ims

Hey guys. I am new to the forum, so to everyone, Hello. I was wondering if anyone could explain exactly how IMS failure works. While I understand it totals the engine of the car, I don't understand what actually happens. From what I understand the intermediate seal was made too small for the engine and that to prevent engine failure they have to replace the seal. Had the seal not been replaced what happens exactly? Is this problem only prevalent in cars that have the M96 engine?


I'm having issues and I need someone to give me some straight answers because Porsche wont.

Thank you in advance to everyone for their feedback.

Goldenwarrior1

Do a search... Tons of info here!

ivangene

Ims is a shaft. The shaft rides on a bearing. The bearing is sealed and can degrade. The lube can run out and the bearing overheat. The bearing can seize. The chain thet drives the shaft comes from the crank, it will try and trun the siezed bearing to the point it sheers off the stud holding the shaft to the outter seal (cover) when the stud is sheered the shaft wobbles about and causes the cam chains to loose timing. This causes valve impact and the ending result just depends on how many parts break before the things stop moving.

The seal is no cure, Porsche will not replace the bearing.they will not admit it is servicable. They will sell you a new motor.

Google or Bing LN Engineering for what some people view as a way around the potential problem (no affiliation)

Tom M

That's a nice concise summary of a really catastrophic event

Van

Ed, I think you've missed a key component here... when the bearing fails, lots of little hardened steel ***** start bouncing around inside the engine. It's only a matter of time before one of the ***** interferes with a moving part and causes (even more) catastrophic damage.

As Jake Raby says, "If you hear a sound like lots of little ***** in a can, shut down the engine - do not attempt to restart it!!"

ivangene

+1 Van - noted


although I doubt what one would here is bearings... rather chains with LOTS of slack hitting anything close to them - still it is not a sound I wish anyone to experiance so they can offer a more in depth description

dont want another "fear thread" so we will just keep it simple

kj217

great summary,, gives more understanding even after reading that article of excellence mag,,

jumper5836

My mechanic mentioned that the ims bearings get washed out by the 0-40 that Porsche uses, I also read somewhere they started using 0-40 to hide noise from the lifters.

kj217

the IMS bearing gets washed and lubricated by engine oil especially under pressure,, so,,drive your car hard to prevent it

Ray S

Video here...

pcst

Typically I keep my cars pretty long period of time. The problem like this really makes me steer away from 996 & early 997s.
The truth is that it's not 100% guarantee fix even with the aftermarket new bearing; not a permanent fix. It should be rather treated as a maintenance item like the timing belt.

I'm gonna look for MY 09+ 997 with the new designed engines instead of dealing with Porsche engineers' mess.

My $.02

ivangene

you are correct.... it is a maintenance item to be changed with the clutch, if your car has had a clutch, get a bearing....- there is no data supporting lifespan of the replacement, (though it is being collected according to LNE) only data confirming they can fail, and now there is a replacement option.

kj217

what if someone has a Tip and has no clutch?

sml

If I buy a brand new Porsche crate engine, is the IMS risk eliminated with a redesigned part?

ivangene

Change at oil change intervals

The stock bearing life is est at 33k miles. I know I know, but that's just the service life - how long it lasts is another story.

I have not heard service life est on the ceramic one.

No - imo the replacement motor is not free from the issue as it has the stock bearing - I seem to be standing on this soap box a lot but I have also seen, helped rebuild, and helded replace these parts. It's not something I wish on anyone - the cure is fairly new and has no known failures. That's better than the track record of the stock one -

I don't mean to sound like an alarmist or a "water cooled are bad" guy. I will buy another 996 someday and I will do the things needed to help me keep it running long and strong (and sleep well)

For Tips, make sure you don't drive around under 2k rpm all the time, your Porsche (after propper warm up) should see redline or near redline everyday - best known way to make everything work it to run the car. Porsche took it out and red lined it down the autobauhn when it was new. Don't let them be the onbly ones that drove it right