vacuum pump removal

ridemoto4life · 10-28-2008, 12:59 AM

okay so i cant get the lower bolt off of the pump. my factory dodge manual says "removal both bolts"

i can get a short socket on but no room to even get a thin profile ratchet on. no room to get a wrench on it so tomorrow im going to bring home my stubby wrenches from my work but can anyone help me?

EDIT: i looked in the tech articles and i found someone talking about seals for the vacuum pump but this pump isnt the one i have

if your vacuum pump springs a leak - TDR Roundtable

THANK YOU!

mikestrucks · 11-06-2008, 10:28 AM

I had the same trouble with mine. Plus the Previous Owner had rounded off the nuts!
I had to get a little crazy with it. My old pump was cracked (the old vacuum canister type) so I chisel/hammer/smashed to get everything loose and used the new studs and bolts that came with the upgraded vacuum pump.

It was still a bugger to get the new one's bottom bolt on there. I made a tool by grinding down the back of the socket and inserting a plug in the back of the socket made from a cut down socket extension and using an open end wrench on the plug. It was real hoaky and you needed 3 hands to work it and it took forever and much cussing to get it to work but it worked.

tonyfazz · 11-10-2008, 10:57 PM

how much did you pay for the upgraded vac pump? and how is it upgraded?

mikestrucks · 11-11-2008, 02:26 AM

It was over a year ago and I don't have the papers from 2007 in the office right now but...

If I remember right it was around $480 for everything. Completely rebuilt 1991 thru 1995 3 piece vacuum pump, oil feed line, pump and PS gaskets, pump mounting studs and nuts, and I had to pay a core charge because I didn't have a 91 - 95 core and my 1989 original 1989 canister type vacuum pump was smashed.

The upgrade come in when you originally have a 1989 type vacuum pump. It uses two external vacuum canisters mounted onto the vacuum pump. These pumps use ball bearings (as I understand it) and the ball bearings are a threat to your engine much the way the killer dowel pin is. As if that were not enough of a problem, the flanges that mount the canisters to the pump are bad about snapping off of the pump, which is what happened to mine.

Nobody I could find even deals with those early kind of pumps, they all recommended swapping up to the next newer style pump, a fully mechanical pump with no external canisters. To do so, you need to install an additional oil feed line from the engine block to the vacuum pump and also saw part of the throttle mounting assembly out of the way of the PS pump since the newer type vacuum pump is a little longer than the older style pump.

It was pretty easy once I bought the turn key upgrade and started installing everything. I also put a new PS pump on while I was down there as recommended. I took pictures of some of the steps if anyone wants me to post them. I got a good shot of the oil line installed.

I think the guys I bought my pump and everything from were FIXINRAMS.COM but I would have to go thru my records to be 100% sure of that and the exact cost back in Spring 2007. In any case the guys I used were great and hooked me up with some original mounting studs and nuts since mine were damaged by the previous owner.

If naming that business is a forum violation, sorry. Not trying to be slick, just trying to give complete information in my answer.

Thanks and hope this was some help, Mike.