JDSStudios

BruceP, I priced it around, and Eurospek, on Kipling and Queensway
had the best price, eventhough I do not have an exact quote.

I'll let you know Thursday.

Jake Raby

The bearing isn't ceramic coated.. Its a full on hybrid ceramic, silicon nitride bearing.. Coatings don't make the grade.

JDSStudios

Jake, thanks for clearing that up.
I left a phone message on what I thought was your number- Charles Navarro returned
my call yesterday

I wanted your and his opinion on what other parts to replace at 105,000 Km, since I was doing the
IMS bearing upgrade. He suggested to replace the water pump.

My mechanic David Santos (Excellent mechanic) said it was on the opposite side of the engine,
and the OEM pump alone costs another 450.00 (including new gasket).
So, I decided to wait for now, since there should be some warning signs if the water pump goes,
like the engine beginning to run hotter, and that should give me some time to take it to the shop.

Repair is schedule for Thursday at 8:30 AM, which is today, some 7 hours from now.
If you have any tips or suggestions please post.

Either way, I should get the right phone number from you sometime.

EDIT: How do I change the title thread to:
" IMS Hybrid Ceramic, Silicon Nitride Bearing on 996 C4S "

Jake Raby

Charles has been at my shop for the last week working on development and assisting me instruct an M96 engine rebuild school:-) He probably called you from one of my extensions and you hit "return" looking for him..

The water pump is a no brainer.. mileage doesn't kill them- time in service does.

What about a water pump warning sign being a cracked cylinder head??? When impeller blades break they block capillaries in the heads, create hot spots and that just cost a customer 11,765.00 to repair... and the engine never had high coolant temps!

Water pumps took out no less than 50 engines this summer, it is quickly becoming the biggest preventive failure to take out engines with multi-thousands of dollars required to repair them..

I have two builds on my floor right now that are here due to cracked heads stemming from failed water pumps and broken impeller blades... to the tune of 18K and 21K respectively... Don't play with it.

03911TT

I agree with Jake. I proactively changed out my water pump at 60K and feel good about it.

Zookie

How much was it? where did you get it done?

Jake Raby

Mileage isn't the killer of the water pump.. The killer is the time in service and exposure of the plastic impeller to the coolant.

I have seen failed water pumps on engines with 18K, they never got loud or had a bearing issue.. They simply shed a piece of impeller blade and cost about 8K to repair when the head cracked and created an intermix issue. With even the newest M96 now being 5 years old, EVERY ONE of them should be replaced.. If an impeller blade is missing when the pump is pulled it must be found, else it'll circulate around in the coolant until is finds a capillary to block.

P7

I don't believe this is a mintenance item that Porsche replaces when they perform the normal service intervals - is it?

Jake Raby

Nope. They are the same people that also maintain the IMS bearing cannot be removed.

The recommended checklist for a 30,60 and 90K service is laughable..

They also are the people who tell you to replace the engine when a head cracks because of a broken impeller blade...

P7

I am very surprised and shocked at the same time. Since this is news to me, is there a list somewhere that has all the items in the 996 that need to be replaced and the intervals/cost in order to avoid a $10,000-$20,000 bill (that I can't afford to pay). So far I know the IMS and the water pump. What else?

JDSStudios

IMS bearing installation went without a glitch!!

Also, the clutch feels way lighter- David just made it perfect.

I'll post pictures later on.
Price: 1700 before taxes

Peace of mind: priceless

In two weeks I'll change the water pump.

I'm just glad I'm not posting about a $20,000 engine rebuild due to IMS bearing failure.

Thank you Jake Rabi and Charles Navarro.

Brucechas

Great news! Indeed Thanks to both Mr. Raby and Mr. Navarro.

Ubermensch

Jake, can you comment on the size of these capillaries that are be coming blocked with impeller plastic? How big of a piece of impeller is a concern and how small is small enough not to worry about?

Thanks,

Shawn

Jake Raby

The capillaries vary in size depending upon the year of the engine and displacement.. They also vary from casting to casting, some are less than 4mm in diameter in the center of the cylinder head on pre-02 996 engines.

Here are a couple of cracks. I have some other pics of the area machined away but not on this machine.

BTW- Glad the IMSR went well for you!

JDSStudios

A couple of observations:
1. As Jake Rabi described previously, the IMS shaft was full
of very old and very stinky oil, with no lubrication properties left- probably 8 years old.

2. Original IMS bearing already had a significant play.
I'm opening it and taking a closer look later on.