Hi guys,

So on start up my 7 sounds like crap it squeals like a pig until its up to operating temp!

Originally thought it was the tens pulley bearing. So being cheap I replaced it, of course the piggy continued!!

Did a bit of research and found this vid....


Guess the clutch is gone/seized in the pump, so it's time to take it out. I've heard of people simply blocking it off, but after looking through different forums I can't find a guide on how to do it. Can anyone help?

Is it just a case of capping it off with plugs and using with cable ties/jubilee clips?on the inlet/outlet tube.

The only thing it does is pump air in the exhaust under 3.800 rpm's to help burn unburnt pollutants and I live where there is no rotary pollutant issue! So wont be replacing it and a result!!

However I will need a new pulley kit right?, an Air Pump delete pulley kit?cost??
Rather then just getting a shorter belt!!

If I over tighten the stock pulleys to compensate for the removed pulley, It will put excessive pressure on the bearings and then its bye bye to them also!

Also should I expect flash codes from the air control valve after removal??

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Also should note belts are tight and air cons removed.

 

You need an air pump delete pulley kit, new belt and some block off plates for the LIM. I have the block off plates in my FS thread if you need them.

 

Yes you'll need the blockoff plates, caps for the intake box (if you still have the stock one) and a new pulley kit.

GReddy makes a pulley kit for this. They pop up in the FS section from time to time.

 

You can use pulley kits like the Greddy, but you get very small belt contact on the water pump and it's VERY hard to find belts. Proper way to do it is to get the Pineapple Racing idler pulley, gives full belt contact and you can easily get belts for it.

Dale

 

I know banzai has the belts for ~$20, I think rx7store has them as well.

 

Pulley kits and belts. Pulleys & Belts (93+ RX-7)

 

IIRC, removing the AP on the stock ECU may result in some issues. I think experiences range from no effect at all to poor idle quality and some hesitation. I guess with a bad pump if you haven't had any of those yet, you probably won't.
If you go that route, I recommend an idler pulley as well. There are a couple other choices in addition to Pineapple's but you may have to google search.
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...nstall-823595/

 

His water pump is dying. If you look carefully you can see the water pump pulley STOP SPINNING at the same time the belt starts squealing.

Why guess? Take the belts off and spin everything by hand and see what feels "crunchy"

 

Sgtblue is correct.
The air pump forces some air into the exhaust manifold before the O2 sensor. This leans it out to stoic so that the O2 FB system can control fuel and AFR. Removing it upsets the balance and messes up the idle. Before the PFC, back in the Pettitt and other reprogrammed ECU days, this was a problem.

With the PFC or other ecus, the O2 FB system can be turned off and then you retune and idle and low cruise area of the fuel map.

A similar problem happens with the PFC with a working air pump. If you do a recalc base, the injector correction map has its values modded to the base fuel map, and then it is reset to 1.000.
This also messes up the O2 FB control.

We learned the hard way about this back in 1999.

 

Why are block off plates needed when removing the AP? Can't you just takeout the AP and call it a day? And as for the idler pulley, essential or not? The GReddy kit was made to run without it, so as long as the contact between the belt and the WP pulley is solid, the idler pulley seems kinda useless, no?

 

You need block off plates for the split air bypass.
And the Greddy pulleys, or any other underdriven/oversized pulley kit, don't provide much belt contact with the water pump. That can cause the belts to slip and the tendency to overtighten the belts to compensate. That stresses bearings and shortens belt life. There's also the need to source odd size belts and you underdrive accessories at idle.
Underdriven belts don't provide any real performance gain but can come with consequences. An idler pulley avoids that.

 

Hey that's my video!

I had originally thought my water pump was locked up, and changed that out, but after careful inspection, I had unplugged the harness from the air pump (located on top of the pump) as Ray from Malloy Mazda had suggested. It worked, and the problem was a bad or locked up air pump. I am not worried about emissions as my 93 FD is now registered as a "Historic" vehicle in the state of Maryland which doesn't require emissions or inspections for cars aged 20 years or more.

I still have yet to completely remove the air pump, and have put it off until I can purchase block off plates and the pineapple racing idler pulley. I'll eventually get to it, but from my understanding, disconnecting the air pump bears no effect besides emissions. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Forgot to add the motor is stock minus a down pipe, catback and power FC

 

so in other words to delete the Stock Air Pump and run the Pineapple Racing Idler Pulley, i would need to get specific Block Off Plates and a Power FC (or any other after market ECU to tune) for my FD to run well.

what about if im running a simplified sequential set up with a stock ECU?

thank you for your help on this

 

Which idler pulley are you guys using? Which one is the one that Banzai sells?

FD Idler Pulley Kit
FD Idler Pulley Kit-BT

 

I'm not a tuner, but since no one else chimed in...I don't think it matters whether it's simplified...though most of the simplification comes from emissions removal. What matters is whether the ECU relies on O2 feedback. If it does, you risk having the issues mentioned earlier...lumpy idle, hesitation etc. See cewrx7r1's post.

I run Garfinkle..fully adjustable just like the airpump was and takes OEM belt. But he's not an authorized vendor on this forum, and I'm not sure he's making them anymore ---> https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...nstall-823595/
Looks like he lists the non-BT version, but I'd bet he could get you either one.

 

I recommend the Pinapple idler. The pulley kits like Greddy (and all the replicas) don't really provide enough belt contact with the water pump. You are forced to over-tighten the belt to try to reduce slipping and in turn this puts a lot of stress on the e-shaft and in turn the stationary gear bearings.

The car will idle lumpy with the stock ecu and no air pump. You will also quickly destroy the stock cat if you have one, and you can't safely run catless with the stock ecu.

Simplified sequential on the stock ecu will throw all sorts of codes. You can mess with putting resistors in place of the removed solenoids, but I don't like doing things that way.

I would just pick up a cheap used airpump in the classifieds and leave everything else alone until you are able to upgrade the ecu. I probably have 10 of them laying around the shop if you need one.