[Vwdiesel] vacuum pump

[Scott Alexander]

I have an 82 Rabbit D.  A few months back, while sorting through some
brake issues, I noticed that I wasn't getting any vacuum from the vacuum
pump.  I got a rebuild kit and replaced various pieces including the
diaphragm which had a tear.

Last week, after somewhat hard braking to avoid the latest bad repair of
where they had torn up the street, the brakes started being very high
effort if I had braked recently.  (That is, the first step on the pedal
usually feels normal.  The second one is very high effort.  If I wait a
while the cycle restarts.)  Last night, I pulled the check valve out of
the booster and there is no vacuum with the car idling just after
startup.  My recollection is that turning the pump by hand with my
finger over the opening caused noticeable vacuum on the bench, so I'm
assuming that I should have vacuum even at idle.

Any suggestions on what to look at when I open the pump again?  Are some
rebuild kits better than others?  Is there some other failure which can
cause the pump to chew through parts?

Thanks,
Scott Alexander
Warren, NJ