I got the opportunity to talk with my previous owner about my vacuum pump (79 300sd) He told me that he rebult it himself with a diaphram of his own making. Should I be concerned with this. The guy is pretty mechanical but I did see some oil in the lines when I was messing with the vacuum lines (thread a few days ago) http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=33419
Could this oil have been there from before or do I need to worry?

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I would rebuild it. MB's like genuine MB/OEM parts.

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
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'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

I second the motion. Cheers to that guy for inginuity but if your going to keep the car, why not make it right? As a hobby I bought a couple feet of high quality woven vacuum hose at my parts store($3.50/ft). When I'm bored I go through and replace vacuum hoses. They look nice and it can't hurt seeing how these cars rely so much on vacuum pressure.

Also, I don't know if my vacuum pump is piston or diaphram type. It's an 82, does anyone know? So far I see no evidence of oil in the vacuum lines and I'd like to keep it that way. Is this type of failure common for both types of pumps or just one?

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1982 300D Turbo "Helga"
380,000 miles

My car has the newer piston tyope, yours should too. The piston type is more reliable and does not need to be rebuilt as much as the diaphram type. But there is a rebuild kit for the piston type if a repair is required.

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
-------------------------------------
'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold