Can somone help. I just broke my connectors on top of the air pump and now I just plugged the to wires together without the connector and taped it up. Now my idle is real lumpy and it idles around 1200-1500. Just bouncing around irratically. So I just disconnected it and idle is fine now. Do I really need the air pump besides emissions test, or do the connectors play a part in the air pump. Also after disconnecting the air pump my idle is at 11000 rpms and then slowly drops to 750 rpms, could this be a sign of bad check valves. Thanks for the help everyone

 

air pump is for emissions and to keep the main cat alive if you have neither remove it

 

Many FD's experience this problem when you either remove or disconnect the air pump. It's hit or miss on which ones apparently. You do need the air pump if you still have your cats. Without the airpump any unburnt fuel that reaches the cats may not burn completly and this will cause premature failure of the cat. If you are going to leave the cats on the car then I suggest you repair the connector. Disconnecting the airpump and leaving the cats will not help your performance, but may hinder it over time if the cats clog....

 

The airpump does pump air into the engine itself, which also gets routed to the main cat. Take a look at the piping; the pipe from the airpump doesnt just go directly into the main cat, it goes into the lower intake, i believe into the ACV before there is an outlet to the main cat. That is one of the reasons why your engine runs richer without it; there is less air being pumped in via the ACV.