Thanks, John, same here. I think it would have turned catastrophic.
I think I found the crack in the original suction pump. The dust / dirt settled into the nooks and crannies of the lid and seemed to have filled-in the crack. It wasn't apparent when I first examined it, nor when I filled it with water and let it sit, but it's pretty obvious now.
The "n" shaped dark line over the "VDO" script:
It looks like Tim had something similar happen to his car as well, but I'm not sure if it was the suction pump (driver's side) like mine, or the actual fuel pump (passenger side). (link)