Quote:
Originally Posted by Homeoboxter
No clue. The idea of a grease-filled bearing would not be entirely wrong if the shaft wasn`t sealed. Since it`s sealed, the pressure that builds up inside the tube in normal operating temperature forces the grease out of the bearing. When cooling down the opposite happens, vacuum in the tube results in seeping oil into the bearing. Eventually the grease gets replaced by engine oil, that`s what we see when we open a genuine bearing. I think if the IMS was depressurized this wouldn`t happen. Not sure though which is better...
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My understanding is that the advantage of the original sealed bearing is that misc. metal shavings in the oil (the stuff we see in cut open oil filters) does not get into the bearings and that the original grease is a better lubricant. As mentioned the pressure changes, with time, wash the grease out and the seals prevent an adequate supply of new clean oil. So if you remove the outer seal on an original bearing (or a replacement for that matter) the bearing will be well lubricated by oil, but it could be affected by metal bits circulating in the oil. But than again if there is enough metal in the oil to affect the bearing you likely have another serious problem. Just my $.02 worth.