight to help dissolve the carbon. I suspect that would be necessary if the ports were completely clogged.
Regarding the DIY write up: I am better with cars than computers. If I write it up and post it here, can someone post it on Robin's P-car site? I'll write it up if someone will run with it from there. Any takers?
Kurt:
Regarding your mileage, I don't know if this is something to worry about yet. I'm not an expert, just a man with a lift who needed some to justify the expense to my wife. You might want to start a thread and ask at what mileage other had the check engine light come on. I would be curious to know that. With your car, I personally would wait until at least 30,000 miles. I suppose it's like chicken soup: it may not help, but it sure won't hurt. Yes, I do think this could be done after the ports are clogged, however, I think it would be much more difficult to clean the ports if they are totally clogged. It would also depend on exactly where in the passageway the clog was. If it was right where the port open into the exhaust, then it would be fairly easy as you can get a piece of wire in there and physically remove the clog. Also, I have read about some shops letting the solvent soak in there overnight to help dissolve the carbon. I suspect that would be necessary if the ports were completely clogged.
Regarding the DIY write up: I am better with cars than computers. If I write it up and post it here, can someone post it on Robin's P-car site? I'll write it up if someone will run with it from there. Any takers?
10-10-2004, 01:58 PM
#11
Check out this web site ( www.systemsc.com/pictures.htm ) for pictures and insights
into the SAI problems.
into the SAI problems.
10-10-2004, 05:32 PM
#12
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My guess is that new tool you created will be passed around the country a few times, you may want to start a waiting list, where when one guy is finished he just mails it on the the next guy in line.
BTW, I have no idea what you did but I will direct my tech to your DIY if/when I get the maybe-not-so- dreaded-anymore CEL.
BTW, I have no idea what you did but I will direct my tech to your DIY if/when I get the maybe-not-so- dreaded-anymore CEL.
10-10-2004, 07:21 PM
#14
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Thread Starter
Ok,Ok I can't handle the peer pressure. I wrote up the DIY. It has several pages of text and 19 pictures. Is it ok to post it here on Rennlist or should it go somewhere else? I don't think the special tool is going to live up to the hype. It's just an old wrench I attacked with a grinder and bent in a couple of spots. You'll see in the pictures. It's nothing special, but it gets the job done, and I guess that's the point.