I have a 1996 volvo 850, and about a year ago I saw a check engine light and my code was a P0410, or secondary air injection system malfunction. I then didnt do anything for a year, last month i cleared the code, took it to the smog shop, and I was declared to be a "gross polluter."

so now im a little worried and eager to fix this problem, especially now that i have time to work on my car. I know that the system they are talking about is the system that warms up the cat on startup. I know that often the air pump fills with water and stops working, so i decided to check there, i removed my battery and got down the pump, and I took it out and looked at it, pulled the rear cap off, looked at that, and then re-connected it and tested it the relay by connecting it to the battery, and the pump started blowing air. so im pretty sure that my pump is fine.

However after i messed with it, when i start my car up, after i start driving while its still warming up, i actually hear the pump turning on and its making a much louder vacuum-cleaner type sound, and then it shuts off when the car gets warmer. im wondering if i messed the pump up a little but when i was inspecting it?

also what else do i need to check to see about the secondary air injection system? there were no other pending codes other than the p0410 and i cant think of anything else that would cause my car to be polluting THAT much.

any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated,

thanks

 

Since you have a '96 I don't think you have a EGR so you should really look at your vacuum lines. These cars have a canister somewhere in the system that takes in fuel vapors I believe, make sure those vacuum lines are not bad as well. Several elbows to check.

As for the air pump, that thing is suppose to come on then the car is cold and run for a minute to so then turn back off. If it cuts back on for some reason, something is wrong somewhere. The 960 I had was doing that, cutting the air pump back on every once in a while. I thought it was the ignition which was bad (I had been driving with a bad ignition for years).

Hope this helps.

 

Just to clarify, the hot gasses from the engine heat the Cat. There is not a system that warms it up. It would be interesting to see the smog results posted here. That would help.

When was the last time you changed your plugs? Poorly burnt fuel can cause the O2 sensor to freak out and cause that code.

 

i could find the paper if you really wanted to, however the "gross polluter" designation means that your car is outputting at least twice the normal emissions allowed.

and no, i dont think my car does have an EGR valve, i just checked. idk, my plugs havent been changed in like 4 years, but would that really make that much of a difference? two years ago the car passed smog with flying colors. and it doesnt seem to me like the SAS system matters too much as far as emissions are concerned, once the car is at operating temperature. Im wondering if i may have ruined the cat, since ive driven the car like this for a year now, which means probably 8000 miles or more.

is there anything else but to go through all my vacuum lines? i guess maybe i could clean out the flame trap...