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After much introspective contemplation, my thirst for knowledge and quest for definitive answers on this fabulously interesting topic have led me to the following conclusion: I think we like these threads better once they've been boobified. The viewed count always spikes up.
Gonzo, this one's for you in response to the incredible turquoise cowgirl.
After much introspective contemplation, my thirst for knowledge and quest for definitive answers on this fabulously interesting topic have led me to the following conclusion: I think we like these threads better once they've been boobified. The viewed count always spikes up.
Gonzo, this one's for you in response to the incredible turquoise cowgirl.
Hello Gonzo911 and Spokayman and thanks for the thoughtful replies. My biggest fear, as someone else posted here somewhere, isn't the cost of a rebuild...I just hate to breakdown in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I hate sitting and waiting for a flatbed and listening to my wife cry. I hate having to pee in the dark in the middle of the Mojave on the one night a year all the Tarantulas come out to mate. I hate mechanical failure. When I smoked and drove Alfas I even carried a spare cigarette lighter. Whether it is Jake or AutoFarm or someone else, the IMS issue is still unsolved...for me. And reading "old threads" isn't going to turn up new material. Years ago they used to put polio patients in iron lungs and body casts and braces. Then they came up with a vaccine. And so in the spirit of asking questions I will continue to explore the issue.
Warmest regards and happy New Year.
Hello Gonzo911 and Spokayman and thanks for the thoughtful replies....Whether it is Jake or AutoFarm or someone else, the IMS issue is still unsolved...for me. And reading "old threads" isn't going to turn up new material...
Warmest regards and happy New Year.
John....there isn't anything new. That's the point.
The original IMSB is a sealed unit that is permanently lubricated. If the unit is operating correctly and has not been exposed to Stage 1 bearing failure (failure of the seal) the engine can run completely out of oil and seize, but the IMSB will remain flawless.
See now that makes sense to someone like me with a background in metallurgy. While IMSB failure presents as a singular event, it is in fact the culmination of a series of events. I suspect there may be a tiny, tiny percentage of bearings that fail from manufacturing defects or poor assembly, but the vast majority fail via a set chain of events. The mileage at which failures occur is proportional to how long it takes for each stage to be completed, and that is affected by other variables such as oil-change frequency, heat, and rpms, etc. And the reason the double-row and large single-row bearings have a lower failure rate is that after the other events have taken their toll, the higher load-rating allows the wounded bearing to hold together longer...perhaps until another failure mode takes the engine out. Analagous to the way a two-by-four with a 1/2" crack will hold together longer than a one-by-two with the same 1/2" crack.
Ben, it may take the dual row or the larger one longer to fail after the stage when they start but if they are shedding metal it is going thru the other bearings and damaging them even though the IMS bearing itself is holding together. The stock oil filter housing bypasses some of that metal allowing that to happen. If the stock filter housing is replaced by the spin on filter housing it supposedly doesn't bypass anything so the metal particles are trapped at least saving the other bearings from damage until the IMS bearing finally fails or gets replaced. I think the new bearing is not sealed on one side and relies on engine oil splashed on it for lubrication. This is the way I understand it but maybe I'm wrong. IIn any case there are some IMS bearings that do not fail at all, why some and not all is the question that does not seem to ever get a definite answer.
12-29-2014 | 08:47 PM
