I agree with Mark, if you just disconnect the air pump it will probably sieze up totally in a short time. That happened when I removed the belt from the air pump on my Volvo to test the source of the noise. I didn't hook the belt back up for about a week and when I did, the air pump would not turn at all. At that point I was faced with the decision of getting a new air pump or just going without. I chose the latter.