My 2002 SL1 was making all kinds of noises; whistles, whines, groans, moans, thumps- you name it, when I first started the car. I opened the hood, had my wife start it, and then knew for sure it was the air pump, or air injection pump as it is properly called, I guess. I took the thing out and tried to get it apart so I could fix it or at least try to, and that ended up in a lesson in futility. The covers on those things are cemented on with super super glue, or something meant to assure it could never be taken apart. I've found some new ones on Ebay, but am curious whether these air pumps were known to go bad. ??? The car has less than 98k on it. Was this a known issue with these Saturns? I've never had one go bad before, but this is the first 2002 I've had too. I sure miss the ride in my big Lincoln Mark VI, but I like the gas mileage in this SL1 a whole lot!
Have a good one, ya all.
RK

 

I don't know if it's a problem or not. I'm just responding because I want to say that I like your avatar. Buster Brown and Tighe. I haven't seen them since I was just a kid. So, thanks! Do you remember the slogan? "I'm Buster Brown, I live in a shoe. This is my dog, Tighe. He lives in there too."

 

I laughed right out loud when I read your note. You bet I remember that slogan! I was in gospel music for years. I was up near Albany, NY and called a friend of mine who was a disc jockey up there. His wife answered the phone. When she said "Hello", she asked who was calling. I answered with that slogan and she hung up on me! I called back and her husband answered then. When he answered I told him what I'd done and he laughed and laughed. :-)

 

I've read a few posts around the net regarding problems with the pumps but not a systematic mass failure issue like the ECTS......

 

I was getting a P0410 code and thought the secondary air pump might have gone bad, and being a "repair the part" type of guy, I tried to take mine apart. I did not succeed either. Turns out it wasn't bad either. The tube cast into the exhaust manifold for the secondary air was plugged up. A little gumout spray fixed it.

These rarely fail. They only run for 2 minutes after your engine is started from cold. If yours is just noisy, I'd recommend pull-a-part.

 

I don't have a place near me where I can do that. I found some on Ebay so I'll go that way. Noisy it is! I'm sure I could have fixed it if I could have gotten the thing apart. Oh well.

 

Have you checked that tube, like Keith suggested?

 

Yes sir, I did. But I do know the motor is the problem. When I took it out and had it in my hands, I reached down inside it and turned the fan with a long screwdriver. Even though it was not turning fast it still made way too much noise for an electric motor.

 

I have another question about that air pump; is it normal to have drops of water inside the cap of the air pump where the sponge rubber filter is? I took the cap off when I was trying to get it apart and again today. There was a lot of moisture inside both times. I squeezed the sponge rubber dry and put it back in, but that doesn't seem right to me to have moisture in it like that. What say you?

 

No. This is probably why your pump is making so much noise. Between the pump and the exhaust manifold is a reed valve. Thats the circular thing at the other end of that rubber hose. It's job is to keep exhaust gasses from getting to the pump.

Exhaust gasses contain a lot of water. It condenses in your pump causing rust and corrosion. In the winter, the water can freeze and lock up the pump. When 12v is applied to the pump motor, it can self destruct.

The reed valves don't go bad very often, but when they do, it's not good.