First - the hose I referred to earlier does not go directly to the air pump, but rather to the valve at the back of the air pump. I started the car up and surprise, surprise, surprise (in my best Gomer Pyle) - there's positive air pressure coming out of the nipple where the vaccuum hose should attach. Looks like a ruptured diaphragm on the valve - I'll replace that Monday.

Moneypit SEL - thanks for your insight - I kinda figured that the CO and HC were related. I still need to pull codes and see what the computer is mad about.

Nate - I strongly suspect that's how the car got the last sticker, since the motor is new and it's been less than 2K since it was installed. The line I refer to above was disconnected then, too - so likely the valve was faulty when the motor was exchanged.

As for buying the sticker - down here in Texas they lock people in jail for doing that - if you get caught. Based on your signature - referring to your age, you're not old enough to have experienced life before emissions control. I'm 43 and when I started driving in the 70's, few cars even had so much as a catalytic converter. Many was the time I'd sit at a stoplight next to a mosquito killer (LOTS of blue smoke) and right behind a car running SO rich that the exhaust looked like it was coming from a diesel. When manufacturers started putting emission controls on, the designs were so bad and sapped so much of what pitiful amounts of power cars of the 70's and early 80's had that many people defeated them. I have a '66 Cadillac with a 7 litre motor (429CI) that makes 340net horsepower - but it does it with 10.5:1 compression and a 4BBL carburetor that nets 8mpg city 12/highway. That's 48.5 hp/litre of displacement. The Benz makes 228 hp from 3.2 litres (71.25 hp/litre) and should get 25+ mpg on the highway - but not if I'm dumping a TON of gas down the pipe.

It's a shame that we had to endure the early years of emissions, but I like where we are now. Here in Houston, we face mandatory reduction in the max speed limits allowed on our freeways - not from a safety issue (most were designed and built for '60's cars - and 70mph), but because our air quality doesn't meet federal standards, and to keep the federal highway dollars we so desperately need we must comply. In my 28+ years of driving, I've logged close to 750,000 miles - and most of that on the streets in and around Houston - I don't want the next 750,000 miles to happen and 40mph, so I want CLEAN AIR.

Sorry for highjacking my own thread - but I'll fix the car and enjoy the good mileage and clean air.