**UPDATED 10/20/2015**

Hello E55 owners,

I know there are many, many, threads out there about the secondary air injection system. Many of them even pertain to the w211 E55 specifically. This being said, I cannot seem to find one that is concise with photographic documentation. Since I am running into a rather involved "learning opportunity" I figured I would take it upon myself to conglomerate all of the information that I have found useful. I will attempt to combine what I have learned from various online sources with my own experience.

Please keep in mind at the time of this initial posting I have not yet determined the cause of my issue but I plan to update the post accordingly with applicable pictures, procedures, etc.

The problem:
Without getting into too much detail at this point I am the proud owner of a low mileage 2005 E55 that has been plagued by a P0410 code resulting in a check engine light. This by itself is not incredibly troublesome but the county that I live in requires "E-check" and thus I am unable to get plates for the car without the SAP system working properly.

inspection / Diagnosis:

• Check the 40 amp "maxi" fuse in the engine bay fuse box - intact
• Check the pump connection under the driver's headlamp housing - unplugged, now plugged back in.
• Check for obstrtuction in applicable air hoses - clean / dry
• Remove pump for internal inspection - severe electrolysis / completely seized.

10/20/2015

• After Rocman8 posted a very helpful picture I checked behind the trunk lining on the passenger side.
• As was suggested, the location houses the fuel pump and air pump fuse/relays.
• The 40 amp fuse for the air pump was very obviously blown.
• The relay I purchased appears to be incorrect for the application. (pictures below)
• The fuel pump relay socket shows serious wear in the form of melted deformation.
• Tested both relays and both function normally.

The Pump:
For those of you who have not messed with the pump you will notice that the plastic housing is held together with a series of metal tension clips. A stiff pick of some sort will easily remove them. Once they have been removed the end of the impeller shaft is exposed. As in the picture below there is a slot in the end of the shaft to allow you to hold it in place while you break the impeller nut free. In my case the pump was so frozen that I could not turn the shaft regardless of the tool used. There are actually two impeller plates in the particular pump in between which is a spacer. Removing both exposes the back of the pump housing (pictured). Unfortunately at this time I was unable to remove the torx bits due to excessive corrosion.



Visible electrolysis on SAP.





One of the impellers with visible water line.

The pump on the E55, while similar, will cost quite a bit more than most other variants. As others have pointed out I believe it to be quite possible to make virtually any air pump work if you are willing to create a custom bracket and wire harness.

The pump part number is 000-140-57-85 and can be purchased easily from the following locations:

• RM European $408.54 With excellent fast shipping
• Pelican Parts $458.00 Trusted site with excellent service
• ECS Tuning $461.83 With free regular shipping. The part number they have listed is different but their fitment guide shows that the unit they sell will work.
• Parts Geek $393.63 Cheap but ground only shipping.

I have now replaced the pump but it has not fixed the problem. I cannot seem to get the pump to come on as intended so on to the next possible cause.

The Relay:

This is where things can get confusing. The community seems to be split with some people agreeing that the relay for the pump is in the trunk (pictured 1) and others saying that it's in position "R" (pictured 2) in the engine bay SAM module. While these are the two main verdicts there are more yet. Some say that they relay is in another location in the trunk, some say that it's near the auxiliary battery in the engine bay, various locations on the SAM module, on and on.



Borrowed from another thread.


Borrowed from another thread.


Member Kropf had posted a very detailed list of relay and fuse locations for the w211 chassis: Fuse / Relay schematic

As you can see from the chart position kR (simply "R" in the above diagram) states "Air pump or oil cooler fan relay. Does this mean it serves two purposes? Unlikely. I made a small jumper to joint pins 30 and 87 and sure enough the oil cooler fan comes on and the air pump is silent.

The diagrams that I have seen do not make mention of another relay with a description of "air pump".

To make matters worse there are an astronomical amount of replacement relays out there that are labeled as being an "air pump" relay. I purchased part number 002-542-66-19-05, a lovely little brown Mercedes branded Tyco relay with 3 prongs instead of 4. Pin 86 is missing - I would assume that it's internally connected in parallel or that the circuit it's designed to operate is.

