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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHSAI Pump Not Working
Leading reported evidence
Check wiring, plugged it back in and started the car
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
So I pulled the plug, checked and cleaned the contacts, checked the wiring, plugged it back in and started the car.
Leading evidence: 'Check wiring, plugged it back in and started the car' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check wiring, plugged it back in and started the car' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
So I pulled the plug, checked and cleaned the contacts, checked the wiring, plugged it back in and started the car.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
It ran for a couple of minutes and then shut down as per normal function.
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Discussions that contain suggestions
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Suggestion · Original poster
I thought that the pump was not running any more because I could not hear it running from the drivers seat for a few minutes after startup.
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Suggestion
The replacement pump I�ve been running for the last 8 years is so much louder!
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Suggestion
The DME takes a bunch of sensor inputs (coolant temp, engine speed+load, air mass) and other calculated values (altitude adaptation factor, maybe estimated exhaust gas temp?) and decides how long to run the pump.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
10 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T105141Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Hello all. I had some work done on my 2001 C2 which involved removing the rear deck lid and afterwards the SAI pump is not running at startup. I suspect that the electrical connection may have been disturbed. Can anyone tell me where the connection is and I will unplug/plugin and see if it works.
Thanks!!
Thanks for that. Pretty darn obvious when you realize that the SAI is at the back left of the engine compartment. For some reason I thought it was on the right side because that was where the whining noise seems to come from post startup for a few minutes. ....and there is the other part of the story. I thought that the pump was not running any more because I could not hear it running from the drivers seat for a few minutes after startup. So I pulled the plug, checked and cleaned the contacts, checked the wiring, plugged it back in and started the car. I still could not hear the pump running, and I can say that you used to hear it very clearly from inside the car. So I opened the engine lid and touched the pump. I could feel a high frequency vibration which certainly indicated it was running. I got a screwdriver and put one end on the pump motor housing and the handle against my ear. I could clearly hear the pump running. It ran for a couple of minutes and then shut down as per normal function. I'm quite surprised that for some reason the pump is now running without the usual whining sound inside the car. Anyone else ever had this?
It would be awesome if you figure out what changed. My original SAI pump (that came with the car from the factory) was quiet as a mouse. Then when the bearing started to chirp the dealer replaced it under (extended) warranty. The new pump sounds like a vacuum cleaner and is loud as heck and they said �that�s how they are.�
Maybe something with how it�s mounted?
That�s the crazy thing. I�m sure the pump was working for the first 8 years I owned the car because you could clearly hear it if you listened with concentration. The replacement pump I�ve been running for the last 8 years is so much louder!
It�s funny when I exit the highway and stop at a light. The SAI pump sometimes kicks in for a few seconds and my passenger looks over at me like �why do you have a vacuum cleaner in your engine compartment?�
My 03 sounds like a vacuum cleaner as well and it turns on and off like most others have stated. Fairly low on my priority list of things, if it is even a thing worth worrying about. Don't know whether its original or not.
Are you sure that is is SAI motor running. That sounds more like the engine compartment cooling fan to me. If I'm not mistaken the SAI only runs on start up.
Agreed about SAI being on only at startup. It's to kick the cats into action, save the planet. My engine compartment fan turns on and off when I'm in traffic. It doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner. It is quite loud...
Thanks for the followup, guys! I'm 99.9% sure that it's the SAI pump running at those times. I'm familiar with the sound of the engine compartment fan which is also loud but sounds different. It is my understanding as well that the SAI system is designed to only run at startup to get the cats hot faster. The DME takes a bunch of sensor inputs (coolant temp, engine speed+load, air mass) and other calculated values (altitude adaptation factor, maybe estimated exhaust gas temp?) and decides how long to run the pump. So it's weird that the SAI is kicks on in those situations. My best guess is that there is some transient response in the various DME inputs when coming to a stop after a highway run that somehow falls into the range of "run the SAI pump!" Next time this happens I'll think back if it was a hard high speed run before stopping (3rd or 4th gear, high RPM's, high speed) or a languishing one (6th gear, low RPM's medium high speed). I tend to think it is the latter, which makes me wonder if some temp reading is just slightly low from high highway airflow. I'll report back when I have some data.
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