Quix

Hi all,
I've had my 2002 C4 Cab for about a year, and was swayed by all the info about IMS failures once I tuned in and started to read about it. I didn't really understand it when I bought the car, and the PPI identified that it had had an oil leak in the past and identified the work done, but I didn't know enough at that time to worry. When I looked back into my car's maintenance records I saw that the RMS had leaked and been replaced and that the IMS seal was leaking and replaced at the same time. I didn't know if that would make it more or less likely that I might suffer an expensive IMS problem so I went ahead and dropped the $2100 to have the LNEngineering retrofit installed. I got to see and inspect my IMS bearing and it looked pretty good, only a little play and rotated smoothly. I told the shop that I wanted to keep it and was told that LNEngineering would not offer any sort of warranty if I did not allow them to inspect the bearing, which makes sense in that they wouldn't want to warranty an engine that was already in trouble because of a wrecked bearing. So, I have had an email conversation with someone at LNE who has promised to return my IMS bearing after they have inspected it. I think it will make an expensive paperweight and not many people will know what it is. Well, that's my experience and data point. The shop was Auto Edge in Mahtomedi, MN, and they did a nice job for a good price.
BTW, I've been lurking on the site for several months and only joined today. I really appreciate all that I've learned here and am looking forward to continuing to learn more!

Barn996

Good for you. Welcome to Rennlist....PICS of your Porsche??

Quix

This is all I have for now for now...

ultraman206

For this to be a good data point, can you also tell mileage and if yours is a manual or tip?

Quix

6 speed, 52K. I'm the second owner. Looks like oil changes were about every 7-10K or so and it was never driven on the track or even very hard by the previous owner.

Marc Gelefsky

Just did the retrofit as well and mine went back to lne also.


Welcome to Rennlist!

Optical TDI

How many hours of labor did you get charged for this? My dealer said it took them over 12 hours, but it was a tiptronic they did.

Quix

They charged $1428 for labor, but didn't break it down into hourly.

Also, a rubber disc at the end of the driveshaft to the front was cracked, and since the Porsche Flex disc is not available without replacing the entire driveshaft, they were able to fit a BMW 318ti automatic Trans Flex disc in place. It was apparently slightly thicker but they were confident that it would work well and will check on it next time I'm in.

ivangene

well congratulations... I hope your tenure will not be a repeat performance of the previous owner - if so, my condolences

beautiful car.... drive it and enjoy it

spender

I can second that! I just had my 2003 C4S for a bunch of stuff relating to a leaky transmission I had, and since the engine and tranny were out, I also had them do the IMS, RMS, etc. My flex disk was also pretty cracked, and my mechanic (best independent in my city) did the same thing. He said it was a good fit, and frankly, I'd rather pay $30 than $1,000 for a new driveshaft!

spender

On the note of sending my old IMS back to LN, where does it say in their terms and conditions that it needs to be sent back?

(Yes, I'll be posting pictures of everything in another thread - but my IMS looked pretty much pristine and brand new when it was pulled from my C4S with 62,000 miles.)

robert r

How do you know whether the rev limiter is working if you never test it?

X51

I had mine replaced with the LNE bearing for approx $1,900 by my dealer. That included IMS bearing, RMS, flywheel and clutch inspection, throwout bearing inspection and AOS test. My car has 27k miles and the old bearing looked new. Nothing else needed work, cleaned up some hot spots on the flywheel and it runs like new. They detailed it too - wash, two coats of wax, leather and interior treatment and carpet treatment. They've earned their premier dealer status. I'm picky and it was all done perfectly.

Quix

It's funny: when I had the PPI done the indie shop was able to calculate the average speed the car had been driven by dividing the mileage by the engine hours, apparently available somewhere in the engine diagnostics. He came up with something like 30mph, likely a little low as idle/stoplight time is probably not included. He was also able to tell me that the rev limiter had only been activated once in the course of the car's 42K miles.
I'm working to change these numbers. Unfortunately I can't make the Nord Stern DT scheduled at Brainerd this month, and they won't have another until September! Until then....there's always the fuzzbuster!

Quix

I never really saw a terms and conditions sheet, but was told twice by the shop that it had to be sent back or else the limited warranty was not valid. The shop did provide a copy of the data sheet that accompanied my bearing back to LNE. I emailed LNE and they confirmed that they are asking for the old bearings to build a database and work to understand which cars and circumstances lead to IMS failures. In the course of my email exchange, Charles Navarro at LNE assured me that he would send my bearing back to me if I paid postage, to which I've agreed. I suppose that they could send any bearing and I wouldn't know the diff, but assume integrity on LNE's part. Let you know when I get it! I'm hoping they include their analysis....