I have three, but I don't feel totally comfortable selling them, as I don't want to get stuck in a situation where the seller says that I'm responsible to replace his engine because the vacuum pump I sold to him spilled its guts out 2 months later...

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

So you've removed the vacuum pump and you want to store it safely - save the bearings from surface rust?

If so clean a bit with an old rag - then smear in axle grease. Tell whoever wants to fit it to clean the grease off with brake cleaner and then lubricate with clean engine oil before fitting...

...does that sound like a plan?

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

No, no, I want to sell it, as per the original post... I just want to avoid a hypothetical situation like the one in the aforementioned post.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Sell them with the understanding that they're cores and the buyer is at their own risk and should replace the bearing with the fancy-pants caged bearing.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

X2, better not too mess with trying to modify something which if it screws up, you COULD be held responsible for.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

The issue is with the older-style pumps that used plastic cages to separate the ball-bearings. While durable enough when new, age and heat will cause the plastic to disintegrate, spilling the balls into the timing chain area.

I've heard some talk about sandwiching a thin plate between the pump and block to catch any loose bearing parts. But I can't see it guaranty some fragments won't reach the timing-chain when the bearing fails.
The only real assurance with a used pump is to install a NEW lever & bearing kit. And the last time I priced one for my W123 it was around $270!

Personally, I would only install a used vacuum pump temporarily - as I did a few years ago for the few days it took until I could find a new pump for my 300TD.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

When I got my TD I just bought a new pump which wasn't that much more than the lever kit, just didn't want to chance it with that car, it was too nice a find

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

When you sell an old used car its "As-is"....not your responsibility. By buying it they inherit the risk. That way with any used car sale.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I believe it's a pretty simple matter to just replace the bearing. I emailed a local supplier with the specs and never heard anything back and haven't followed up.

Does anyone have a good source for replacement bearings?

Here's what I was going by from another post -

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

^ yep I've just ordered some of those 626 bearings from SKG. Cost me about 20 euros for four bearings (I'm rebuilding two pumps at the moment).

I don't see how a seller of second hand stuff can be responsible for the damage that part might cause to a vehicle. It is buyer beware; you'd have trouble claiming from a manufacturer of new stuff if that happened...

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

If the liability issue were significant on used auto parts, the junk yards would have been driven out of business years ago...not to mention the used car lots...and eBay.

Just don't misrepresent something. That's definitely something that can get you in trouble.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Good idea, i have two too rebuild including the one off my TD, I haven't heard of the arm breaking just the bearing going south, not to say it hasn't happened.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

While on the subject. Is there ever a time when the bearings are not in contact with the cam lobes? If the vacuum is high would the piston be pulled to the top of its travel holding the bearings off the cam? I have heard this some where.
The thought of that set of bearings following the cam lobes at three thousand RPM is real scary. Is that even possible.

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1984 300SD turbo 126
"My true love"

God made me an atheist and who am I to question His wisdom

There's a very strong piston return-spring in the vacuum pump. I don't believe the vacuum produced is strong enough to overcome the spring and hold the piston.
Also, the injector-pump drive gear, that also works the pump, rotates at half engine speed. so at 3000 engine rpm, the gear would be rotating 1500 rpm. However, there are two pump-lobes on this gear so at that rpm, the pump would be working at 3000 pumps per minute.
As for the lever breaking, that's usually when severe engine damage occurs. If the pump fails on a long trip, there may be no noise, or warning, until the driver needs to use the brakes.
That happened to me on my TD, fortunately near the end of a trip to Virginia Beach. In my case the brakes were normal when I used them at the Hampton Tunnel, but had completely lost vacuum when I took my exit off the Expressway into Virginia Beach. So my pump bearings failed somewhere within that 20-mile distance. When they failed, what was left of the 12 balls spilled into the timing-chain cavity, and somehow passed harmlessly through into the oil-pan, where they became trapped by the oil-pump pickup screen. When I got to my destination and removed the pump, the bearing races and lever were still attached, but the drve cams had begun carving a significant slot in the lever.

After the experience with my '84 300TD, a similar one with a friend's '84 190D, later reading threads here and talking to 'JohnHef' who has posted here and is a longtime Mercedes dealer mechanic, the consensus is that there's a good chance the bearing-balls will pass harmlessly into the oil-pan, but continued driving eventually destroys the lever, causing catastrophic engine damage when the lever-fragmants hit the timing-chain!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I've done quite a bit of research into this and will be posting it up soon.

I'll keep you all hanging on for the moment though whilst I check my numbers and finish off the real work - my pump rebuilds!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!