Secondary Air Shutoff Valve Rebuild

Secondary Air Shutoff Valve Rebuild:
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Failure of this valve's gasket will lead to a failed secondary air pump. This happens because the failed valve gasket allows hot, moist exhaust gas to flow backwards into the secondary air pump. The pump motor will rust and seize.

This DIY shows you how to replace the failed sealing gasket in the valve.

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Tools and Parts:
• Dremel with cut off wheel
• Approx 2" diameter hose clamp
• Rubber sheet gasket (In plumbing section of my local home improvement store). Not sure how thick it was, but about 1/16". I got two, roughly 6"x6" sheets in the package. Enough to make at least 8 gaskets.
• Mechanic's pick

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Total Cost:
• Roughly $5
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Procedure:

This is a pretty simple (and crude) DIY, but it absolutely works. I don't know how long the new rubber gasket will last, but redoing this even once a year for a couple bucks is better than $80 for a new valve. I no longer own this car so I don't know how it's holding up.

I'm writing this about one year after I did the work, so it's going mostly off memory and my photos. I apologize in advice for any errors or unclear procedures.

Using the cut-off wheel, cut a slit in the clamping ring that holds the two halves of the valve together. Carefully pry the ring off.




While it's not visible in the photo below (it has been removed already) there is a rubber gasket that gets squeezed buy the vacuum powered section/cap of the valve (the black round thing in the center of the valve).



We need to remove that old gasket. I clamped the protrusion on the valve cap in a vice and then pulled the valve body away by hand. Using a pick, remove the old gasket.


This is what was left of my gasket. It did not tear coming out.