I have a 1978 300SD that I have been trying to get back on the road. The only remaining issue was the lack of vacuum so I took apart the vacuum pump and both diaphragms were torn. I have not been able to locate a rebuild kit for this style of pump. In fact, nobody even seems to recognize the fact that not all W116 diesels came with the piston style pump. Are there even rebuild kits available for this pump or am I just out of luck?

It may be feasible to update to the 'newer' style pump. It only has the one main vacuum hose to the booster, you would need to block off your other line (the exhaust). There are rebuild kits for the newer style.

Click the 'Buy Parts' link at the top of the page and look for a 1-800 number, this gets you to guy named Phil... he can tell you if they are available.

__________________

Thanks for the help. I called Phil and we found a rebuild kit (one of thirteen left in the U.S.) I already tried to adapt the newer style pump however the cam plate used to drive the piston pump does not bolt up to the vacuum drive mechanism as there are line up pins located on the existing one. The cam plate does not have the corresponding holes however.

That's interesting. I put a piston pump off an '80 model on my '77 and it bolted up and worked, but would not clear the power steering belt.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.