RaDi90Hybrid Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 After an extensive search to track down the source of the oil which was being dumped on the drive under my Disco 300TDi I traced it to a leaking vacuum pump. The oil was leaking between the casing and the cover, not an uncommon problem apparently, and not wanting to part with the best part of £100 I decided to try repairing it, I had nothing to lose. The leak appears to be caused by the rivets securing the cover to the body becoming lose so the idea was to replace the rivets with nuts and bolts. The brakes on the vehicle were fine so it was only a case of re-sealing the cover. First I removed the pump from the side of the block. Clamped it in the vice (carefully as it is only cast ally) and drilled the rivets out with a 4.5mm drill bit. Once this was done I carefully removed the cover waiting to catch any bits which came flying out……… result! Nothing All that is loose is the 'o' ring. It is worth noting the shape of the 'o' ring and hence it is not worth buying an 'o' ring kit to manufacture a new one (I now know!) Next I cleaned up the surfaces and the 'o' ring carefully, refitting the 'o' ring into the groove and replacing the cover. I used M5 X 20mm bolts, washers & nyloc nuts to retain the cover, but had to grind a flat edge on the washers which went against the casing. Once complete I refitted to the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milliejasper1111 Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 I did that a few months ago too, and has worked a treat! Few nuts and bolts, much cheaper than a new one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Nice one - excellent repair Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDi90Hybrid Posted May 8, 2010 Author Share Posted May 8, 2010 Nice one - excellent repair Les. Thanks Les, might be a good one for the Land Rover Technical Archive? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozsug Posted May 8, 2010 Share Posted May 8, 2010 Great documentention of the repair, did mine about a year ago and managed to get a new o ring from wabco, 3.50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Interesting, because I have been told a few times that it doesn't work. I DO know that trying to fix a non-working pump is a waste of time as it is full of interesting bits of plastic that are made of unobtainium and tend to be of the 'pingon' type ie. you hear 'ping' and its 'gone' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDi90Hybrid Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 Interesting, because I have been told a few times that it doesn't work. I DO know that trying to fix a non-working pump is a waste of time as it is full of interesting bits of plastic that are made of unobtainium and tend to be of the 'pingon' type ie. you hear 'ping' and its 'gone' Update Ran it up last night and then test-drove it and the pump is shows no signs of oil leakage. I did not try to 'repair' the internals of the thing, only trying to stop the leak from the end casing and it seems to have done the trick. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Strap Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 fosug - do you have any info on the Wabco gasket...? part no / source ..? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frogland Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 Oil seems to be collecting in the circular recess of my vacuum pump hence I'm not entirely sure whether it's a leak from the casing ? could anyone shed some light on this for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Range Rover Blues Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Anyone know where I can get a blanking pkate for the vac pump? our TDi has ABS and no EGR so it's redundant and could go in the bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon_81 Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 yesterday while off roading i finally managed to identify the source of my oil leak, and it's this pump while the disco is leaning to the drivers side it dumps quite a lot of oil from the housing. now, my question is how do i know if the pump is leaking or knackered? to me the brakes don't feel very good - never have in the 4 months i've owned it - but then again the brakes on my car are fantastic - so i can't really compare the 2...? any help appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozsug Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 yesterday while off roading i finally managed to identify the source of my oil leak, and it's this pump while the disco is leaning to the drivers side it dumps quite a lot of oil from the housing. now, my question is how do i know if the pump is leaking or knackered? to me the brakes don't feel very good - never have in the 4 months I've owned it - but then again the brakes on my car are fantastic - so i can't really compare the 2...? any help appreciated Clean the oil from the back cover on the vacuum pump with a rag with some thinners, so its dry, you will probably then be able to see that the screws or rivets holding the back cover on are loose , start up and you will see oil dripping or dribbling from the rear of the pump. Follow the thread for repair as above, and happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon_81 Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 i can see the oil dripping without needing to clean it... so my question was whether the pump leaking causes the brakes to be a bit shady? so will fixing the leak cure the problem or do i need a new pump? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonx90 Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 I've a Disco 300Tdi in my 90. It's mounted in the same position as the original 200Tdi engine which means that it's closer to the bulkhead than if it was a 'proper' 300Tdi 90. The end result is about an inch of clearance to get the vacuum pump out. My question is: once the vacuum pump is unbolted how far does it need to be moved from the block before it's free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozsug Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 I've a Disco 300Tdi in my 90. It's mounted in the same position as the original 200Tdi engine which means that it's closer to the bulkhead than if it was a 'proper' 300Tdi 90. The end result is about an inch of clearance to get the vacuum pump out. My question is: once the vacuum pump is unbolted how far does it need to be moved from the block before it's free? The plunger that runs on the camshaft is about 2 inches proud of the flange So with only 1 inch clearance its going to be a tight squeeze but doable I'm sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Just done this repair on a customers vehicle and it worked a treat, so thanks for that Andy Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco_al Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Anyone know where I can get a blanking pkate for the vac pump? our TDi has ABS and no EGR so it's redundant and could go in the bin. not really a good idea as you need the vac pump to generate the vacuum to run the servo, without it you would have no servo assistance on the normal foot brake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thys Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Well done RaDi90Hybrid, I had a cheap vacuum pump fitted, and after only 7 months the one welch plug popped, fortunately just as I was pulling into a filling station. I managed to modify with a tube and pipe clamp, and limped back to the nearest town, booked into a guest house and had a Wabco couriered to me. On removal I was shocked to see that normal aluminum pop rivits were used to hold down the head. The Wabco had propper tube rivits that are compressed on both sides. Many owners replace even the Wabco's rivits with propper bolts and nuts. If I was doing 110/120 km/h on the high way and the welch plug popped, the engine damage would have been servere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddychris300tdi Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hi I'm needing to do this repaire on my disco, my question is do I actually need to take the pump of the block? I think I should have room to drill the rivits out and take the cover off with the pump on the block. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 If oil is getting into the area of the pop riveted plate then it means oil is getting past the piston, if that is the case then the piston seal is either damaged or worn, in either case replacing the pop rivets with screws or bolts will not resolve the problem, -- replace the pump. I wrote a article on this on WABCO vacuum pumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michele Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 After an extensive search to track down the source of the oil which was being dumped on the drive under my Disco 300TDi I traced it to a leaking vacuum pump. First I removed the pump from the side of the block. Once complete I refitted to the vehicle. Hi RaDi, did you set your engine to "top dead centre"? This job is on my list, and I had this link amongst my favorites: http://www.the4wdzone.com/vacuumpumpfix.htm I'd like to understand if setting the "top dead centre" is mandatory or doesn't make any difference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 The reason that the engine is set at TDC is so that the pump will go on easier - there's a powerful spring in it. I don't bother setting TDC and just push the pump while I get a couple of bolts in the threads. The bolts will then pull the pump all the way on. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michele Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks Les I'll give it a try sooner or later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
currymunster Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Sorry to hi jack an old thread. I'm experiencing this leak and stripped the cover off. One of the welch plugs has disintergrated. I thought I could just seal up and leak solved. However, things don't always leak for no reason and on closer inspection i found traces of oil in the servo pipe - This can't be good - If I just resealed up the oil would still leak up the pipe and into the servo (That can't be good!!) So just buy a new one as the oil is leaking because the pump is broken. £70 for peace of mind and safety. Your desicion. Is oil bad in the servo???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thys Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 One of our local fundi's had new stainless steel welch plugs manufactured, the mating surfaces were increased and the OD slightly increased, he also used aitcraft type bolts and nuts to replace the rivits on the head. Works like a charm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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