OK for Sealed Bearings to a leak a bit when new?

[dk1604]

I noticed that a sealed bearing on a recently installed timing belt idler sprocket had leaked some of its grease. It was in service since February of this year.

I don't know anything about sealed bearings so I was wondering if this is normal?

The idler still spun alright. Smooth but maybe (ie it could be in my head) a bit stiffer than I remember it being when new. I removed it from service due to paranoia but am wondering what the bearing "experts" would have done.

 

[NHGUY]

I have seen many not so old idler pulleys leaking grease at a pretty rapid rate.I chaulk it up to cheap Chinese grease that cant take the engine heat and they run..

 

[Trav]

Gates cheap Chinese rubbish, the best place for that is in the bin not an engine.

 

[Kestas]

A new sealed bearing should not leak grease. There may be cases where the seal primary lip is less than perfect with tiny defects. With time the seal will wear past these imperfections and result in a tight seal.

 

[stephen9666]

I'm also skeptical of Gates hard parts. They seem to use some generic Chinese white-box parts for some things.

I see it's marked "China" on part of the assembly, but is there a country of origin or brand name on the actual bearing itself?

I would guess it's probably leaking because it's a low-quality bearing.

 

[dk1604]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
I see it's marked "China" on part of the assembly, but is there a country of origin or brand name on the actual bearing itself?

The bearing itself is made by Taide. Googling suggests they are based in China.

The disappointing part of this whole ordeal was that I purchased the Gates timing belt kit because previously all the parts in their kits, with the exception of the belt and pump, were sourced from the OE manufacturers. I purchased the pumpless kit so figured I'd be OK. When the kit arrived and I saw that they now included a few additional non-OE sourced parts (tensioner and the pictured idler sprocket) I decided to install them anyways since Gates wouldn't soil their brand using inferior parts. Then I started reading a few reports of the tensioner failing so I decided to swap that out for OEM (for peace of mind). That's when I discovered the seeping idler sprocket bearing.

 

[Trav]

The only aftermarket kit I feel comfortable with are the ones from Aisin.