soverystout

Well, my excellence mag finally arrived yesterday. I have to say that the IMS article was really very good.

We have been fortunate to have Jake visit often and give us answers to various questions but this article filled in all the "holes" for me.

Now every time a potential 996 purchaser visits the boards and says, "I really want a 996 but I am so worried about the IMS, what is an IMS?" we can refer them to this issue of Excellence.

The one aspect that was news to me was the difference in the # of drive chains between the MkI and MkII cars. It just continues to confirm the dramatic differences between the 99-01 and 02 and later cars. Not better, just different.

Does anyone have the Excellence mag that introduced the MkII cars? If so, did it list all of the changes both big and small? Curious.

Although I have visited the Flat 6 website and read the majority
of it, I look forward to the part 2 version of article.

Since my car is an 03 and has the orginal motor, from the article it is almost guaranteed that I have a single row bearing. I was thinking of ordering one now and keeping it for that day when the CPO expires.....

Barn996

Amazing Jim. I rec'd mine in the mail yesterday as well. They did a good job of pointing out the differences and why failure might occur, indicating that the harder track usage benefited the lubrication of the IMS bearing.My Porsche is a MY99 with the dble. row bearing...

Optical TDI

Don't all 3.6 motors have the single row? I'm hoping so, but mine was made in March 2002.

Chris996

Yes, I though the artical was very well written. Gave some good insight into why the IMS is failing and what Porsche was doing to try and fix the issue.

Not stated in the artical but the chain type itself was changed. MKI had a bicycle type chain.

LN Eng. IMS has a double and single row up grade.

"According to PET, here are the engine numbers for single or double row bearings* up until late 2005 then 2006 and later engines which received a larger, non-servicable single row bearing. *Courtesy of Scott Slauson http://www.softronic.us.

Boxster: Double Row: up to 651 12851 (M96.22) up to 671 11237 (M96.21)

Single Row: from 651 12852 (M96.22) from 671 11238 (M96.21)

996: Double Row: up to 661 14164

Single Row: from 661 14165" LN Eng.



I have been running the LN Eng single row IMS for a month now, its great.... don't have the though of IMS failure any more.

fpena944

What was the total (if you don't mind sharing) out-the-door for the repair? If you're not comfortable releasing the figure I understand.

And now a question for everyone else, in terms of the 996 engines "exploding" is this the achilles heal of the engine? So in other words, assuming no other catastrophic circumstances take place (like not using any oil in the engine) will this fix eliminate the likelihood of a random engine failure?

soverystout

You used the word "eliminate" so the answer would be no.

Will the new bearing greatly reduce the occurance of the #1 cause of engine failure with the 996 engines, then the answer is most likely.

Can you tell that I have been tortured by the lawyers in my company?

I'd be interested in the price of the IMS bearing also.

Macster

Rutabagas!

When your first problem is solved the 2nd problem gets promoted to first problem status.

Applying the IMS bearing upgrade eliminates the factory bearing failure point. The upgrade bearing is assumed to be much more durable so chances are high a failure at this point is reduced to the point its odds of happening *before* something else lets go are slim.

But there's that "something else".

Now this could a chain tensioner/guide rail, rod bolt, cylinder wall crack, valve head falling off, internal "freeze plug" failing and allowing wholesale intermixing of coolant and oil, and so on.

Sincerely,

Macster.

RF5BPilot

I still found the article to mix conjecture with fact....presenting both as fact.

fpena944

I found that a lot of the article still didn't exactly make sense to me. A lot of details that sort of went over my head. I'll have to go over it again and re-read it but I'm looking forward to Part II which should go a little deeper into the solution.

soverystout

Yeah, I agree. The bottom line is that:

IMS bearing failures happen wether they are caused by a bearing seal gone bad, water and contamination of the oil, washing away of the factory installed bearing gease etc etc....

This is a potential solution to a problem that does occur with some of the 996s out there.

It did raise an eyebrow that they compared the IMS bearing to a wheel bearing.
If a wheel bearing goes bad, not the end of the world, if the IMS "wheel" bearing goes bad, much worse.

In summation, the explanation was good enough for me.

chago996

where is that engine number stamped that tells us which bearing is used? on engine case somewhere, is it part of the vin number?

BruceP

I'm almost a year on my LN bearing retrofit. It's hard to review this product when the benefit is an absence of problems, but that's what I can report. I treat my car pretty badly, in some ways, with year round city traffic and frequent short trips. I definitely get moisture contamination in the oil from time to time, judging from the dipstick. That, plus the discovery that my OE bearing was on the way to parts heaven, convinced me the insurance was a good investment for me.

RF5BPilot

I don't question the problems with the bearing. Nor do I challenge the value of the LN product. The article presented conjecture as to why one fails and the next doesn't. I think there are other factors at work. At this point, I see nothing more convincing than random chance...which is hardly comforting.

eggodynamics

You can add "Random metorite falling from space and crushing the car" to the list.

Chris996

The engine number can be found on the oil pan tab. Also on the option sticker under the hood and in the maintenance manua, its the number after the vin.

Ordered at PelicanParts.com
Drop-Shipped from LN-Eng
LN-106-08-13 LN Engineering IMS Bearing Puller/Counterstay, for extraction of single or dual-row bearing intermediate shaft bearings safely and includes bearing installation tool
$69.95

Drop-Shipped from LN-Eng
LN-106-08-2 LN Engineering M96 IMS Retrofit Kit (inc. hub, install tool, retainer, and bearing), for Single Row IMS
$519.00

I pulled the transmission myself, so no labor cost. Also put new OEM clutch/pressure plate, throughout bearing, and oil cooler seals.