Fired up the 87 300SDL this morning and I noticed it was braking hard on its own without me touching the pedal, I assumed it was the transmission it wouldn't shift out of first so I got to the nearest gas station and found that the vacuum hose to the vac. pump was disconnected...

Hope I didn't do any damage in a less than 2 miles span... all was well after i added a little transmission fluid and put the hose back on... but what would cause the hose to disconnect? Too much pressure or could if have just fallen off because of a bump.... The car has close to 300,000 miles and doesn't show any signs of hard braking, I barely have to put my foot down for the car to stop and is shifting down to 2 bad on the vac. pump or would it extend the life by less braking??? Anyways thanks alot for any replys....

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BLUE BEAST

Thanks for advice, replys, and suggestions!

1987 300SDL Turbo 308,000 miles
"seen better days"

You had a better experience than I did. I was interstate cruising for several hours and took the ramp (short ramp) to find my vacuum pump went south. That will make you pucker up!

To answer your question - anything can happen with 20+ year old cars. If it's not broken don't fix it.

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

How could you tell it went south, and does my post mean my pump is probaby own the way out too...

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BLUE BEAST

Thanks for advice, replys, and suggestions!

1987 300SDL Turbo 308,000 miles
"seen better days"

I put a vaccum guage on it and it read ZERO. It doesn't mean yours is bad, but eventually you probably will need to replace. Nothing last forever. It's not a bad DIY repair should that day arrive.

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Is vacuum pump failure something that only happens to diesels that weren't built correctly at the factory or will it happen to all engines with the same vacuum pump? Mine has 308,000 miles and shows no signs of hard braking or noise coming from the pump... I have seen some mercedes diesels with 400,000 miles and original vacuum pump...Is it possible mine was rebuilt at one time and how many miles would it be good for??

-Thank you!

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BLUE BEAST

Thanks for advice, replys, and suggestions!

1987 300SDL Turbo 308,000 miles
"seen better days"

I have two originals with over 200K, 14 heads too, sounds like it's luck of the draw.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

If you are at 300k with the original non-concealed bearings pump I'd consider replacement to prevent engine detonation if it fails....the old pumps were of a bad design. I'd be way paranoid if I had the old pump.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

If its the original your playing with fire. The updated ones should last just about forever though.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

GSXR's VP with less than 190K

OM603: Vacuum pump explosion, bearing intact! Injection Pump Timing device wrecked

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'84 300SD sold
124.128