[Boots]

All I would add to the good advice given above is that persuading my vacuum system to behave has taken a bit of doing.

When I first got the car, around 3 yrs ago, all was well. Since then, I had to get the head-gasket done and in the

process, I believe the shop that did it must have put the pump pushrod back in the wrong way out.

A few weeks after the work, the pump was making 'I need my tappets adjusting' noises occasionally and overall vacuum

availability was noticeably down. Only really just after startup - it was usually ok after a few miles - but when you're

still half asleep of a morning and pulling up at a busy junction, it's a bit of a surprise to find you have no brake

assist!

The tapping got worse until I decided that the cam was at risk if something wasn't done. Took the pump off, fiddled around

a bit. Put it back on - and it was quiet and fine for 2 weeks. Then the noise started again.

I actually bought a new pump, thinking the old one was done, but, at last, realised that the pushrod had different ends.
One was flat machined, the other had a smaller machined area raised above the end of the rod by a millimetre or so. The rod had

various minor bite marks in the case hardening but careful use of some emery paper took the bumps off.

I put it back in with the flat face to the cam and also adjusted its oil spray jet to squirt a bit closer to the edge of the head.

Since then, the pushrod and original pump have been silent and producing working vacuum under all conditions. You can still overpower the pump if you stamp on the pedal continuously but in normal use it's fine.

As a result, I have a spare Pierburg pump available, should anyone be in trouble!

Boots.