Power Brake Vacuum Assist Failure on Diesel Vehicles

[malcolmkegel]

As soon as my vacuum pump was replaced the ac worked perfectly.
Cold air was always present just not through the main vents.

[berns378]

Thanks for the info. I am picking up van today and will talk to rich to see if compressor was checked after vac pump was installed.

[berns378]

Picked up van yesterday and talked to Rich, he said compressor had a leak in it and needed to be replaced. Always feel good after leaving dealership and talking to Rich. I just hope I don't make this visit too often. I believe the next time I will talk to Rich will b in a few weeks at a meet in the Alabama Hills.C YA!

[boywonder]

FWIW, 1der and I found a place in LA that sells complete hydro-boost kits for $800 off of scrapped E-450 ambulances. Includes everything, including steering boxes. If anyone is interested, PM me or 1der.

[allenl]

We had a vacuum pump failure leaving the Biltmore this year after the Expo east. It seized, and by the time I got to a good place to pull over, the serpentine belt had come apart. We just so happened to come to a stop in front of a very nice family's house. They invited us to pull into their backyard and camp for the night... Which was extra fun due to a steep incline and no power steering.

I took an uber to Napa on Sunday morning and grabbed a new belt and vacuum pump (be sure to get the one with the a new pulley already installed). Had everything back together in 2-3 hours. The 7.3L vac pump has 3 bolts, a couple that were kinda tough to get at but nothing too bad. I'd recommend adding a set ratcheting box wrenches to your tool kit (10 MM bolts on the vac pump). The serpentine belt was a whole lot easier to route with an extra set of hands, thanks Charlie (the guy whose house we camped out at came out to see how I was doing right about this point).

All in all, we spent an extra night in NC and about $200. The new-to-me 7.3L has around 250k on it. I'd be curious to know if this was the first failure. Definitely would have been a serious problem if we'd been in the backcountry. I've added this to the preventative maintenance list after another 100k.

[audisnapr]

Our pump let go just the other day in Maryland on our way back from eclipse watching in our 2005, 6.0 w/50K. The van is still down in Owings, MD at a shop called Gronodos. Headed back down today to pick her up.

Fortunately for me the noise was loud enough that I pulled into a parking lot to check it out before complete failure. No codes, engine felt great. We decided to drive down to the nearest gas station only a mile down the road, but as soon as I started to back out of the parking space I noticed the hard brake pedal. That's when I knew it must have had something to do with the vacuum setup. Did a quick search and found plenty of posts, videos, etc.

I didn't have it in me to do the repair myself, so this one is gonna sting, I'm sure.

[malcolmkegel]

Sorry to hear about this. We know the feeling and have sympathy. Scary. Good luck!

[Bbasso]

Don't fear doing a vacuum pump in either 7.3 or 6.0.
Granted the 7.3 is easier...
Just set aside a few hours.

[malcolmkegel]

It's not the repair so much as the feeling of having no brakes

[HK33FAN]

Time to add Sportacus to the list of mechanical vacuum pump failers. Here are the stats, 2007 6.0, 75k miles. in retrospect, I should have noticed it going out a few months ago. It all started when the vents would not change from defrost to floor vents, causing very cold toes. for quite a few months I have been hearing a puttering sound on the driver side and thought it was an exhaust manifold leak. three days ago it started to sound like a small air compressor then holy S$%#$$ no breaks, well very little braking. 10000lb without brake assist was not easy to stop in freeway traffic. I am surprised there is no safety recall on this issue, this could have been deadly. welp, It's in the shop now, so stand by for updates on price and shop quality report. AAA towed it without to much fuss, tow company wanted to confirm that is was under 12,000lb.

Other members have asked about electric pump backup options. Ford did use electric vacuum pumps on the F250s and E250s, Dorman part number #904-214. I will be buying one and adding it to my spare parts kit, It will be much easier to splice in an electric pump then try to install a mechanical one in the field.