Can someone with a 2005 or above please chime in? I have read that starting in 2005 the relay and fuse were moved to the trunk / boot. If it is in the trunk what part number should I use to replace it?

Update 10/20/2015:
The relay, as suggested, was located on behind the trunk liner on the passenger side of the car.




Remove this push pin using a soft, forked, pry bar.





Trim pin 2. Same here.





Plastic panel bar.





Left is the fuel pump, right is the SAP relay.





Fuses in small bracket against the wheel well.





002-542-66-19-05 relay





002-542-66-19-05 relay pin out.





Melted fuel relay socket.

Relay 002-542-66-19-05 appears to be inappropriate for the application despite the number of sites selling this as a relay used for the air pump. It may have something to do with the location of the relay itself depending on where the model year fell.

Wild Goose Chase:
Since I really had no idea what I was looking for at this point I went on every lead I had. The fuse diagram that comes with the car, folded up and placed with the fuses on the drivers side door jamb area, is about worthless. I had read that some people had success with replacing one of the "pre-fuses" located under the passenger foot well (left hand drive). I was able to find pictures confirming that this area exists but there was very little in the way of documentation.

I've posted some pictures of what you will encounter:

Reach up to the top of the carpet in the foot well and gently peel it back.




Foam insulation before kick plate. This is held in with tension and just pops out when pulling upward.





Kick plate before pre-fuse grouping. There are three 10mm pastic nuts holding this on; one at the top and one on each bottom side. The side closest to the door is a particular pain in the *** but an extension should help.





The ECM cluster. This large grouping of electronics does something... probably. I noticed that there was some oil of some kind on the wire looms. I can't imagine that it has come from the engine bay as there are no direct routes. Perhaps it's insulative or a dielectric compound of some sort.





The insulator sheet before the front pre-fuse grouping. This is just sitting there, gently pull it off.





Front pre-fuse grouping. You will see the grouping of maxi fuses. They are all 40 amp with the exception of the first on the left being a 50. The second to last on the right was empty.

At first I checked all of these with an inspection mirror as it's quite challenging to get them out with how they are placed. It might be worth noting that the battery should be disconnected at this point - I chose not to but by this time I had a few Mercedes approved beers down. After I was not satisfied with my mirror inspection I removed them all and inspected each one. It helps to loosen the clips holding the fuse module in place so that you can pull it away from the firewall somewhat.

At this point everything seems to be fine but there is more to come! Please reply with your opinions, ideas, jabs, etc.

-Tyler

 

here they are. air pump fuse and relay and fuel pump fuse and relay.
if you have a very early 2005 the relay may be up front by the aux battery in its own holder.

 

Use Star hardware and disable secondary air injection. You'll still pass smog, car will idle much smoother on startup, and no more worrying about the expensive system failing.

Search and you'll find a thread with the info on how to disable it, if you want to go that route.

 

it depends on what state he is in and what type of inspection it is.

 

Technically SAI is required regardless of the state, but it'll still pass emissions check as it shows up as either 'unavailable' (which is a pass), or 'ready' (also a pass).

But of course, officially you should do this type of modification only if you exclusively drive your car off-road in Mexico

 

Some good visual info in this thread. Secondary air information is hard to come by.

First, Autohaus sells the Bosch pump for $362 --- and they aren't even usually the cheapest, but they sell quality. All 4 of those sites you listed are generally major ripoffs and overpriced. There's also another brand of pump called AIG (not the name, but similar) for $200 that's fairly reliable and about half the above price new.

http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/0580000017

Second, the secondary air relay was moved in the 55 series AMG vs the E sedan. The original airpump relay for this chassis was then used on the AMG for the oil cooler pump.

EDIT: Relay information appears to be specific to VIN and by model year.

Also, you properly test the air pump through STAR by activation or manually by removing the hose into the engine, and starting the car cold. If it blows, it works, if it doesn't it's the relay or the pump itself. The circuit itself is simple.

Personally, I would never jump any relay connected to the engine control unit for obvious reasons.

