Air injection pump removal

[Silverbullet007]

Has anyone successfully done this to a 2.0? I can tell that its not a very detailed job, however my biggest concern is how to block the hole where the pumps output tube snaps into. (the cylinder right below the thottle body)

[vdubbugman53]

why do you want to get rid of it...i know it is pointless and just adds weight but as far as i know it can not be done....not even with a vag.

[Silverbullet007]

Well basically for just that reason...while I do care about the environment to a point, I dont live in Cali and never will. And while my pump hasnt quite taken a nose dive yet, I'm sure it will in the future so why not pull it off and at least offer it for sale to someone who does actually need it?

Besides with the severe lack of working room under the hood that extra bit of real estate would come in handy.

I've seen folks with Passats do it, and 42DraftDesigns makes an actual block plug for theirs. However since ours doesn't plug directly into the block but rather that cylindrical thing, I didn't know if anyone else here has done this successfully or not. A guy posted on vwvortex a while back saying how he'd seen someone with a 2.0/ODBII bug successfully do this AND with VAG removed the CEL.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2051003&page=1

I am hopeful that someone who has done this will chime in...with the brake pads, tranny fluid, and plugs I've got to do on Sparky the extra funds from a pump sale would come in real handy if this works.

[vdubbugman53]

wow however i do not have one of those ppumps id like to see how it was done

[Silverbullet007]

yeah really.. I tried contacting the OP yesterday.. no word yet however.

[bugasm99]

it can be done on an mk3 because some cars with the same engine code and ecu actually came with or without the air pump. So in short, you simply go into the ECU through vag-com and tell the ecu that it was a car w/o an air pump rather then one with. Unfortunately this cannot be done on an mk4 since the cars that came without an air pump actually had a different ecu and different hard coding then those who did.

There is hope however...

20squared tuning sells a resistor that will trick the ecu into believing the air pump is still there. they also sell a block off plate for the 1.8T when removing the EGR valve which is what the SAI pumps air into. This may work on the 2.0 as well but I have not checked into it.

[Silverbullet007]

Ahh ok there's at least one piece of the mystery solved... EGR valve. Although the last vehicle I had would run like total dung w/o the EGR, however the Bugs should be fine? I noticed no sensor leads or anyhting like that going to it so the presence of the egr itself could go un-noticed by the ECU?

[bugasm99]

so the presence of the egr itself could go un-noticed by the ECU?

correct, the only thing the ecu would notice missing is the air pump. Codes may be thrown due to any unforeseen paramaters by other sensors, but nothing directly from removing the egr.

[Silverbullet007]

Excellent info bugasm... but would you happen to know the menus in vag-com that pertain to nullifying the EGR/air pump check?

[ERICWC]

My AI pump went south years ago, and I just left it. The CEL has been on ever since, but I check for codes, so I never bothered to do anything. It only runs for a few seconds on startup anyway.