[Vwdiesel] vacuum pump

[Roger Brown]

Scott Alexander wrote:
> 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 

Pull the pump and open it up.  Either a diaphram that is shot or the check valves in the 
pump head are gone (likely the latter).  Two different rebuild kits depending on what is 
wrong.

-- 
    Roger