What belt to get after removing 454 A.I.R. system?

[Stripe]

I want to bypass the A.I.R. on my 454, anyone else here do this? What belt did you substitute?

[legomybago]

I wasnt able to find a shorter belt for mine....I didnt spend my life looking either!! But, we took the air pump off, gutted it, put back on and just use it as an idler. Works great

[MotorPro]

I used a Dayco 5060530. Any parts store should be able to cross it to whatever brand they sell.

[jphoenix]

Measuring for the new belt - And the magic number is 46 inches! At AutoZone that equates to a Duralast part number 15460.

[Stripe]

Thanks for the Info.  Now I can go ahead with total removal. And that last bit about deleting the AC, I toyed with it a bit but decided (thanks ORAR) to look and see if I can do the same as you.  The only reason I had not removed the belt by now is because without the second belt, the PS doesn't work as well..

Fredric

[mhtwin987]

Did the A.I.R. delete and used the Duralast 15460 belt, worked great. 

[Oz]

Voila!  Ask and you shall receive.

[Rickf1985]

Only one problem, After mid eighties they had TWO A.I.R pumps and associated belts. I will try to find my old posts, Tina has the same ones I believe. I had to change out one of her numbers but it was probably a manufacturer thing.

[jeno]

yes please i removed both air pumps and i need to know all belt numbers and brands. thanks

[Rickf1985]

I will try my best to go back through my posts but I have a lot going on right now. During the day I am doing this on a cell phone, not fun.

[jeno]

thank you

[tmsnyder]

This is on a 1989 chevy 454 with originally two smog air pumps. I ripped those off, so now there are three belts. Closest to the block is a V belt running just the power steering pump off the crank. It's a 41 inch belt, p/n 15410. The next one away from the block runs the power steering pump and A/C and water pump/fan off the crank. It's 59.5 inches long, p/n 15595. I would have liked it to be a little longer, had to loosen and pull in the p/s pump to get it on. And the third is a serpentine flat micro-v belt running only the waterpump/fan and alternator from the crank. It's a 52 inch belt 060520, it used to be a bit longer to run the smog pump but that's gone now. So that 52 inch belt would be a good one to carry as a backup in case your smog pump locks up on the road and you just want to slip this on to run the alternator and fan which are critical to get down the road.

[Rickf1985]

Thanks for that info, I lost my belt sleeve and did not write down the belt number when I took my pumps off. Now I need one of those belts for my other project and I now have a number.

[tmsnyder]

In case someone is reading this and questioning why one used a 46" belt (15460) and I used a 52 inch belt to do the same thing, the 15460 is a V belt, and the 060520 belt is a 6 rib micro-v flat belt.  The earlier ones used a v-belt and the later ones use a flat belt. They switched in the '80s, mine's a 1989 and it uses the flat belt.

Thanks for that info, I lost my belt sleeve and did not write down the belt number when I took my pumps off. Now I need one of those belts for my other project and I now have a number.

[circleD]

Very nice info. It helps to remember that things change every few years.

[Easternmost Winnebago]

I'm going to have to remove my air pumps now since i was trying to loosen the one air line fitting so i could remove the valve cover to straighten it and reseal it and the whole fitting snapped off the pump body when i tried to break the nut loose. So after some choice words were said over the pump, i thanked it for making up my mind about removing it. After that i remembered that there were a bunch of new belts in a storage bin in a basement compartment and it looks like they are what i need to use. So the previous owner must have been getting ready to remove the pumps but hadn't gotten to it yet.

[Sirlandsalot]

Mine had its own dedicated belt. 1984 chieftain 454

[Rickf1985]

The later ones have two air pumps and the alternator and water pump belt also powers the second air pump.

[JohnM]

86 Winnebago Itasca Elandan (idk is that right). It's an Elandan. With the Chevy 454 / p30 chassis. The box was made in '87.


I remember reading something about this earlier. Why would you remove the pumps? Fuel economy? I'm getting maybe 8mpg running gingerly down the road with extra hazards blinking, at around 45mph. I thought maybe O2 sensor, and saw this pinned post about removing the pumps (as another contributing factor).


Only has about 42k.


Oh and I am towing a vehicle.

[Rickf1985]

It was mostly to remove the parasitic draw of the pumps, the extra belts and the extra heat that is added to the exhaust by the A.I.R. system. It will not change your mileage without doing other things but to be honest, if you are getting 8 MPG on today's gas then you should be happy. It will not hurt anything to remove the pumps as long as you live in a state that does not require you to go through emissions testing. Conversely, if everything is working well then you might want to leave well enough alone until you have a reason to remove them. The pumps do tend to seize up after sitting for long periods, that is when I ditched mine instead of replacing them.

[tmsnyder]

It's also not too hard to get a string routed around the remaining pulleys, after removing whatever you are removing, and get a measurement in inches on the length.  Then look up the belt, you can see where those two digits go into the belt length on the numbers I posted above, depending on the type you need whether it's a v belt or a flat belt.

[Pats Mallard]

How are you'll plugging the exhaust manifold air injector holes?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

How are you'll plugging the exhaust manifold air injector holes?

I don't know the exact part number, but on our last RV with a 454 we used Dorman oil plugs.  I'm not sure of the size or pitch anymore either, but they are available.

Hopefully you can find the part number listed somewhere on here, or someone can answer the question for you.

Kev

[Rickf1985]

I pulled my original tubes out after cutting the main part off and took out the inner tube from the manifold and then welded the hole shut on the nut, Leave the stub of the tube in the nut as that is what seals in the hole. You can also use metric brass drain plugs, I have a box of them but they are out in the garage somewhere. As soon as I go out there I will get the part number. They are pricey though.


Found them,, Dorman 090-151 drain plugs and these are not brass.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I found the part number I used on an old post I made:  Dorman 65384 M22-1.50 oil pan plugs.  They fit like a charm!

Kev