Ericginpa

New to the forum so please forgive me if this has been asked, I searched but couldn't find an answer. I seem to have developed an oil leak recently, it seems to be a drip on either side of dead center of car. It was due to be changed any way so changed it and found absolutely nothing in the filter(as far as metal chips). Hate to say that I'm hoping for a rms leak but I am. Just wanted a second opinion on whether or not to lose sleep over the IMS

BruceP

Get the oil leak diagnosed. Sometimes it can surprise you where the oil is actually coming from.

If you do end up needing a rear main seal, I'd suggest changing out the intermediate shaft bearing for the LN retrofit while you're in there. In that circumstance, the incremental labour charge would be minimal, and you'll be able to sleep just fine.

FWIW, I don't see anything in your post that would cause me to worry about the IMS in particular.

Flat6 Innovations

This must be taken seriously because no leak is a good leak. The other reason is because this is sometimes the ONLY precursor to IMS bearing failure that occurs.

As it is now, if diagnosed the engine can be retrofitted and saved electively, that won't be the case if the bearing completely fails.

Lose sleep over it and take it seriously until properly diagnosed. I can't give you a sense of security because I know how most of the IMS failure calls start out... "I noticed a couple of drops of oil".

Guilty until proven innocent.. I don't mean to scare you, but you need a sense of urgency because right now the engine can be saved. It may be an RMS, but you have to consider the worst case scenario.

No leak is a good leak, no noise is a good noise...

BTW_ IMS leaks look just like RMS leaks until the tranny and flywheel is pulled. This can't be accurately diagnosed until its disassembled.

Barn996

How many miles on your Porsche out of curiosity. I think about the IMS filure once in awhile, but don't worry about it all the time and I have 55k miles on my '99. Good advice above.

Tom M

If it's not at the junction of the transmission and engine then it's probably neither the IMS or RMS leaking but one of the many other culprits that can be found such as the cam covers or the spark plug tubes.

I went through 5 RMS replacements under warranty on my Boxster and one after warranty when I had the clutch replaced. When I bought the C4S I also picked up an aftermarket warranty specifically to cover any catastrophic IMS failures. But other than that I don't worry about too much. I've got a small leak now that's likely the RMS but I'd need to cover the R&R of the transmission if the warranty company declined on whatever was leaking. Based on my prior experience I'll just wait until the clutch needs replacing and take car of the RMS and IMS at that time & hopefully the warranty company will cover the R&R of the transmission as part of the seal replacement.

That said, if I didn't have the aftermarket warranty I'd probably go ahead and get it taken care of.

ivangene

well hoping for an RMS is well and fine but if you have to go in there to change that part there is a pretty well agreed upon list of things to do "while you're in there" which include a new IMS bearing and seal...(so you can sleep)

the first step is to find where the leak is coming from, second is to fix it. worrying doesnt actually help and can lead to premature car selling for something that can be repaired/prevented and makes the ownership less enjoyable....so if you want that smile back.... step one, find the leak, step two fix it - step three....while you are in there.....step four smile from ear to ear

best of luck, please report findings

Tom M

+1 that if you're going to go in and take a look you might as well do a complete job.

DreamCarrera

Is this another infomercial?

fasteddie99

Listen to Jake. You aren't far from him...

Ericginpa

Thanks for all the input,just hit 52000 mi so not sure if thats about the "magic"number. It just showed a few drops the other day just b4 oil change. Changed the oil (which was pretty nasty) ran it today and only had 1 drop overnite,gonna run my pick-up the rest of the week till I can get a good look. Is the IMS visible outside the bell housing?

ivangene

yes and no...visible after you remove the flywheel (by IMS I assume you mean the seal)

Yomi

Reading these forums has me terrified of IMS/RMS and I don't even have a spot of oil anywhere and the car runs great. It does smoke when I start it now, but I think that's the 'high lateral G's + full oil + shut off too early' thing. Easy Care gave me a super high quote for extended warranty, and apparently I lost my chance at the dealer to get their extended warranty (only sold at time of purchase, I didn't realize that waiting a few weeks would mean I'd lose it forever).

Pac996

oh swami knowledge of the ages, please enlighten us to if the odds are higher for a 996 owner to suffer a devorce during ownership than an ims failure.

Ericginpa

Was just lurkin about under car seems to a leak in the bell housing. As I said b4 just changed the oil,but what's dripping is really black and nasty. Looks like gonna b pulling the trans,was kinda hoping I'd maybe drive this car a bit b4 knowing it intimately,but gonna have it a while so might as well get it out of the way. At least I'll know it's done& new clutch,rms. School of thought on flywheel? Resurface-replace?

Flat6 Innovations

The good news is we have a means of forecasting imminent IMS bearing failure. This will be great for the folks that don't believe in elective IMS Retrofit procedures.

More later, we are working on the patents and trademarks at the present and doing more practical application testing. People want a sense of security and this is the answer to that.