Dorman Vacuum air pump testing Rockauto

[WrenchWhore]

Yeah I had a situation like that recently where I was driving with a blown brake booster and blew threw a 4 way stop because the truck wouldn't stop. After that I said no more of this Sh** i'm fixing it now. I could have killed someone.

Yeah I can see why the serp belt is a great addition but I like my V belts for some reason. Especially the heavy duty green ones. Makes me feel special and superior to other v-belt-ers lol

Almost like i'm v-belt royalty

 

[Cubey]

Yeah I had a situation like that recently where I was driving with a blown brake booster and blew threw a 4 way stop because the truck wouldn't stop. After that I said no more of this Sh** i'm fixing it now. I could have killed someone.

Yeah I can see why the serp belt is a great addition but I like my V belts for some reason. Especially the heavy duty green ones. Makes me feel special and superior to other v-belt-ers lol

Almost like i'm v-belt royalty

I seem to have gotten the last brake booster in the US that fits the 84-86 Ecolines.. no one has them. Even stores that say in stock (like AutoZone) actually don't. Says in stock, try adding to cart and it says it's unavailable.

RockAuto shows a rebuild service they sell, but you have to send it in to where ever and hope it comes back someday in working condition.

Yes and no about serpentine, because.... I still had power steering (and water pump!) since it's v-belts. If you lose your serpentine belt, you lose everything instantly and you have to instantly pull over and stop driving.

And as I recall, the ALT and PS belt is the same thing, so in a pinch, you could move it from PS to ALT so you have brakes.

 

[Cubey]

I will say... when I bought my RV, it's vac pump was bad. So I bought a Cardone pump (it was the cheapest on Amazon at the time).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WQ5BGK/

I ended up putting it on my F250 (also a C6) and moved the F250's lifetime warranty one from 2017 to the RV. And, the Cardone one from early 2019 was good. I have driven my F250 with it and had no problems with the C6 or with braking.

So, you might consider trying a Cardone one if money is tight. I'm considering it myself since it's free returns if it's bad, just like the Dorman one I will be returning to Amazon. Maybe they haven't botched their pumps like Dorman has.

I think I might do it myself since I have plenty of time to mess around with this. It's only 4 miles round trip to town and back, braking is ok with the old pump, and I have a Honda scooter to supplement trips to town, so it might be worth me trying a Cardone too. I'm on full RV hookups so the RV never really has to move. As long as I don't leave it without a vacuum pump at all (in case of an emergency where I need to drive away) then I have enough time to keep replacing the pump. Although I might just order the Cardone today, and put it on while in the return process of the Dorman next week, so it might be without a vac pump for a few days in that case.

EDIT: Cardone pump ordered. Shows delivery on Monday Aug 8 (free shipping, not prime) so that's not bad. I'll have enough time to try it out before the return window is closed for the Dorman (August 16). And if it's junk too, it can go back along with the Dorman. There is a UPS drop off place in town, so I can easily return stuff for free to Amazon with their return labels. Costs me nothing but time to try, just time and soap on my hands. I'll leave the Dorman installed until the Cardone gets here. Since I'm not driving the RV at all right now, it doesn't matter. If Cardone is trash too, then I might consider the Napa one.

 

[WrenchWhore]

I'm reading the ad description "Vehicle try-on testing has been conducted on this part to ensure trouble-free performance" BULLS*** Whatever standard they are using is junk. I'll definitely look into Cardone.
Rockauto is actually more expensive than Amazon for some reason with that link you sent.

 

[Cubey]

I'm reading the ad description "Vehicle try-on testing has been conducted on this part to ensure trouble-free performance" BULLS*** Whatever standard they are using is junk. I'll definitely look into Cardone.
Rockauto is actually more expensive than Amazon for some reason with that link you sent.

Sometimes RockAuto is better but yes, always shop around. I just bought 2 air filters from RockAuto, because the ATS 085 turbo kit takes 70s-1981 Porsche 911 air filters that no retail parts stores sell. And they were way more expensive on Amazon for 2, even with RockAuto's $11 shipping. I tossed in a couple other small things with it like a spare radiator cap that was half the normal price and some other thing I have totally forgotten now lol

I hate buying Amazon for reasons but they are ideal a lot of the time for my budget and lifestyle (fast shipping if I get prime) plus free returns on so much stuff. Can try something and return it at no cost to you if it's junk. Just don't abuse it, is all.

 

[Cubey]

OH!!! beware, they have changed things!!! It's not free returns unless you go to a UPS store!!

It's gonna cost me $7.99 to return the bad pump since there is no UPS store here. I canceled the Cardone order. I guess I'll just wait until I get to an O'Reilly and hope their warranty replacement is good.

