Horsepwr

I do not understand this logic, you are right there on a part known to fail. Weather you feel the failure rate is 100%, or .00002% you are literally going to be right at it, why would you leave it there? If you weren't dropping the engine to do other work I would understand your thought, but ITS RIGHT THERE!

strathconaman

Yeah. Every time I heard a "noise" I was wondering if this was the end. I put an IMS solution in last year, and now I don't worry.

Dennis C

Prelude Guy

I agree with you, OP. I wouldn't change it either. Several reasons why I wouldn't.

-You daily drive it and drive it hard.
-These engines can fail for many reasons. IMSB is just one of them.
-Replacing the IMSB is expensive. No reason to put that kind of money into it.

Holdfast996

It's an 01- so could be dual or single row. I'll find out shortly. If it turns out to be single, maybe I'll throw in the pelican. But if it's dual, and looks good. She stays.

Horsepwr

-Drives it hard is more of an argument to replace it.
-Yes than can fail for many reasons but this is one so why risk it
-It is expensive IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY DOING THE CLUTCH, he mechanic will literally be looking at the IMS. So you wouldn't endure the added cost of basically the part only to possibly avoid cooking a 12k engine later? This makes ZERO sense to me.

User 63031

Statistics appeared to point to a correlation between *not* driving it hard & IMSB failing, though. So Prelude Guy is correct in his argument.

There's always a lot of what I call 'IMSB Terrorism' rampant online, while factually only a few % of Single Row IMSB's ever failed, even less on the Dual Row. It's treated on here as if it is a guaranteed part to fail while factual data doesn't back that up. Let's not forget it will always be in some parties' best interest to keep these fears alive instead of taking them away - some of the parts/fixes being sold are outrageously expensive for what they are. An OEM quality bearing shouldn't ever cost more than 100$ - I've done my research on that one. (I've logged >5k problem-free miles in the past 5 months on my 80$ off-the-shelf dual-row after the 600$ FVD kit grenaded).

IMSB replacement also requires either tool purchase for 200$ (or if you're lucky, rental from a forum-member) or labor.

I can totally understand OP's line of reasoning.

Fracture

at the very least, toss in a single or dual row retrofit

eliminate the biggest chunk of risk

it's really pennies over the life of the car

User 63031

There are a lot of things that can break on these cars - scoring, d-chunks, chainguides and chains, etc etc. If you did all the 'pennies over the life of the car' to things that haven't given signs of wear, you'd be out the entire value of your car before you know it. The retrofit is a 8-900$ part excluding tools as well, wouldn't exactly call that pennies on the dollar, and is only guaranteed for some 70k miles. His original bearing held out for the same amount already, so why should he upgrade over OEM quality or upgrade at all if his OEM bearing turns out a dual-row and looks fine upon inspection?

docmirror

Name 20 failure modes that have resulted in Porsche being sued, and agreeing to a financial settlement costing millions of dollars, covering tens of thousands of cars.

From that list, name at least one failure mode that can be resolved with a solution under $1000. If one wants to go cheap, resolved for under $200 and 5 hours of labor.

User 63031

To be fair, OP said "But if it's dual, and looks good. She stays.", and that lawsuit covers only the single-row bearing.

Sula

Note that this is exactly what you most hope for. Once an IMSB has started to fail, there's no assurance that replacing it will do better than postpone engine failure.

My two cents: Given that access is already paid for, the value of your car will increase by the additional cost of the IMS Solution. You should install this and proceed to enjoy peace of mind and a full refund if & when you sell.

docmirror

Ectually, the lawsuit covers all cars from 1/1/2001 though the end of 2005. I don't believe the settlement discusses the type of bearing installed. obviously, this car being a model year 2001 was within the period defined in the lawsuit. Not that there's anything anyone can do about it now, as the last of the remediation is long behind us.

LN estimates a 10% premature failure rate. In terms of modern mechanical design targets, this is out of spec by about a factor of 10,000. (sixth sigma = 0.00034, but who's counting decimals anyway). So, in effect, this is Russian roulette - but with a 10 barrel revolver(if there is such an animal).

D6lc

I felt the IMSB was all overblown BS, having previously owned a 996 purchased at 32k and sold at 47k miles, all on the original bearing no issues.

My 2nd 996 had its bearing changed by the PO as a precaution before he collected it. He gave me the original clutch and bearing with the car. I decided to clean up the bearing and have it on my desk for fun. I was shocked when I cleaned it up that the bearing was every so slightly rough, then when you look really close up you can see the races are damaged. I was shocked to be honest. Maybe the bearing would have lasted another 50k miles. I doubt it, once bearings pick up they eventually fail.

Yours maybe perfect, but honestly when you come to sell it, all everyone will ask is is the bearing has been replaced, when I sold my first one, that was all they wanted to know. 9 out of 10 are not interested to even see the car if its not done. And the 1 that will see the car will try and offer $3k less than ask.

If I were you I would spend the few hundred $ extra now whilst you have the car apart, if nothing more than make the car easier to sell when your ready.

peterp

I think the lawsuit was for a specific set of serial numbers within that date range, so the date alone isn't conclusive. I'm pretty sure the serial numbers affected are the cars with single row. There was a thread a few weeks ago where there was a link to lawsuit serial number list.

To the OP, I would change the bearing. It's one thing to gamble when no other work is being done, but when you are in there, can't find a way for that to make sense. Not that you should care what I think, but all bearings wear over time so it's a good idea regardless.