Secondary Air Injection Pump Problems

So on Monday my 06 Tacoma 2.7L 4cyl gets a CEL.

Got it scanned, mechanic said possible issue with air pump, cleared it and it was fine for a few days. On Wednesday night after sitting all day, I turn the truck on, CEL is on again. Code says P2445 Secondary Air Injection Pump Stuck Off.

Did some research and apparently this 5 cent piece of foam is the cause of everyone's headaches. I open the pump up and sure enough, foam stuck in the impeller blade, but the impeller blade are not broken. Clear the foam, still have the CEL, and can't hear the pump come on.

Go to mechanic, $783 for pump, $200 valve, and $265 for a possible blown module, but they're not sure it might just be issues from the pump. Mechanic says don't bother fixing it because there's no emissions testing where I live and it's not necessary; save money for other repairs down the road.

So I'm an IT technician who does a lot of hardware repair, and a geologist for the same company (don't ask). Took the pump apart and it appeared to be in good shape, motor's not rusted but smelled of burnt electrical components but that could just be the fluid in there being heated from the motor working too hard with the stuck fan blades when the foam was jammed in there.

I put it back together, remount it in the truck, and that sucker turns on not once, but twice. Two high pitched whining noises for a few seconds on two start ups. I cleared the CEL with my scan tool, then turned the truck on a 3rd and 4th time (at this point it had been running for a few minutes and the engine was warm. No high pitched whine sound of the fans whirring up so I can't for sure tell if it turned on more than twice. No CEL. Took it for a 10 minutes ride around the block, no CEL.

Any ideas? I don't even know how or why it worked again, even if briefly.

 

i just had the local dealership replace my whole system for free recently. i guess there was a recall thing on them

 

for 2012, but figured it might be worth posting the pics anyways

 

What year is yours? NVM just saw your reply.

I only heard of a recall for some of the Tundra and Sequoia models. But my understand is this is a huge issue on many, many toyota and lexus models, much of which Toyota has been saying to go screw yourself if you're not part of the recognized tunder/sequoia extended warranty. My trucks 12 yrs old and 103K, so even if I'd have been in the 10/150000 extended warranty group, I'd still be SOL.

 

Extended Warranty Campaign for the Tacomas. You're more than likely still covered. Search for the very lengthy thread on it.

 

Truck sat cold overnight. Started this morning, pump came on again, so apparently it only turns on at start when the system is cold enough, and won't turn on if it's already warmed up at start. I'm gonna get a breather, mod it, and be done with this stupid problem (hopefully).