Dealer covered up codes. SAP question

[TheEnm]

My girlfriend just bought an e46 (01 330ci) from a dealer which appeared very good, despite the high milage (201k). Cosmetically, it’s close to perfect and the engine sounds new, no weird noises. It seems however, that the dealer cleared SES lights before sale and they took a couple days to come back. They now have and I am working to fix them. The first two codes are for the exhaust cam position sensor, and the thermostat. I’m going to replace both. It also has two codes (P0491, P0492) for the secondary air pump. I understand this is just an emissions item but I’d like to get it sorted to turn the light off. On cold starts, it whines very loud so, because of the milage, I’m assuming the pump itself is the culprit. Should I just replace it? The vehicle also already passed smog so is there any logic to just deleting the whole system? Thanks.


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[Muzz258]

The secondary air pump (SAP) only runs for like 30 seconds on a cold start. The pump is noisy. As long as its pumping air it not a problem. Remove the outlet hose and put your hand over it to test it operation.

Typical problems are:
- Faulty air pump
- hole in rubber hose from air pump to valve.
- broken/ hole in 3.5mm rubber hoses that go from the valve, back round the back of the engine to the 1-way valve under the inlet manifold and then to the solenoid and finally for the port on the back of the inlet manifold next to the fire wall.

You can remove the SAP system and blank off the port into the engine. You will get a code and check engine light up. The fix is to flash the engine computer (DME) with the Euro 2 program. Doing this may impact on smog testing depending on the state and the rules being used.

[harrier]

The first two codes are for the exhaust cam position sensor, and the thermostat. I’m going to replace both. It also has two codes (P0491, P0492) for the secondary air pump. I understand this is just an emissions item but I’d like to get it sorted to turn the light off. On cold starts, it whines very loud so, because of the milage, I’m assuming the pump itself is the culprit. Should I just replace it? The vehicle also already passed smog so is there any logic to just deleting the whole system? Thanks.

First off, that is fraud. The ecu stores “shadow” codes so it should be easy to find out if the codes were cleared. I would go back and get them to fix it or give some money back.

The camshaft code may be the sensor, but it could also be the Vanos piston. Remove the exhaust solenoid and the piston, clean and reassemble.

As for the SAP, there are many videos and posts on how to test it.

[Tech566]

If you hear the pump howling on start up, the pump is working and most likely the valve going to the engine is jammed. This does happen over time

[MarcoZandrini]

OP is in the People’s Democratic Republic of California. You can bet the car gets smogged.

[All2kool]

...whines very loud so, because of the milage, I’m assuming the pump itself is the culprit. Should I just replace it? The vehicle also already passed smog so is there any logic to just deleting the whole system?

You can replace the SAP with a good used one from EBay for under $50. It takes all of 15 minutes to install.

[easymoney]

OP is in the People’s Democratic Republic of California. You can bet the car gets smogged.

Every two (2) years!

[TheEnm]

OP is in the People’s Democratic Republic of California. You can bet the car gets smogged.

I know a guy haha


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