on my journey to remove my manifold today, i noticed that the wire on the side(pointed up in the picture) was unplugged, and just dangling. Its connected to the air pump, i dont know the name of it. Air pump controller? Anyway is it supposed to be plugged in if so where..thanks, the other plugs was plugged in.

 

ACV or air control valve as shown the FSM. The solenoid and elect plug are the SPLIT AIR SOLENOID and it opens only when fifth gear is engaged ..........and frankly does little to nothing in life imho.

The true control of the ACV is thru the two vacuum lines above the ACV that are in turn connected to the relief and switching solenoids on the other side of the engine.

IF this is a series four non turbo,then there should be another solenoid and pigtail harness on the fwd side of that ACV. That one is called the Port Air solenoid.........which does little to zippity imho. Adds a slight additional amout of air to the exhaust ports during certain conditions that I care not to explain.

OH, the split air solenoids pigtail harness plugs in close to the back of the water thermostat;. Not on the engine but on the EM harness that runs aft of the waterpump/alternator area.

 

alright thanks.. ive been trying to understand and read how the pump setup works. The search function isnt helping any. Any good links that i can read so i can understand this air pump setup better. i know the airpump is emissions stuff, ive read about people removing it. And it is a NA s4..

 

With a working cat, you could pass emissions without the airpump.

The air injection in an fc is mostly to help the 5th and 6th ports function.

 

Air injection has zippity do dah to do with a series four aux actuators working. Zip.

 

Oops.

My mistake. I got mixed up.

 

so whats the gains of removing the air pump system? I see alot of people have done it, but i havent seen an explanation about why! What about the air pipe when i upgrade to an aftermarket exhaust?

 

You're thinking of the series 5 non turbo, which uses the air pump to open the 5th and 6th ports.

Well theres friction in rotating the air pump obviously, although not a lot. But by removing the air pump, the engine doesn't have to turn the pump anymore, thereby freeing up a little horsepower. I'll be surprised if you notice it, but feel free to. When you think about it, it should give better backfires with a catless exhaust though And its good for the environment to burn up all that fuel in the exhaust system before it enters the atmosphere.

When you upgrade to an aftermarket exhaust, I assume you mean something about the headers, a high flow catalytic converter, or a presilencer to delete the catalytic converters altogether. All the name brand headers for FCs don't have anything to do with the air pump so you're ok on that. Its typically the catalytic converters and presilencers that will offer the option of deleting the little pipe that connects to the airpump or not, and at that point with a series 4 non-turbo, its really your choice. If you have smog laws in your state, I highly recommend not deleting the air pump.

 

alright that helps thanks!

so they sell specific cats that have the connection for the air pipe? i have smog, and i need to be able to pass when its time. ive payed too much money in the past to get my car passed..lol

If i was gonna do a RB header, and get the rest done at a exhaust shop, i should keep the air pipe connected to help keep the smog in compliance?

 

I'm not sure how Georgia smog laws work but in California, having that header will make you instantly fail the smog test. Just remember to keep everything you take off just in case, especially the stock cats. If you ever want to sell those stock cats, PM me and I'll buy them off you.

And beware that the Racing Beat headers do not bolt up to the stock cats. Bonez makes a catalytic converter that bolts to the Racing Beat header and stock location catback so you wouldn't even need to take it to an exhaust shop, but from the picture, it looks like theres only one catalytic converter. I have Corksport headers that do bolt to the stock 2 main catalytic converters but delete the precat, but I have two high flow cats that are larger than the two main stock ones and I had to have an exhaust shop modify the piping in order for them to fit because they were so large. Also, I don't know about other brand catalytic converters, but mine burnt out within 4 years and it took me a few tries to pass smog last time because of just this. Point of that story - keep your stock cats wrapped up in a plastic bag in your backyard for when its time to smog your car.

Here is the Bonez / RB header combo I talked about. I do not know if any other website offers it so look around on RB's site and Mazdatrix's site too.
http://rx7.com/store/rx7/fcexhaust.html

 

thanks for that info..that link is exactly what i was looking for!

GA smog laws arent as strict as cali... they just do a visual for the cat, and a sniff test. i didnt plan on removing the air system off the car until i understand this thing a little better.. but im learning. thanks for the info guys.