The '98-up 606 has a different design vacuum pump and is much less prone to spilling its guts into the timing case. I'm not saying that it is impossible, just that it's less likely. OTOH, the timing chain (do we know its age/miles?) could fail for some reason unrelated to the vacuum pump and that would cause all sorts of problems.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970