So it looks like I'm taking the vacuum pump off anyway to fish the broken parts out.

The pump still makes some vacuum judging by me putting my thumb over the hole when the car is running, but I guess it's not enough.

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'80 300SD - '83 240D - '00 E55 AMG - '02 G500

Which model pump do you have? If it's the piston type, the check valve components are likely sitting in the pump inlet just below the port for the nipple. The spring and retainer plate are steel so a magnet will remove them. The third part is a plastic plunger.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

I know it's the single port pump. They changed it in 1980 for the W116.

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'80 300SD - '83 240D - '00 E55 AMG - '02 G500

you probably don’t have to take the pump out..the metal bits will come out with a small magnet tool, and the plastic bit will come out with a vacuum cleaner. I taped a homemade nozzle to the end of my shop-vac (made from a small plastic funnel) so I could get the suction inside the pump hole-it took a couple of tries. There’s a thread about it on here from around a year ago.

here’s the thread:

brake booster and m/c, or just m/c?

Success!

Did some invasive surgery on the pump today thanks to a crazy tool that is used for surgery on real people. Used this little grabbed tool made by Storz in Germany that has a tiny grabber on the end of it. I fished the center disk out of the pump then put everything back together. Started it back up and everything is back to normal.

Thanks to all!

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'80 300SD - '83 240D - '00 E55 AMG - '02 G500

Post #5- "OK the nipple was empty. I found the spring and plate in the pump but not the plunger. Any suggestions on getting it out? Can you describe it"

Post #6- "The missing piece is plastic, close to the size of a pencil eraser. You might try a vacuum cleaner."

Post #7- "Nevermind I got it."
A this point he got all of the check valve ports out. I assume he did that before installing another good check valve.

What I said was that people have installed a new check valve without removing the parts that dumped inside (on a piston type vacuum pump) or getting all of the parts out and I have not read of any issues and that is still the case.

There is no mention in the thread you posted of the guy leaving that parts inside and installing a new check valve and then havening a problem and having to remove the parts.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

By center disk were you speaking of the plastic valve?

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Loose parts rattling around in the pump inlet block airflow. If you leave the loose parts behind, it makes no difference if you replace the failed check valve with a new one or leave the old one; the old parts are still there and have the same potential to block airflow. For that matter, the check valve does no materially affect the primary operation of the vacuum pump. It's the fact that folks are having vacuum problems that leads them to discover the failed check valve in the first place.

Parts is parts. If they are causing trouble before you install a new check valve, they are going to cause trouble after you install a new check valve.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

This little piece here. I couldn't find the rest of the parts. Must be in the bottom of the pump.

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'80 300SD - '83 240D - '00 E55 AMG - '02 G500

Short of total and catastrophic failure, there is no possible way for the missing parts to be in the bottom of the vacuum pump. Practically speaking, there is no way for them to get past the intake check valve, which is located about a inch downstream from the pipe nipple containing the failed check valve.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

You are welcomed to your opinion. I am not giving my opinion.

I am saying what does not happen based the experience of others. On the Piston Type Vacuum Pump the parts fall into a chamber that at the end of which is a Disc Valve. In actual practice the parts stay inside of the chamber and cause no issues; again that I have read about. So far that is the fact.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

See the attached diagram in post #15 "When the parts of the Check Valve on the Vacuum Pump go the dump down inside of a cavity in the Vacuum Pump.
The parts fall into the yellow area in the diagram."
'85 300D Vacuum pump question

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

It may be a "fact" that you have not read about something, but that doesn't necessarily form a good basis for drawing conclusions. I can tell you that, when my check valve came apart, the shrapnel would sometimes block the vacuum pump inlet and I would loose essentially all vacuum. The brake booster would stop working and I had to shut the engine down manually. Then I would hit a pothole and the vacuum (and brake boost) would return to normal. And then the process would repeat until I diagnosed the problem and removed the shrapnel.

You might also note that the title of the discussion that I linked earlier was "Intermittent Vacuum Problems." (It is also worth noting that, in that discussion, you agreed with my recommendation to remove the shrapnel.)

Bottom line: if the possibility of sudden and unexpected loss of brake boost is not a problem for you, go ahead and take the easy road and leave the shrapnel behind.

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

Interesting. I dug in there with a bunch of picks, magnets and busted out a 2.5hp shop vac but didn't pull anything out other than the little disk.

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'80 300SD - '83 240D - '00 E55 AMG - '02 G500