Edit 1: Walmart might be a good option.... same price as Amazon, a 90 day return window (only 30 on Amazon) and free returns in store and online they say:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/CARDONE-New-90-1006-Vacuum-Pump-fits-1983-1992-Ford/196173532

"Most items sold & shipped by Walmart can be returned for free, either to a store or by mail. Walmart handles the delivery, returns and customer service for these items."

I have done in store returns from online shipped items before and it's no hassle with the order bar code from your phone.

Edit 2: yep, I ordered from Walmart instead. I'll be near a Walmart within 90 days from today, if the Cardone pump is junk too, so I can return it for free eventually in store, in the event that they don't mean free return shipping like Amazon did have at one point not long ago. Shows Tuesday Aug 9 delivery, so still within the Amazon return window so I can wait until next week to swap out the pumps and hope that Cardone is good. I'll report back here too, in case you are curious about if I get a good Cardone before you try one.

 

[WrenchWhore]

Ok now to throw a wrench in the mix...I just went outside and checked my vacuum pump again with another gauge I had laying around (old school Craftsman) and now im get about 25 lbs quickly and after a few seconds it's hits about 26.5 lbs of vacuum?? Maybe this pump is ok after all and my gauge I was using was wrong. The old one was leaking a slight bit of oil so atleast that's fixed but it wasn't dead dead like some. Now i'm thinking i need to get another vacuum gauge and check with one last time. I checked my readings at the vacuum pump low pressure sensor and at the brake boost fitting and got the same results.

I must say the brakes do feel great now. Like better than ever but better than almost none is easy to achieve, you know?

 

[Cubey]

Ok now to throw a wrench in the mix...I just went outside and checked my vacuum pump again with another gauge I had laying around (old school Craftsman) and now im get about 25 lbs quickly and after a few seconds it's hits about 26.5 lbs of vacuum?? Maybe this pump is ok after all and my gauge I was using was wrong. The old one was leaking a slight bit of oil so atleast that's fixed but it wasn't dead dead like some. Now i'm thinking i need to get another vacuum gauge and check with one last time. I checked my readings at the vacuum pump low pressure sensor and at the brake boost fitting and got the same results.

I must say the brakes do feel great now. Like better than ever but better than almost none is easy to achieve, you know?

My brake pedal felt crappy with the new pump, so, unless it fixes itself, it's probably actually bad. Unless it needs to be broken in?

Edit: nope mine is still crappy. The vac goes up better now with the engine RPMs, but it drops quickly when the RPMs go down, as if there's a leak? Maybe the pump has a tiny tear in the diaphragm from manufacturing or something.

This is what my pump shows directly to it. That is 2psi better than the old one but still 3 below what the old one was.

You must be registered for see images attach

The in cab gauge still idles at 17, when it used to idle at 20 just a month ago with the old pump. Revving the engine a little slowly makes it go up around 19 but that's still not very good.

The belts aren't loose, so that's not it. Maybe the vac pump belt is starting to slip? It's very tight right now though. I guess I can try putting on my new "budget" spare vac belt and see if that helps any. I'll try that in the next few days sometime. Costs nothing to try!

 

[WrenchWhore]

Man I wonder if you've got a leak some where. Two gauges reading different readings is suspect but that's exactly what i'm dealing with now. I just went outside again and checked with a 3rd gauge I had and I'm getting about 23.5 lbs. So in total the three gauges read 17lbs. (your style gauge Cubey) 23.5 for the second gauge and 26.5 lbs. ford the 3rd. I'm going to call this one a junk gauge problem. If it's anywhere over 20 i'm happy. I does annoy me that every gauge is different. It's like dropped torque wrenches or dropped air gauges they always read different after they are dropped which judging from how old mine are they are definitely suspect.

 

[Cubey]

Man I wonder if you've got a leak some where. Two gauges reading different readings is suspect but that's exactly what i'm dealing with now. I just went outside again and checked with a 3rd gauge I had and I'm getting about 23.5 lbs. So in total the three gauges read 17lbs. (your style gauge Cubey) 23.5 for the second gauge and 26.5 lbs. ford the 3rd. I'm going to call this one a junk gauge problem. If it's anywhere over 20 i'm happy. I does annoy me that every gauge is different. It's like dropped torque wrenches or dropped air gauges they always read different after they are dropped which judging from how old mine are they are definitely suspect.

No, the in cab gauge is with all accessories hooked up (except cruise) so it will show a lower reading than directly from the pump with no accessories like on the test gauge.

In other words, the old pump shows 20 with nothing hooked up, about 15 with everything (except cruise) hooked up. It loses some since it's having to power various things (that could be leaky?).

When old pump was still good, it showed 25 with nothing hooked up, 20 with everything hooked up.

The new pump shows 22 with nothing hooked up, 17 with everything hooked up. So, it's not a very good pump.... unless the big main hose coming straight from the vac pump somehow went bad.

