After reading the horror stories about vacuum pump failures, I replaced my original '87 ~180,000 mile pump on Saturday. The pump still looked fine, the timing device cam still looked fine, but I really couldn't stand the idea of driving around with a ticking vacuum pump time bomb. The new pump came with instructions that further reinforced my fear. They make a really big deal about checking the condition of the cam and how any wear at all will lead to certain failure of the pump and likely engine damage. Anyway, it's an easy job (although more $$ than I wanted to spend). Glad it's done.

Anyone want to buy a good used vacuum pump -- cheap??

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1987 W201 190D

BTDT too, ended up tossing the working take-off in the trash. Seems that someone would want it to attempt to rebuild or something, but like you and me, most guys figure it isn't worth risking the engine.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff