Simple question
Hhas anyone ever had a vac leak where the IMRC rod sticks out on the firewall side of the IM?

Why I ask
My truck started missing in the low 2000s, and its become worse and happens at other times now too. So thanks to other threads on here I looked close at the IMRC. On the front of the IM I epoxied the seal years ago and that fix is holding up fine. On the back end the IMRC actuator arm had popped off the swirl control rod. I pulled the front left tire and stone guard to gain access, and since the missing isn't just in the low 2000s thought I'd look for no-code vac leaks while I'm at it. (The truck passed the quickie test, where you unplug the Idle Air Control.) So I hooked up my DIY smoke machine again. I last posted about that in June 2021. The first June thread tells how my DIY smoke machine pushed smoke out the valve cover breather tube and I haven't tracked that down yet. The other June post told how P171 cleared up when I replaced a fuel pump with a cracked seal. Since the fuel pump fix the truck ran fine except for intermittient P0420 and small evap leak codes. Then I nearly ran it out of gas (red light on) and it started missing right after the fill up. I dumped in a can of injector cleaner but the missing has gotten worse. But there were no new codes.

So with the tire off and the guard out of the way, I was surprised to see huge amounts of smoke pouring out somewhere on the firewall end of the IM, down in the bowels behind all the hoses and wiring. I never really did see where the smoke was coming from. I don't think its coming from the PCV or hose, but as loose as the valve seems to be in its seat, and with all the oil staining the outside of the separator, I suppose that might be a leak point. Maybe its from a bad IM gasket..... if those get vac leaks do they seep visible oil? My IM is pretty clean. That leaves the hole where the IMRC sticks out through the wall of the IM itself. I have the IM on my benchy and don't see any kind of seal around that rod's port.... so I thought I'd ask if that spot is a known possible leak point?

Thanks for any help