Secondary Air Pump / taking it apart / $1400 / If you own a Tacoma you should read this..

PoweredBySoy · Sep 27, 2020

buckmaster243 said: ↑

Check your gas cap if cel and Trac lights are both on. My wife’s 4runner had those lights and all it needed was a new cap. $22 at Toyota.
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Would this cause the secondary pump to stop working?

I filled up my tank yesterday. After pulling into the garage last night, and moving the truck this morning, I noticed that the smog pump 'whine' wasn't there, which I thought was odd. The next time I started the truck up, the CEL and Trac lights came on.

When I pulled out of the garage this morning I also noticed a dead mouse on the garage floor, so now I'm all paranoid about mice chewing on wires...

I re-tightened the gas cap and unhooked the battery for a minute. The CEL and Trac Control lights are now off.

Drove it a couple times today. CEL lights remain off. Truck runs fine. But the smog pump still isn't engaging.

I did the Uni filter mod a couple months ago, but I'm guessing it's unrelated.

buckmaster243 · Sep 27, 2020

PoweredBySoy said: ↑

Would this cause the secondary pump to stop working?

I filled up my tank yesterday. After pulling into the garage last night, and moving the truck this morning, I noticed that the smog pump 'whine' wasn't there, which I thought was odd. The next time I started the truck up, the CEL and Trac lights came on.

When I pulled out of the garage this morning I also noticed a dead mouse on the garage floor, so now I'm all paranoid about mice chewing on wires...

I re-tightened the gas cap and unhooked the battery for a minute. The CEL and Trac Control lights are now off.

Drove it a couple times today. CEL lights remain off. Truck runs fine. But the smog pump still isn't engaging.

I did the Uni filter mod a couple months ago, but I'm guessing it's unrelated.
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I’m not sure if it would or not. I’m not very familiar with how these Evap systems work.

PoweredBySoy · Sep 28, 2020

idk. After a day the smog pump has started firing again - both start and shutoff. I'm guessing that the other day I just didn't screw the gas cap on tight enough, and/or it's going bad. That tripped the CEL lights, as well as some pressurization issue which has since corrected itself.

I'm probably just making stuff up.

whitcher · Oct 25, 2020

There are plenty of inexpensive secondary air pumps on Ebay. Has anyone tried them? The reed valve seems to be an OEM only item, but the OEM air pump is the most expensive part of the system. The Chinese ones come with a 1 year warranty. You could buy a bunch for the cost of one OEM part.

YEABOY · Sep 27, 2021

I got one out of a wrecked truck from Bruce's in Richmond when this happen. Truck still running the roads under new ownership.

Rmass · Aug 29, 2022

YEABOY[OP] initial post: ↑

Hello everyone,

For those of you who do not know about the secondary air pump, It basically pumps air into many of the Toyota engine exhaust system for emissions purposes (very rough description I know). The pump sucks air in and pumps it down a tube to a check valve. I would highly suggest you go check that valve right now to see if it is clean up in it. All you have to do is take the tube off and look in there. If there are bits of plastic and foam, you are going to need a new pump soon. First I would call toyota to see if you are covered by the either of the emissions acts (Federal mandates) or Toyota warranty. The next thing I would do if I were you is TAKE OUT THE FOAM FILTER BEFORE IT BREAKS YOUR IMPELLER, the FILTER is causing this $1400 problem!!!!!!! (Although then there is no filter, so this is an at your own risk type deal, in case you did not gather)You only have to take one bolt off and carefully apply small amounts of pressure around the housing to unseal it. I used needle nose pliers, closed them, put the pliers in between the top and lower housings and opened the pliers, forcing the top off of the bottom (read below, be careful, it breaks easily). However if you have said debris in the check valve I would go trade the truck in to the dealership, dont look back, save yourself (ethically questionable). Your impeller probably is already damaged and it is only a matter of time. Honestly you screw them or they screw you, better pick one, because it will happen. Toyota has not acknowledged the problem in the Tacomas. The rep gave me a case number, but said the best I could hope for was maybe a reimbursement way down the line from now.

Well the really bad news is, the pump is $1400 at the dealership and I have not been able to find anyone who makes new ones for our wonderful trucks. Junk yards are pulling in about $250 for used ones (keep in mind, these are all extremely likely to fail due to the design especially with age), so you're buying time for $250. Better yet, the new pumps are the exact design, so it will likely fail again.

A company is selling a bypass for $260, but I have read about several people who have the newest available version of the bypass and it is causing codes to be thrown (the old ones even more people are having issues). The company said that if you purchase the bypass that you should be able to go on and forget you ever had the problem. Hm, $260 seems like a lot for 'should', especially when others are currently having problems. Doesn't seem like a good option, none the less, it is probably illegal in most states (or wont pass an emission inspection).. Irrelevant for most, but not for me in my case.

Since I have nothing but $$$$ to loose apparently I might as well try to take this thing apart. Problem is, it does not want to come apart. I am trying to be careful not to break anything, so I still have several options. Once it is completely broke, no choice but to buy a new one.

Right now the foam filter has deteriorated in my pump, and fell down into the impeller, which broke some fins off and sent those and foam down to the check valve. The impeller is now likely to be off balance, so I have thought of a option, that require disassembly.

1. Round off the impeller blades as evenly as possible and remove the foam filter, then reinstall.

Problem: I need to be able to disassemble the pump without damaging it.

If you are parting out, and want to sell me yours send me a PM. No Junk yard or pick n pull near me even has a Tacoma that I can find in Eastern VA. I am going to keep checking others tomorrow.

Emissions Diagram:

EDIT & update:

I man handled the pump and cracked the plastic casing just a bit (SEE POST # 26 FOR PICS). JB Weld will probably do the trick and not cause issues (the crack is not in a terrible spot). To get it apart I took the 5 star bolts out, used a flat head and needle nose pliers to gently pry apart little by little and worked my way around the top. Plastic cracks easily, dont try and get it completely off on one side, all at once (if that makes since...).

I found another an 08 tacoma at a yard about 100 miles from me that I bought the pump off of. Roughly $140 with a one year warranty. Once the warranty runs out I am going to take it apart and take the foam out. I kept the old one just in case..
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Secondary Air Pump / taking it apart / $1400 / If you own a Tacoma you should read this..

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