Secondary air injection fault

Car is 2003 S with 130k. Fault code PO491 "'secondary air injection system insufficient flow bank 1'". Since the code is specific to the left bank I'm guessing that the pump, vac tank and the various other bits are OK. Before I start tearing things apart I would Iike to check air flow at the left bank injection port...if only I could find it. I would be most grateful if some kind person could tell me where it is located and how to access it without major disassembly.

OK then..second questionince I have learned that the left bank injection port is buried under the intake manifold and is totally inaccessible without removing the manifold, I'm hoping that someone has devised a method of unclogging the port thru the steel pipe leading from the shutoff valve. Any and all ideas appreciated! In a profound sense of dispare I'll venture a third question: is it possible to remove the left bank intake manifold without dropping the engine?

Where are you located? You're profile doesn't say.
I ask because unless you're in CA it would be way easier too remove the SAI pump and hoses and just reprogram the car to RoW specs.
CA is the ONLY State that requires the SAI.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Finally some good news! Thank you Pedro. I'm in Washington State so the SIA system is headed for the S-can.What is needed to re-program the car to ROW specs? I this a Porsche dealer deal or can an indy do the trick.

... a PST-II or a PIWIS unit.
I suspect the dealer may not want to do it and will be more expensive.
Look for an Indy who has a PST-II then ask your dealer to get you your car's IPASS codes. Most likely you'll need to show proof of ownership for that.
With those IPASS codes the shop can then reprogram your ECU to RoW specs which doesn't even look for an SAI.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Quote
Pedro (Odessa, FL)
unless you're in CA it would be way easier too remove the SAI pump and hoses and just reprogram the car to RoW specs.
CA is the ONLY State that requires the SAI.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Wait! Help! I’m in Arizona and Motor Vehicle sent me home saying I wasn’t ready for inspection since my battery must have been disconnected. Three items showed “not ready” in their rejection sheet. They told me to return after driving for two days. Well, now my Code Reader shows everything ready except SAI. I can’t get that to change no matter what I try. Shoukd I try some specific driving routine or are you saying that Arizona should ignore the “SAI NOT READY” reading? I hope the latter. Let me know. Thx

If your SAI pump is bad there's no amount of driving that will get it ready.
Maybe AZ doesn't look for SAI readiness, who knows?
It's only required by CA.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

these faults can be caused by a whole range of things ranging from a vacuum leak to a dead CAT.

I suspect a reprogram would only cover electrical and vacuum problems affecting the system. But anything after?

Further - doesn't the system act to protect the CATs from over rich conditions?

I am not a tech, and will defer to those who are, but simply removing the system strikes me as short term solution creating a potential long term problem?

I'm not a tech either and a week ago i didn't even know the car had a SAI system. That said, I am somewhat enlightened thanks to Bentley which has a very clear and concise explanation of what it is and how it works. The explanation makes clear that the system fires up for just a few seconds on cold starts to satisfy the Cal clean air folks then shuts down. For what its worth, in my case all components of the system check out. The blower is fired up at the proper time and the shutoff valve opens at the proper time so I'm inclined to believe the code read- out i.e. Insuficient flow". Before the CEL appeared, the car was idling smoothly and running very well so I doubt there was a vacuum leak. There probably will be when I put the engine back together but that's a different story!