Door vacuum bye-bye?

[daantjie]

George Murphy at Performance Analysis.
$14.95 each actuator.
http://www.perfanalysis.com/solutions/gears/

I believe his actuators are made of EDPM rubber, per post # 1 in the thread below:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/280128-repair-aged-rubber-123-model-vacuum-lock-actuators.html

You'd need 16 all together (PS Front door - 4 actuators, DS rear door 4 actuators,  PS rear door - 4 actuators,  trunk -2 actuators, and fuel door 2 actuators).

Thanks good tip!

[UTn_boy]

I used to buy from George Murphy, but he's been missing in action the last few years.  You may get a hold of him or you may not.  Otherwise you'll have to pay that Kent fella.  I don't condone giving him any patronage due to his greedy demeanor.  I think it's absolutely asinine to charge people for information they can get for free on a forum like this or online somewhere.  I will never charge people for what I know.  It's morally wrong.....but very few have morals these days.  :/

[ptashek]

I think it's absolutely asinine to charge people for information they can get for free on a forum like this or online somewhere.

Can't blame the guy for exploiting people's laziness, or lack of a desire to learn some new skills in the process of searching, or generally just wanting the easiest way out.

Pretty much every service business is built on that principle. If all of us could fix our cars, some folks on this very forum would be in dire straits.

[daantjie]

Guys I had a brain fart
If I was able to pull and hold vacuum into the lock and unlock circuit at the driver door switch, does this not mean that the "downstream " part of the circuit is tight..?

[ptashek]

Guys I had a brain fart
If I was able to pull and hold vacuum into the lock and unlock circuit at the driver door switch, does this not mean that the "downstream " part of the circuit is tight..?

I'm betting on the "master cylinder" / "master switch" leaking down. Common fault, same as the rear reservoir seal.
With the two bottom outputs plugged, pull vacuum on the top one and move the piston back and forth - it should hold vacuum.

[daantjie]

Guys I had a brain fart
If I was able to pull and hold vacuum into the lock and unlock circuit at the driver door switch, does this not mean that the "downstream " part of the circuit is tight..?

I'm betting on the "master cylinder" / "master switch" leaking down. Common fault, same as the rear reservoir seal.
With the two bottom outputs plugged, pull vacuum on the top one and move the piston back and forth - it should hold vacuum.

Thanks for the tip but I'm not sure what you mean by "bottom" and "top" as all 3 nipples on the switch point down in situ?

One thing I noticed when I was "in there" was that my inner door handle has crapped out and it has cracked, which I believe is a common failure.
Could this have to do with throwing the switch out of adjustment and causing leak? Perhaps a wild theory but I see the service manual makes specific mention of how the switch must be adjusted on the door for correct function.

Also I again pulled vacuum into the grey (with yellow chaser) line which supplies the rear vacuum tank. Held vacuum steady for hours tight like tiger so for sure we can eliminate that one.

[mrkozzy]

I read all this with interest.
Spent a lot of time chasing vacuum leaks in the system over the years. I think with our HOT sun here Downunder the system became brittle and I no sooner found and fixed 1 leak, only to be confronted with another.
At the point of giving up, I disconnected the whole system and installed an after market electric type. Works wonders on the 4 doors. Lost the functionality of the fuel cap and the trunk. ( Theses are manual now.)
Its been 3 maybe 4 years since I went against the holy grail and had a "non genuine" part fitted, however nowadays when I push the remote..............POP!!!!.............All doors at once in a split second.

Best thing I ever did.  ps My car is  a sometimes daily driver, not a show car so please forgive me.

[ptashek]

Thanks for the tip but I'm not sure what you mean by "bottom" and "top" as all 3 nipples on the switch point down in situ?

The nipples to plug are the two farthest from the piston top.

[Jed]

Daniel,
My vote is with Ptashek, Double check the vdo actuator in the drivers door.  The last two leaks I found were both from this valve.  If your drivers door is still open reconnect the rubber hosing and connect your mityvac to the yellow lines (one by one) in the engine compartment and see if they hold vacuum.  In my (limited) experience when I found the line that would not hold vacuum I traced it into the drivers door and I could hear the leak at the vdo valve.  The VDO valve should never leak vacuum from the valve itself, only divert the vacuum down stream to the various lines.

Regarding your broken inner door handle, very common.  replace it.  It gives a much better feel on the door handle/pull but I don't think it will affect the linkage in the door as it is screwed on on both sides of the 'break' and I don't think the linkage connection will be altered.   

[daantjie]

Thanks guys I have parts en route and will report back once I've hopefully slayed this vacuum dragon

[daantjie]

Thanks for the tip but I'm not sure what you mean by "bottom" and "top" as all 3 nipples on the switch point down in situ?

The nipples to plug are the two farthest from the piston top.

Sorry but I checked this and I do not think the test functions in this manner.  You have to pull vacuum into the center feed (suction line) and plug the outer 2 (lock and unlock).  The section between the seals moves the vacuum away from the unlock port (piston in for lock) and lock port (piston out for unlock) respectively. Thus if you pull vacuum into the outer ports with the 2 remaining ports blocked it will dump off the vacuum as you move the piston in the opposite direction of the current state.  This is by design from what I can tell. I have a new switch on order to test but I am pretty sure the way I described it is normal function. Which unfortunately means my current switch is good and the hunt continues...

[ptashek]

Thanks for the tip but I'm not sure what you mean by "bottom" and "top" as all 3 nipples on the switch point down in situ?

The nipples to plug are the two farthest from the piston top.

Sorry but I checked this and I do not think the test functions in this manner.  You have to pull vacuum into the center feed (suction line) and plug the outer 2 (lock and unlock).

You're right. It's been a few years since I did this.
But if you pull vacuum on the switch with lock/unlock plugged, and there's no immediate vacuum loss, it's generally good news.

[UTn_boy]

I think it's absolutely asinine to charge people for information they can get for free on a forum like this or online somewhere.

Can't blame the guy for exploiting people's laziness, or lack of a desire to learn some new skills in the process of searching, or generally just wanting the easiest way out.

Pretty much every service business is built on that principle. If all of us could fix our cars, some folks on this very forum would be in dire straits.

And this mentality is exactly why I was put on this earth.  To thwart it.  I'm ashamed to know that you're one of those that feel that way. 

[daantjie]

Hi guys

Just to close the loop on this one...

I am a bit guilty of not following my own advice  in that i did not make "incremental changes and check after each for improvement" approach   I "always" follow this approach when I tinker on my car so that the learning is valuable in that I know what has improved the situation.

But I decided here to change all the door vacuum pods, as well as the driver door switch, trunk and fuel flap actuator as well as the seal at the rear vacuum tank.  The difference in action is profound and the movement of the door locking knobs are so much quicker to view.

Long term (cold weather) test has not been done so I won't know yet how long the vacuum will hold, but for sure all these changes I would say were needed and the change has been a happy one

I did though follow my "baseline" approach in that I like to "always" change all components when I can and if feasible so that one can have a baseline/axiom to work forward from.

Thanks to all for the tips!

Cheers

[raueda1]

Hi guys

>>>snip<<<
. . . . . the seal at the rear vacuum tank.  The difference in action is profound and the movement of the door locking knobs are so much quicker to view.

>>>snip<<<    Thanks to all for the tips!

Cheers

Glad you got it all sorted out!  Which raises the question:  How fast should the knobs go up and down?  Mine seem to work fine and the system doesn't lose vacuum for weeks, which is great I guess.  It takes about 0.5 seconds for knobs to go up or down.  Not extremely slow I'd say, but nothing close to the instantaneous thunk of a electrical solenoid system.