Ball bearings in my oil screen! Whose are they?

[Matt Petty]

Hello,
I posted this under a different post but now have a more specific question. Where could the 12 small, 3mm, ball bearings which I found in my oil strainer have come from? There is also a part of their retainer in there. The size of the retainer would point to the bearing belonging to a shaft around 3/8"' in diameter.

The vacuum pump has been suggested. Any other ideas of how ball bearings got into my engine oil?

[Matt Petty]

...these balls are in my '79 300td's oil pump screen.

[Stevo]

They are from the vacuum pump. That happened to another list member and friend of mine. I would think it happened before you owned the car as you surely would have noticed the effect that not having that baring would have on the vacuum pump
How long have you owned the car?

[Zoonhollis]

I swear they are not mine!

[Stevo]

Humm...why would anyone think they might be

Steve

[Matt Petty]

The car is new to me. I think you are right that the failure which produced the balls may have been fixed without regard for shrapnel. Hopefully the new oil pump and relief valve will help my baby's circulation.

Is the vacuum pump removal straightforward? I kinda want to check out the area and see if there is any damage.

Would the pump not make vacuum if these bearings packed up or could it soldier on for a while?

[Stevo]

the balls came from the baring that runs on a sort of "up and downie" track on the timing device that pushes the diaphragm in and out to produce vacuum. the pump would not work without this baring. if your pump is working OK then I think we can assume the failure happened before you got the car and the pump was replaced. Do you have a manual, Haynes is not bad and covers most things pretty well or the CD from eBay is cheap and helpful if you can figure out how to find anything on it.
Steve

"Zoonhollis I swear they are not mine!"

" Stevo Humm...why would anyone think they might be
"

[ricali]

Taking off the pump is pretty simple. After the recent failure off my pump destroying everything in site including the gear on the injection pump I would investigate it. Mine must have ran a long time with the roller and bearings gone and it still had some vacuum.

[Stevo]

ricali

Wow, I woulda never thought it would pump at all. was it making strange noises or giving you any signs, thats down right scary

[Matt Petty]

Hi,
I installed the oil pump and fired up my wagon. Instant oil pressure. 30 psi at hot idle. I hadn't had any signs of vacuum problems other than the ball bearings in my oil screen. Right when I pulled back onto the rack after my test drive my windows don't work and the engine won't shut off!

I removed the vacuum pump to find the bearings intact. So this isn't the pump that self destructed but there are signs that one did explode in the past. The drive ramp on the engine side seems pretty worn. The little wheel on the pump side is nearly the same size as the frame that contains the little wheel.

Any thoughts on the amount of wear which should be seen on these parts would be welcome. Thanks.

I am going to research previous posts on the vacuum system and post a separate post as well as update this one.

[ricali]

My pump was pretty bad with the arm broken off so I have no idea how much wear is acceptable. How much vacuum do you have? Maybe your lucky enough and you found the bearings from previous failure

[Gilly]

YOU have them? I wondered where they went. I want them back!

Gilly