I am sure this has been talked about before on the boards but I wanted to go over it in more detail as to exactly what the cause of it is. You may only experience this is the morning and may think nothing of it but in reality it is a very dangerous and expensive repair. Take a look..

 

Thanks for that post. Very informative. Glad I bought the extra warranty.

 

Wow, maku, Ford ought to hire you! Heheheheee.

 

The replacement pump in the video looks like a beefed up model so maybe they will last longer. I do like that they are not hard to change for the DIY mechanics. The $600 price tag is a kick in the grapes though. When the vacuum pump went out on my old SD, that replacement was only $100.

 

holy moly!

will be adding a link to the stickies for sure.

Question:

being that it is relatively easy to access, I wonder if taking the end caps off as you did and sealing it with some RTV would keep water from getting into the pump. I would think the electrical connector could be removed as sealed as well.

thoughts?

 

Nice video....thanks!

 

Thanks a ton for the video Brian!!

What a POS design!!!!!!!!!!! It's now more clear than ever why the guys in the snow belts are more prone to vac pump failures.

 

I'm wondering if it's actually the end caps that are leaking or if it's something else. My logic is that for it to be a vacuum pump, it needs to suck air out of (I assume) the brake booster and discharge it somewhere. Since the video only showed one vacuum line from the (I assume) brake booster, the air discharge must be open to atmosphere directly off of the pump. It seems to me that the discharge design of the pump may be the point for moisture intrusion.

Since it's dark outside and I'm too lazy to get lights out to look at my own truck, does anybody know if there are any openings on the body for discharge of air?

 

The stuff you're thinking of is called dielectric grease. Available at most electrical wholesalers and it goes directly on the pins and sockets of the connectors. You must use it sparingly and careful not to get it between pins since it is conductive.
Ford uses it on most of their connectors already.

 

dielectric grease is always a good idea, too. but that's not what i was getting at.

i was talking about removing the end plates for the diaphragm (as he did in the video) and reinstalling them with a sealant (e.g. black RTV) and doing the same thing for the electric module as well. that is, remove the entire module from the pump, and reinstall it with some sealant between the module and the pump body.

if the motor could be easily removed, i'd do the same with that. just trying to seal it so that salt spray can't get into the pump housing to corrode it like that.

FWIW, you are correct that dielectric grease is nonconductive, but one need not worry about using it sparingly. slather it on thick and let it squish out, you will not impede the electrical connection. the grease is there to keep moisture out of the connection, and it is better to have too much than not enough.

 

We're thinking of different things. The paste I'm talking about is conductive and isn't a sealant. It only coats the pins in the connectors to prevent corrosion in the pins themselves.

As far as corrosion of the pump itself. Maybe a better location would keep the winter salt out a bit better. I'm glad I live where we don't use it much.
In the video it seems more like the corrosion is right down inside the motor assembly. I wonder if maybe a spray on conformal coating might do the trick.

 

this is the stuff I'm talking about


you coat the inside of any electrical connection with it and it is non-conductive.


there are some white heat sink compounds that might be conductive, but one wouldn't usually use that in an electrical connection, but rather between an electrical device and a heat sink (like an ignition module).


I was talking about black rtv for the rest of it, but using some dielectric inside any electrical connection is always good to keep water out. no worries about over doing it, the excess just gooshes out and the connector stays sealed from moisture (mostly).


I use dielectric on everything from battery posts to butt connectors.... great stuff.

 

poke a finger in the intake and platidip that sucker