IMRC Cleaning Question

[Whit Clark]

ok buddies. heres a real kicker. ive cleaned my plates and rebuilt them as well. in doing so i have developed a nasty vacuum leak. i found the o rings at oreileys and the bearings i went in on half with a buddy of mine because he found them cheaper than the VXBs but looking around VXB pretty much makes them all these days. so its sucking air through the bearings. all of them to be exact. ive called vxb and they said on this planet there are no such things as a air tight seal or water sealed bearing for that matter. they only put rubber and plastic shields to keeps large foreign contaminants out of the bearing and its the oils that deflect the water. so other than welding the holes shut im at a loss of thought and experience here. any ideas.

 

[97ReoCobra]

Subscribing. I see this project in my future.
I wonder if a light coat of silicone on the outer most seal of the bearings would stop the vac leak...

 

[Martin6107]

I've not had an issue with the IMRC bearings leaking so this is a new one for me.

Which size o-ring did you use?

 

[Whit Clark]

well i dont know. i just went to the store and found whatever fit in the box. the o rings werent the issue. all i have to say about it is, dont go cheap on the bearings. i was told every bearing is made the same. that means they are all built with the same design. i had my buddy order the bearings for me as i didnt have the money at the time. he found some 14 dollar ones. a pack of 8. the rubber seals or nylon or whatever material they were was not sealing them and letting air pass right through them. i blew through the original ones and no air. so in a sense i didnt need to change the originals in the first place. but you damage them once you take them out. you can test this just by taking the palm of your hand and blocking one side of the port and blowing from the other side with them still complete. obviously if you hear air its one of two things. the o rings or bearings. but apparently in most cases the o rings. oh i also called VXB and asked them if they made a airtight bearing or whatever and they said no where on the planet is there such a bearing. so on this whole entire experience, ive decided to just delete the damn things. my buddy fashioned me up some realy nice machined plugs for the out sides and im having them welded up and im polishing them and putting it back together. ive done research after research about it and decided to do it. so here are a few things i learned from all this,

1. carefully remove your intake so you dont tare the rubber on the gaskets.
2. use flammable brake cleaner and never ever ever let the non flammable shit into your cylinders as it will kill your spark plugs and your patience trying to figure why your engine isnt cranking and you finally read the can. i used CRC btw.
3. triple check your bearings for leaks before taking them out.
4. there really isnt a great write up anywhere on the net so pick and choose where you get your info and use common sense. i looks like a lot to take apart but it really isnt. the longest part is cleaning and making sure everything is put back in its place and double checked.
5. be very careful with the little plastic vacuum tubes. those little bastards are tough but theyll crack on you in a heart beat.