After a lot of searching I have located a replacement vacuum pump for the heater/ac controls on a diesel Regency. If you need one call
CSC Figett in Dallas Texas
800-433-1740
Cost is about $110 plus shipping.
Hope this is of some use!
Tom
93 Regency 32'
3208T Cat, 300hp

Tom, is that the venturi-style pump or an electric?

has to be electric, venturi style is less then $20

It is 12 volt with a silencer and a switch. They tell me this is what is being installed in the newest units (they are an OEM supplier)and is rated for continuous duty without the noisy click-click that the old ones had.Comes with a warranty. I had no way to run a venturi one as I don't have any indepenent air compressor that could be attached to it. The old one looks like the $20 variety but I was never able to find one like it at dealers, supply houses or on the web. Someone else may have a better idea and I encourage them to add to this.
Tom

One more idea has occurred to me. Mercedes cars doors and trunk/gas lids are all vacuum operated and they have a 12 volt vacuum pump that incorporates an internal vacuum switch that shuts the pump off when full vacuum is obtained. They can be bought on eBay for between $30 and $40 and come from early models - say 80's to '90's. With shipping they shouold be under $60 and you only need to fabricate power and get a few special connectors for the vacuum lines. These are also available for under $15. With a little work they should be easy to install and having owned Mercedes cars for twenty five years I have never seen the pumps fail. When they do break it is usually the vacuum pot connected to the door or some rubber line connector. The other electrical connections are for the four door switches so you could also add a dash switch to manually run or disable the pump if you wanted to. Besides eBay these can be located in any foreign junk yard. Look for the smallest and simplest one as the newer units have more connections and you will have to seal off the extra vacuum ports with connectors and rubber caps (available at any auto parts store)
Tom

I'll try to get a photo of the one installed in my Breakaway. It's mounted in the right rear (along with the air compressor for the horns); it's fairly quiet, and also shuts off when vacuum is reached. I suspect it would also be in the $100 range.

quote:

Originally posted by Hawk-57:
One more idea has occurred to me. Mercedes cars doors and trunk/gas lids are all vacuum operated and they have a 12 volt vacuum pump that incorporates an internal vacuum switch that shuts the pump off when full vacuum is obtained.

I tried those from MB and found that they are a vacuum AND pressure pump. When the system calls for the doors to be locked the pump generate vacuum to pull the actuators down, when the doors are to be unlocked the pump generates pressure to push the locks up. The problem is once the pump electronics has shut the pump down when max vacuum is reached, it can not be re-started to generate more vacuum until it has completed a pressure cycle.

I have switched to a Volvo vacuum pump and added a vacuum switch for control and used just for the dash A/C control, was only $30 in the salvage yard.

I am converting the cruise control to electronically driven actuator so will not need vacuum in the rear

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
I'll try to get a photo of the one installed in my Breakaway. It's mounted in the right rear (along with the air compressor for the horns); it's fairly quiet, and also shuts off when vacuum is reached. I suspect it would also be in the $100 range.

Here's a photo (someone should really clean that area! )

quote:

Originally posted by Tom K:
After a lot of searching I have located a replacement vacuum pump for the heater/ac controls on a diesel Regency. If you need one call
CSC Figett in Dallas Texas
800-433-1740
Cost is about $110 plus shipping.
Hope this is of some use!
Tom
93 Regency 32'
3208T Cat, 300hp

To clarify the company, it's SCSFrigette

Tom K,

I have a 12 volt vacuum pump on my regency. I is turned on by activating the heat or defroster from the console. I also have a vacuum gauge that registers the amount of vacuum. On a recent 1300 mile trip I used the heat/defroster all the time. We were on the road for four days and I think the pump ran continuously during that time. I don't think it shuts off when full vacuum is reached, but I did not check either. The typical vacuum pressure is around 25 on the gauge. I don't think it reflects psi, probably inches on a water column. My pump looks similar to the one in the photo.

Good luck on your repair project.

Bill G

The replacement pump will stop unless there is a leak. I made several cross country trips and noticed that the pump ran continuously in MAX but not in NORMAL. Traced it to a small crack in one of the hoses leading to a door actuator in the heater/ac core. This is behind the dash panel on the passenger side.

I have the Gast vacuum pump shown in the photo above. I'm going to replace it with the Frigette if I can't get parts (the issue with it now is that it needs new brushes, not surprising since the Gast ran all the time, pulling 6A+).

I ordered the Frigette vacuum pump, P/N 030-0043, today, $105.60 + shipping. The website-listed phones seem to be non-answered except 1-800-433-9280. It took about 5 minutes - very capable staff.

Here's the label on the pump