And with your T19, you have less load on your pump than I do with a C6 that needs vacuum to operate properly.

 

[Cubey]

Well, the friends I met here at the RV park offered to take me on a trip to a nearby city next week (66 miles one way, but they have a lil 4cyl manual trans Kia Soul so it's not too expensive of a drive) to do a warranty exchange for the O'Reilly one, and also to drop off the Amazon one to a UPS store, so I don't have to pay the $8 return shipping. We have been going around to various national parks and monuments in the area this week too, so yeah. Awesome folks.

I already called the O'Reilly there this evening and they said yes, will honor the warranty, since I was able to verify it's a legit claim: Phone number? Name? When and where did you buy it?

Being 5+ years ago, they probably question if it's a legit claim. "Who keeps such an old vehicle for 5 more years?!"

They had to special order it so it won't be there until Tuesday afternoon (UPS delivery). They said they are going to eat the UPS shipping cost since it's a direct warranty claim replacement, so that's nice.

They mentioned I do have to bring the old pump in, as if that's not something people actually want to do. Yeah, I know, you want to have the old pump before you hand over a new $140 pump. It still has the part # printed on it, same as the one I called about, and I have the paper receipt so I'll that as a bit of extra ammo to prove that I did in fact buy it.

Who knows if it'll be any better than the one I got from Amazon, since the Amazon one is the same part number. But parts are a crap shoot... maybe I'll get a good one from them.

I'll just let the Walmart one come too, just in case. If the O'Reilly replacement is good, I'll just return the Walmart in a couple months without opening it. If the O'Reilly one is just as bad or worse, I'll try the Walmart one and then warranty the O'Reilly one again.

I think I'll gorilla tape my electric drill to the vac pump (without the pulley installed) to test it before I install it, so maybe I can see if it's pulling in ~25 psi. Or maybe I can use one of the threaded bits from my pulley installer kit to rotate the pump with the drill. The vac pump shaft turns clockwise just like the engine, if I'm not mistaken, if I'm picturing it right in my head with how the belts would pull it. I didn't think to look before I pulled the Amazon one back off this evening.

 

[Cubey]

The Cardone pump came a day early. I went ahead and installed it, since it has only a 90 day return window from Walmart, and I wanted to make sure it's good. It costs half as much as O'Reilly ($75 vs $150) so yeah.

I'll still be exchanging the 5 year old lifetime warranty Dorman tomorrow. They called and said it arrived today (also a day early). I'll keep that one as a spare since it costs me nothing, and it might be better than nothing in an emergency if the Cardone doesn't last long.

Anyway, here's the readings I got on the new Cardone (made in China).

It's a bit better than the new Dorman purchased from Amazon, but still not as good as the 2017 Dorman from O'Reilly. But, I'll leave it on, since I'll be driving 4 miles round trip a few times a month to town and back so that should give me a good test run of it, to see if the C6 behaves with it. And maybe the pump will break in and do better after it gets run a bit? Funny how it lacks any squeaks from inside the pump like past pumps had when new. But anyway, it's 1-2 psi better than the new Dorman, so it's still an improvement.

You must be registered for see images attach

Oh and I didn't have the pulley pressed on quite fully on the old pump. The belt was a bit worn unevenly and was showing it's age (cracks between the teeth). I made sure the pulley was put on fully this time, and I put a new $1-2 budget belt I got from RockAuto for the time being, so it isn't trying to run on an messed up belt. I have a new Gates XL 7330 belt on the way ($9 online, $29 in store!!), which I'll install right after it gets here, and keep the budget one just for a spare again.

 

[WrenchWhore]

Can you notice a difference in the braking with the new pump or is it basically the same? I imagine the trans shifting is the main reason behind the pump replacement but I'm glad to hear it's better and not worse than before.

Yeah I've definitely realized if I want nice parts and are willing to shop around online and verify part numbers I can get nice parts like the HD green V-belts or even rear axle seals that parts stores charge like $35 per seal instead of about 8$ on rockauto. Sometimes you have to pony up but if you're willing to wait you can really come up on deals.

 

[snicklas]

Was there oil in the new pump? Not trying to be a smarta** but there are several members that found their new pumps to not have oil in them. Thre was no warning about needing to add oil..... but they were empty...

 

[Cubey]

Was there oil in the new pump? Not trying to be a smarta** but there are several members that found their new pumps to not have oil in them. Thre was no warning about needing to add oil..... but they were empty...

Dunno. I didn't notice any leaking out when I had the rubber cap removed from the barb. I didn't add any to the old Dorman and it lasted 5 years, but maybe it had oil? Where would you add oil? And what kind?

The Amazon Dorman didn't have any instructions. The Walmart Cardone one came with a ton of instructions for various types of driven vac pumps (belt, cam, gear) which all just amount to saying to move the old one and install the new one.