Has anyone ever tried to rebuild or repair the electric air pump? When I start my car, sometimes I can hear a whining sound coming from it. Sorta like a plastic against plastic sound. It stops after a few seconds. I'm thinking loose bearing. But before I tore into it, break it, and have to buy a new one....I thought I check with y'all first.

 

The pump only runs for a short while, when the cats are warm enough it shuts off. Your description is kinda vague on the time the pump makes a noise.

 

member grantb in UK posted this yesterday :
in thread www.crossfireforum.org/forum/.../60482-screeching-noise-engine.html

post # 1

you might PM him and see what all he did

 

Yes I repaired mine. It is difficult to take apart. You must pry the motor out of the plastic housing. My brush holders where melted probably due to a stuck relay in the RCM. Pay attention to the rotor direction. If you are not getting the p0410 code then you should leave it alone. Your pump should only run during cold start and once after your car is warmed up and comes to a stop like at a traffic light.good luck.

 

If someone says it's the air pump I take them at their word. Easy way to prove it is to take out a fuse or disconnect it.

 

Not getting in OBD code and yes, only when it's cold, eg, first start in the morning. It is definitely the air (smog) pump. I guess I'll just leave it alone for now, though I hate the thought of this $700 piece of plastic melting itself because I didn't "nip it in the bud."

 

As I said above why not take out the fuse or disconnect it?
Would that be too hard to do?
You will only have yourself to blame if it gets ruined and the car will run just fine without it. It would fail the pollution test here though, but worry about that later.

 

I guess I'm one of those who believes that the engineers designed every part/component for a reason. I don't have to worry about meeting any pollution tests here in 'bama. I didn't ask for a way to disable it, only if someone had experience rebuilding/repairing it. And rest assured, if it burns up, I won't blame you!

 

Why let something get ruined when it could be saved by pulling a connector off?
When your state gets with the program you'll be sorry if it is busted.

 

This would be a useful DIY as there is a good chance this pump will fail for many of us.

I had one fail at 17,000 miles on a SLK32 (same part number I would assume). And I have one on another of my SLK32s (that makes similar noises to the ones rfourt describes) that has me concerned (starting making noise about 15,000 miles ago at 95,000 miles).

For some, this will create an issue when it comes time to smog the car as a failed pump (and/or associated system) will make it impossible to get a "secondary air system readiness monitor" set. Depending on your state and other factors (some states allow you to pass smog with one "un-set" readiness monitor) this may make your car un-smogable.

Tunaglove, if you have any pictures or more details about your repair that you care to share, I would be glad to see that here. Your speculation about the possibility of premature failure of the pump being caused by excessive pump-running /activity (due to faulty drive circuit) makes sense and would suggest that ALL owners should check for this BEFORE their pump wears out. These pumps are expensive ($500 - $700+ IIRC).

When this seemed higher on my list of projects, I briefly looked for some DIY info (my 17,000 mile pump seemed like as good a candidate as any). I don't recall finding much ...

but, I just looked again and found this
*DIY: Cheap (but not easy) Secondary Air Injection Pump Fix* - MBWorld.org Forums
Chris (tuna) is this consistent with your experience relative to this pump rebuild?

I plan on fixing mine to have a spare on the shelf ... so I will be watching this thread.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Awesome find 21! Yes this is exactly what I went through. In my case the off-white brush holders pictured in post 2 where melted. I repaired them best I could using JB Weld. Surprisingly, my repair has lasted 2 years now but it was far too ugly to post on this sight.

 

form follows function ... where there is function, there is beauty.

Having little regard for JB weld ... I share your surprise ... : ) JK ... nice work

Cheers,
Chris

 

X2 on the DIY find. This was what I was looking for. Thanks SO MUCH!
-Robert

 

Here is another link I just came across.

Helpful Secondary air pump tip - MBWorld.org Forums

this thread is particularly cool in that has a link in the first post to a rebulder (who markets his service thru EBAY) that charges ONLY $95 to rebuild these

Mercedes Benz Secondary Air Pump Repair R230 W220 W215 W211 W219 W203 AMG | eBay

Cheers,
Chris

 

hmmm.....the apcidn liinks dont work for me.....

this is of interest 2 me since when I bought the car. the dealer replaced the relay and the pump on warrantym gave me the left overs - so I have a spare of each....

 

Cant tell which link is giving u trouble, but u can find the last two in the c32 sub-forum at mbworld.... search "secondary air"

Chris