Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Vacuum Pump Tight After Reseal

[MarkMullins]

Ok, I just finished resealing my vacuum pump on my '01. It went well until I snug down the 2 bolts on the halves. While just held together, it rotates very freely, but when I snug up the bolts the gear is too tight. It turns, and feels consistent, but is just too tight. I know the seal itself won't cause that, how about the seal sleeve causing interference somehow? As my luck would have it, I only ordered the basic seal kit, the one without the tools or video.. The o-ring is stuck firmly in the green grease and good to go.
Can anyone offer some suggestions for what to look for? Oh, when I reinstalled the seal sleeve, I tapped it back down in there until firm and the sound of the drift changed. Sort of like a wheel bearing race. I should have measured how far down in there it was but I thought it would sit on a shoulder in there and not be an issue. Thoughts anyone?

 

[CRodi]

Did you get your kit from Peter Gould?

Here's a you tube video that's about an hour long, that pretty well explains everything. Even if you didn't get your kit from Peter Gould, you can give him a call and he'll patiently explain everything you ever wanted to know about these pumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJhR48a-9R8

 

[rotohead]

When you mate up the halves make sure the gear isn't against the housing. That will cause it to bind. Put a wedged shape piece of wood or something that won't mark the gear and stick it between the gear and housing. If your tightening the two bolts with it resting on the gear and to weight of the housing is against the gear it will have a tendency to bind. I hope I made that understandable.

 

[MarkMullins]

I got my kit from Geno's but since I'm such a smart guy with a garage full of tools I didn't figure I needed the full kit. Those installers would have been nice and might have kept me from hammering on my Snapon sockets.. So, I found sockets and a fat brass drift and made do. Ok, here is what I found and it sounds like Rotohead is correct, or at least half correct, not sure. I went back in and took out the seal retainer and put the halves back and tightened all the way up. Hmmm, now she is loose and turning free like its supposed to. So I guess the retainer must be installed a little too far. Note to self, use smaller hammer or a plastic mallet to drive it back in. What I did was keep the pump halves installed together and tapped the retainer back in until it looked like it was in far enough and I still had easy rotation. This is before I got home and saw these responses tonight or before I could watch the video that CRodi posted for me. Thanks for that by the way. I'll watch the video tonight and get back at my project in the morning.
I am replacing, adding or repairing the following: radiator, damper, water pump, thermostat, timing cover seal, Fleetguard Enviroguard unit, vacuum seals, belt, turbo drain flex hose and flange seal, (track bar last week), track bar bolt and shocks. I bet I am leaving something out. Initially, I meant to remove the radiator and clean out the grease from the blow by bottle and install the Enviroguard but...it has grown into this.
Thanks for the responses folks, much appreciated.


As a side note, my vacuum fitting on top of the pump is looking pretty bad, would anyone happen to have a parts listing or diagram link to these items?

 

[rotohead]

The full kit is nice but unnecessary for someone with a well equiped shop. And as for the seal position in the housing, the most critical is that it sits square, not necessarily fully tapped down. I've done about a dozen of them over the years and have seen everything from cracked housings, cheap china knockoffs and poor castings that would never stop leaking. As for the fitting on top, I went into Home Depot and scoured around in the drip irrigation section and found a hard plastic type fitting that fit and with some chauk it's still working ten years later. Glad you got it fixed. That's all that matters.