51k mile ims

[harryrcb]

So I sold my 04 S engine with 51k on it drove at a lot of DE's last year (hard) and AX etc. daily driver etc. Took the engine out of my car for a Carerra S swap and I advertised the engine with a new IMS bearing installed. It did not need one as far as I knew but since there is so much hype out there and indeed a lot of failures I decided that would be the best way to sell
Today I replace the bearing, it turns out it was in perfect condition although just like all the rest there was oil in the bearing instead of grease. Oil was not "old" and smelly as some people have found theirs. But it will give peace of mind to the purchaser and me. I would hate to sell the engine and a month or two later have the bearing fail. I also replaced the RMS for him as the old one was "weeping" just a little and for the price of a seal-engine being out- I thought what the heck.
BTW the purchasers IMS bearing failed in his car.

[Wayne 962]

Cool deal, these track motors seem to not have the same types of IMS issues as the street cars...

-Wayne

[thstone]

I am still not sure about the failure mechanism which says that the seal fails and then the grease gets washed out by the oil and then the bearing fails.

If there is enough oil getting to the bearing to wash out the grease, then isn't there enough oil getting to the bearing to keep it lubricated?

This appears to the case for this engine: Grease gone but oil in the bearing keeping it in good condition.

So what happens next?

Is it that ultimately the oil can't provide the long term lubrication ability of the grease and eventually the bearing will fail even though lubed by the oil?

[harryrcb]

Originally Posted by thstone

I am still not sure about the failure mechanism which says that the seal fails and then the grease gets washed out by the oil and then the bearing fails.

If there is enough oil getting to the bearing to wash out the grease, then isn't there enough oil getting to the bearing to keep it lubricated?

This appears to the case for this engine: Grease gone but oil in the bearing keeping it in good condition.

So what happens next?

Is it that ultimately the oil can't provide the long term lubrication ability of the grease and eventually the bearing will fail even though lubed by the oil?

I see your point. I haven't done enough of these yet to form an intelligent opinion. At this stage I think that since they did not allow for lubrication of the bearing the oil breaks down in the bearing because it's not changed often enough and with all the lateral pressures and torque, it's a deadly combination

[harryrcb]

Here are a couple of pics before and after I changed the bearing

[WhipE350]

Harry, thanks for the info and pics! I'm still waiting for Wayne's !