Topaz330ci

3 significant mode's of failure, considering a 2 in 1 also, (IMS/RMS).

Just sucks that's all...

Jake Raby

I don't post any percentages, the actual numbers can't be quantified.

These are 3 cars coming in on one truck all with the same issue. We didn't see these failures at this rate until the Spring of this year, as water pumps aged due to time in service (not mileage) and their impellers began to fail. The failed impellers found a capillary within the cylinder head, which created a hot spot which developed a crack.

The good thing is this MOF is very easy to address and cheap, just requiring a water pump to be proactively installed. When the old pump is removed and visually inspected a cooling system flush may be necessary if one of the impeller blades is found broken. This piece of broken impeller is whats doing the damage thats leading to cracked heads, so it must be removed. If not the impeller will continue floating around in the coolant until it forces a failure even after the pump has been replaced!

Here are some examples of what a failed pump can cause..
Pic 1= 2000 Boxster S. Failed at 51K miles, cost of repair 18K (entire engine compromised due to consequential failures from severe intermix) customer chose my fully upgraded engine as a replacement

Pic 2= 2001 996 Failed at 34K miles, cost of repair 8,500.00 (engine compromised due to secondary rod bearing failure from intermixed oil) buyer went with our CPO engine program

Pic 3= 2001 Boxster failed at 18K miles, cost of repair 7,000.00 (we were able to save this one with crack repair and some effort)

soverystout

Jake had mentioned before that every M96 engine out there (regardless of age) should have it's water pump replaced. Seems like cheap insurance.

Jake Raby

Yes.. What I am seeing supports the fact that the water pumps can fail in 2-3 different ways and it isn't mileage related..

Every M96 on the road is old enough to need the water pump replaced to avoid ending up on that same truck that delivered those 3 cars to me earlier this morning.

BTW- Two of those are dead, the third one was dead before it arrived with D chunk failure.

htny

I feel like the IMS threads are directly related to waves of new and prospective owners, especially since the economic downturn and the very low prices on early 996s we've had a lot of new people coming through all the Porsche forums, and they needed to go hrough the same cycle that any new or prospective internet savvy watercooled Porsche owner goes through:

1. OMG these cars are a a great deal. Does anyone have 84 month financing for these cars?
2. OMG do they all blow up? 99s? 00s? are Mk2s safe? Do 997s blow up? What about 997.2s? Should I buy an M3/Corvette/Honda?
3. Wait, Will my car blow up? I should bump some 3 year old 3rd party warranty threads.
4. Let me create new threads on topics which have been beaten to death and revive 5 year old threads just so they can be beaten to death by a new set of people:
5. Who want to do surveys;
6. File class action law suits;
7. and speculate on the effectiveness of various preventative maintenance measures;
8. only to do nothing about it at all, eventually just changing the oil and driving the car happily like the rest of us.


BTW Jake how on earth did it make more sense for your 2000 boxster S guy to pay 18K for a new motor instead of selling his roller to a spec racer for say 8-10K and picking up a used boxster S for <20? That seems like a very confusing situation to be in.

fjr_wertheimber

Hey Jim, thanks for the props, I hope you know I was just having some fun with you... It seems like every time I check Rennlist there's a new topic about the IMS/RMS, so it was funny to see someone asking why they don't see more discussion about it.

Jake, I know you recommend replacing the water pump; do you recommend the Porsche OEM pump, or another brand?

Must admit, Baghdad was a lot more fun back when we actually had external enemies to fight, rather than all the political infighting that's going on now...

rodgerdodger

+1

Is there an updated pump, does it matter what brand?

Jake Raby

He was a classic Porsche owner.. To him the car wasn't a car, it was part of his lifestyle and he planned on keeping it forever. Due to this the amount of money required to achieve absolute reliability and longevity didn't matter. What made it easier for him to swallow was the fact that my version of the engine made 40HP and 55 lb/ft more torque than his stock 3.2. He is a DE driver and that power and reliability was very much worth it.

The one thing that EVERYONE who buys a fully upgraded engine from me shares is the desire to keep their car forever, thats why you never see cars for sale that have my fully upgraded engines installed.

I am the same way, the things related to my Porsches (and even old VWs) come at a cost but that cost is just the amount I have to write on the check.

nick49

Ha, Ha, Ha!

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

rb101

And that's why I replaced my water pump last year when I did the IMS bearing, RMS, tensioners pads, tensioners, AOS, and clutch.

Rick
99 996C4
87 944S

Pac996

IF I were running a porsche forum I'd have snubjects like IMS automaticly transfered to a repair section.

How come I never see an IMS failure on the tv show I Can't Believe I Survived?

Sneaky Pete

If I had a pic of Lemmings jumping off a cliff I would post it.

RPMulli

They need to create a forum section named "If you just bought a 996, read this before your post in the adult forum" and stash all the IMS threads, etc in there..

Jake Raby

Too many people aren't doing their research before buying these cars..

redridge

Ok.... what was the consensus,? I forget....... steel impellar pump was the hardware of choice.... no?