I need some advice.
I've got a vacuum problem in my '85 300D. I was driving to the mountains (a couple hours away) on Friday and when I stepped on the brakes to pull into a fuel station it felt like I had no power brakes. My motor will not shut off with the key. The auto transmission is shifting harshly. And eventually, I ran out of vacuum to operate the power locks. My father and I separated the line not far from the vacuum pump and felt no suction on the line. A friend said I could buy a rebuild kit for the vacuum pump. Does this sound like what I need to do? Any other suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On that model the vacuum pump is very strong! Usually the problem is with the check valves in the pump NOT the pump itself.
You can buy the check valve kit & the check valve at the top of the pump that causes most of the problems.

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I purchased the check valve for the top of the pump assembly. But when I took the old check valve off, I started the car and felt no vaccuum in the inlet where the check valve was. Is it likely internal? Shall I remove the entire vaccuum pump assembly to have a look inside, or can I just take the cover off othe front and see what's next in line?