Those electric ones have got to be loud, right? Any air electric pumps I have seen make some serious noise; especially that small.

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1987 300TD 147,000 miles- Palomino leather interior, 1995 facelift and body cladding, E350 wheels, Rebuilt suspension and sport springs, rebuilt turbo, New Monarch injection pump and injectors....and the list goes on and on...

On the suggestion to drag magnets etc., seems like a good idea. Beyond that, I'd consider pouring a couple of quarts of inexpensive oil in the opening where your vac-pump was, to see if you might flush that last bearing out.

I like the mechanical vac-pump just fine, but as I look at the work I just put in my engine, and add the receipts, looks like around $9k on a previously good engine. A failing vac-pump would ruin my day even if it is a relatively rare occurance.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

So. I purchased an 87 300D in 2003 with around 214k miles. Smoothest running diesel I have ever ownd (previous were 4 and 5 cylinders), couldn't tell at idle if the thing was running, from inside of course. However, the oil pressure needle would fluctuate dramatically at idle. Blew it off thinking it was the sender. Long story short, vacuum pump was updated version, by looking at the front. Thanksgiving day 04 cruising down 91 in LA, when boom! oil pressure to zero, engine lost all power. Made it over to right shoulder, barely. AAA sent tow truck and back home we went. Later diagnoses, took side resevior off oil pan and found chunks of bearing races, and oddly, chain parts.
My final determination: Vacuum pump failed on previous owner. Pump was replaced but, bearing race chunks had fallen into oil pan. Chunks started to get sucked up by oil pump, eventually beating their way through oil pump screen locking up oil pump and snapping oil pump chain. Also determined fluctuating oil pressure needle was caused by broken chain tensioner: oil pressure was actually fluctuating, not caused by bad sending unit. Don't know if this was caused by failed vacuum pump though.

Tear down revealed bottom end of engine was toast. Melted bearing metal was sprayed up the sides of block from crankshaft journals and connecting rods. Oil pump was locked solid!

Took ten months to rebuild, crankshaft just needed polish, so it was reused along with the updated vacuum pump. Getting 30 MPG, 40,000 later so all is good. Not as smooth as before but acceptable.

Moral of story:If vacuum pump is an issue for whatever reason, pulling side resevior on oil pan is a must to see if chunks have fallen. Make sure you have a new gasket and don't overtorque bolts, trust me, dam it! Do whatever you can to inspect oil pump, oil pump chain, oil pump chain tensioner and tension spring while side resevoir is removed. Tensioner replacement requires timing cover removal. Hope this helps.

The One I "Pictured" is listed at 58dBA and if it's mounted properly (Vibration)
you'd be hard pressed to "hear" it over the normal engine noise.

Skleutz's catastrophe is just the sort of Nightmare I envision...
Although his was a "Present" from the P.O.
And he never suffered a V.P. failure himself.

We've seen more than one failure,documented on the forum, of Non-V.P. parts
"Beating" their way through the Oil Pump pickup screen with Catastrophic
results.
Even with Magnets in the Oil Pan, non-ferrous parts will gain entry to the Oil
Pump through the Screen and "Boom".

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I feel for you man! What a story. I have read posts that the updated vacuum pump (with sealed bearings) has the Torque screws on the front of the pump vs. the original smooth cover.

DON'T USE THAT ALONE TO DETERNINE IF YOU HAVE THE UPDATED PUMP!

I pulled one from the junkyard last year with the Screws on the front thinking I scored a updated pump. When I got it off I was surprised to see that it had the exposed bearing/older version guts

As mentioned above, I pulled another one last week with the same scews on the front cover, and it WAS the updated , sealed bearing, version.
They are both sitting in my garage right now side-by side.

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1987 300TD 147,000 miles- Palomino leather interior, 1995 facelift and body cladding, E350 wheels, Rebuilt suspension and sport springs, rebuilt turbo, New Monarch injection pump and injectors....and the list goes on and on...

Mostly the older Buicks and Cadillacs around 82 or so. they will produce 24+ inches of vacuum and are reasonably quiet. I got one for installing on a Volvo td which had a leaking diaphragm. They were designed to produce vacuum for the power brakes since the engine vacuum was insufficient at some rpms for some reason. Fairly sturdy and cheap, got mine for $10 if I recall. Cheers Dan

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It's always something simple
91 300D 603.960 (from japan) 194K
92 Toyota Diesel Landcruiser HDJ81-t 116K
02 Golf TDI new head courtesy of PO
87 300D
97 BMW 525 TDS Wagon 5spd
bunch of Onan and other diesel generators

Does the pump run all the time? Does it draw from the booster directly or is there a system reservoir?

Sixto
87 300D

I never looked into the wiring scheme for the pump. It was meant to supply vacuum to the brakes in periods of low engine vacuum. It may have run continious or may have been controlled by a pressure switch. It would seem likely that it ran all the time as the demand for vacuum could come up quite suddenly ie a panic stop. I want to say that it teed into the vacuum line before the booster with a check valve on the line to the rest of the vacuum system thus making the booster a reservoir of sorts. Not 100% sure on that one. I have used it for various things including testing a cooling system for leaks, vacuum system, isolate, wait an hour and check to see if the vacuum holds. Cheers Dan

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It's always something simple
91 300D 603.960 (from japan) 194K
92 Toyota Diesel Landcruiser HDJ81-t 116K
02 Golf TDI new head courtesy of PO
87 300D
97 BMW 525 TDS Wagon 5spd
bunch of Onan and other diesel generators

The one on my friend's F350 isn't too loud. But it is fairly small and only drives the climate control head. Everything else on the truck is done with oil or power steering fluid.

I think my father's 1.8t Passat has one, and I have never heard it run.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.