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Yesterday I removed my IMS bearing and there was quite a bit of oil in the IMS tube. The shaft is not in the car, and yet no oil was seeping out past the bearing even though the shaft is stored in a manner such that the oil was being sealed in by the bearing end. So the IMS tube is effectively "sealed" by the bearing if the pressure between the inside of the IMS and the outside of the IMS is the same. My thought is that basic physics is at play here. Iincreased temperature in the IMS lowers the air density in the closed volume of the tube forcing air out at the bearing end. When the engine cools, the reverse happens and air, along with entrained oil enters the IMS tube. The IMS shaft is an unintentional pump which cycles once with each engine heating and cooling cycle. The only inlet and outlet to this pump is through, or around the IMS bearing, and there is not much clearance around the bearing. I'm going to drill 2 very small breather holes through the meat of the driven socket into the open shaft area to eliminate the pumping action through the bearing, and allow a small exchange of oil in the shaft. Anyone have thoughts on this?
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