If you need specific wiring diagrams for your car, send me the VIN over PM.

 

Excellent information! Another classic example of an instance where I could have saved time and money by coming here instead of resorting to guesswork. Thank you for the picture Rocman8. It certainly is worth a thousand words. I did consider attempting to disable the system via STAR but I tried to be good and do it by the book. It's more of a personal vendetta to prove that I can make it work at this point. I'll likely be investing in an SDS in the near future regardless. Equitiesguy, I will update my posting to reflect the information you have provided. I will admit that my search for the pump was not as exhaustive as it should have been and I ended up with RM because for some reason their site offered me $0.69 overnight shipping! Believe it or not I got the idea of jumping the relay socket from a generic pelican parts "how to" thread on the E class secondary air system. If their information lines up with their pricing I may be better off avoiding it.

Updates tonight when I get off of work.

 

Kilco, I looked at a few more diagrams and it appears that each model E series (even for the 55) is different.

K17 relay also drives the air injection, and can be located in the front of the car in 04 or in the rear of the car near the fuel relays (right side trunk).

Send me your VIN so I can look it up directly, and the associated fuse.

 

Thanks Equitiesguy. PM sent.

 

i posted a thread on this subject a year or two ago and explained the audi pump was the same exact pump and was only like $150 to $175 brand new. this is the same pump i have purchased and used and since have had no problems. i have an 04 e55 and the fuse was in the front engine sam module that i replaced and all have been well since.

 

Killco, you mentioned that you noticed oil on one of the wire looms. This could be transmission fluid wicking up from the cannon connector on the transmission. If so, it will eventually get to the TCU also located in the foot well. There is a fix which requires replacing the connector.

 

That is helpful but worrisome, AgSilver. Do you happen to have experience in replacing the connector? I will search for a related thread in the meantime.

 

The fuse and relay were indeed in the trunk. I figured I'd snoop around when I got home this evening. The fuse was blown as expected but the relay tested fine. I'd still like to replace it for good measure but the relay I had purchased does not appear to be correct. I haven't been able to test the system yet as the car hasn't been cold enough on start since I've been home. I'll post pictures and update my post tonight.

 

replace the fuel pump relay while you are there as well

 

I've updated the original post to reflect what I've found thank to everyone's help. Rocman8, as you stated the relays and fuses were located against the passenger side wheel well behind the carpet. I haven't had much time to tinker with work and family but I am getting some new relays to replace both.

 

thread mining a bit i know, but, i got the MIL and P0410 code yesterday so just want to say thanks for posting this info here as it will be very useful.

very interested to know about disabling the system as here in Aus that will not be an issue like it seems to be in the US.

 

I'm glad it's being used! I've actually since sold my e55 - had to get a wagon to pile the kids and junk in.

As for removing the pump; there's actually a decent amount of information out there about doing this as I looked into it myself. To do it properly you are going to need a Star diagnostic system with "administrative rights" for lack of a better term. There are cheap knockoff diagnostic systems that claim to have the same functionality cluttering up eBay but I do not have experience with them.

I would imagine that it would be possible to make a small circuit that would mimic the resistance of the electric motor so that the computer thinks it's still there and then somehow modulates the lambda circuit readings but that's probably more r&d than it's worth. I'm pretty sure I've seen these for BMWs before.

 

Had the problem to finally fixed lol
pump replaced, relay replaces but still keept getting the error approx every 200 km it came back and got worser more frequently I noticed was making a weird metallic noise when cold start Engine, when pump is activated really strange so I checked all the Vacume lines nothing but to.my surprise I found this little rubber plug broken that sits on the compressor beneath the left Emission valve
problem finally solved have had no problems since 1000 km since still happy a 3$ fix that will kill the Pump eventually if this is not sealed the air from pump simply blows out here, test it take it of start the car and put ur finger on it AMG also confirmed there is no doubt 3 factors
1 pump
2 relay
3 Rubber plug
that' it pleas check this plug

how could.anyone miss this I never seen anyone mention this plug but there is no doubt these 3 factors be sure Check it