vacuum pump died

[NJGearhead666]

In a nutshell my vacuum pump is about 3 years old and it won't pull more then 15" of vacuum. it was a rebuilt replacement pump but I do not remember what company it is from. What is the best rebuild to go with? I'm looking to just order one from rockauto.com since they seem to have the best price compared to the places by me.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Have you isolated the pump from the rest of the system and checked vacuum right at the pump ??

Have you ever checked/changed the pump oil ??

 

[Silver Burner]

I like your sig, Rider. I remind people of this sometimes myself, being an electrician. Electric motors, internal combustion engines.

 

[NJGearhead666]

Yes I checked vacuum right at the pump. I have not checked the oil in it. How would I go about doing that?

 

[riotwarrior]

....I have not checked the oil in it. How would I go about doing that?

Thats a great question....I wonder that myself, I'll go look and see if I can figure that out.

 

[icanfixall]

On the back of the vacuum pump is a plug. You need to remove the pump from the engine. Lay it over and remove the plug. Usually STP Oil Treatment is the desired lube for these. Drain out whats in there. Then refill... Thats about it...BTW these pumps suck no matter what direction they turn.. I found this out by accident when I installed my serpentine belt system. At the 2009 rally Travis aka argrve asked me how my vacuum pump was working... I have the hydroboost brake system so its really not a big deal if the vacuum pump caves... I said fine.. Why do you ask.. Then he pointed out that my belt was not touching the vacuum pump pulley and it was running on the wrong side of it. I thought he was teasing me till I looked and touched it.. Sure enough I installed a too short belt and ran it the wrong direction. Driving the 2000 miles to the rally I did loose the cruise control a couple of times. So I drove it home like that and fixed it then. I even had a diagram picture from towcat showing me how the belt gets around al the pulleys... And still messed up... But I did "discover" some good information too....

 

[NJGearhead666]

I will change the oil and see if that helps.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

i got mine from rockauto. been working great.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I will change the oil and see if that helps.

Changing the oil may or may not help.

Many new and newly-rebuilt pumps have little or NO OIL in them, thus the short life.

Many so-called technicians just slap a new unit on and never give a thought to checking the oil level; most don't even know what that 10-mm bolt is for and have never taken a look.

It is imperative that even a brand-new pump have it's oil level checked prior to installation.

On the rear-center of the pump housing is a 10-mm bolt, exactly opposite the pulley-shaft; that bolt is the check/fill/drain plug.

As icanfixall states, these belt-driven pumps will work regardless of direction of rotation.

Reason being, they consist of nothing more than a simple shaft with an eccentric cam lobe that cares not which direction it spins; it oscillates up and down regardless of rotation.

Riding on this egg-shaped cam is a simple operating-rod that just slides up-and-down within it's bore.

The high side of the eccentric cam-lobe pushes the rod against the vacuum "pod" diaphragm.

As the cam rotates toward the low side, the diaphragm pushes the rod back down, keeping it always in contact with the cam-lobe.

There are two bearings, one each side of the cam-lobe.

You may be fortunate enough that lack of oil is causing enough belt slip to yield the low vacuum readings and adding a bit of oil might free things up enough to maintain good vacuum.

The operating rod may be gummed-up and sticking part-way in the bore, thus not making a full stroke.

Regardless of whether they are belt-driven, gear-driven, or whatever, Ford, GM, or Dodge, the vacuum pods are all the same bolt-pattern and are all interchangeable.

To my knowledge, only one company builds ALL of the pods; the cam assembly may be built by various different concerns, but all the pods come from one source.

Actually, if you are consistently getting 15-inches HG, and have quick recovery, I would not discard the pump; I would, however, remove it, dis-assemble it, and clean and polish the rod's bore and the rod, and re-fill it with STP, or 90WT, or good 15W-40.

Do you have a dash-mounted vacuum gauge ??

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I like your sig, Rider. I remind people of this sometimes myself, being an electrician. Electric motors, internal combustion engines.

THANK YOU !!! THANK YOU !!! THANK YOU !!!

Another peeve of mine is the grossly popular mis-use of the term "point blank range", commonly mis-used even by cops who, of all people, should know better.





Definition: point blank range --- that spread of distance in a projectiles flight where the projectile is no more than one-inch above, nor one-inch below line-of-sight the SECOND time the projectile crosses line-of-sight; thus, at any distance within point blank range, one can hold dead-on and the projectile will strike within one-inch of point-of-aim; the flatter the trajectory, the greater the point blank range.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Well, here is a point blank Vacuum pump on ebay U-haul, don't know if it's a good price, they have two of them. V-belt and serpentine belt have a different size pulley shaft, just info.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Vacuum...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2562c1b7e0

 

[idi_econoline]

Ah, well. Put all my belt-driven stuff back on Tuesday (after head gaskets, etc). Put on coolant hoses and poured in coolant today, only to find a leak from thermostat housing gasket??? Whuttheheck?????

My point? Gotta take off the alternator/vac pump bracket to get to lower thermostat bolt. Vac pump out anyway, off comes fill bolt on back.

Almost makes this setback worth it...

Had NO idea about oil in this pump! Thx much, fellas.

 

[icanfixall]

That thermostat gasket leak usually is the gasket and stat intrefere with each other when it clamps together. When your tightening down the two bolts make sure they pull down evenly and not have a spungy feel.

 

[idi_econoline]

Many thanx, icanfixall; guilty as charged. A sloppy moment, for sure.

Thanks for detouring this thread (to my advantage).

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, joined in progress.....

 

[icanfixall]

Many thanx, icanfixall; guilty as charged. A sloppy moment, for sure.

Thanks for detouring this thread (to my advantage).

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, joined in progress.....

Well I too was guilty once of installing a sloppy thermostat and having it leak. As close as the housing is to the head one could easily think a head gasket was the leak.. I know that was my first thought..