steam_mill

Rob in WA

MY01 C4 48k miles, no IMS issues. Oil changed annually.

I haven't checked in here in quite a few years. Back in the day, it was all about the RMS.

A couple questions (I watched the PCA & Jake's vids ): It seems the failure rate is higher for a car like mine, single bearing, sometimes sits for months. I do drive it hard when I drive it, coming from an air-cooled 911.

How worried should I be? Should I drop the $$ now and get it done? When does the clutch typically go on these cars? It seems a lot of people wait until the clutch needs replacing. How much should I expect to pay to get it done? How much if it's done w/the clutch? Is there a shop in the Seattle area (preferably north) that does these?

Anyone sell insurance to covert this? I heard there was a class action suit. Anything come of this? I bought the car new.

Reading all these threads has me a little scared to drive the car when I was just starting to enjoy it again.

808Bill

It would be foolish not to address it now. If it's a car you want to keep, get "The Solution"!
We just had a member buy a low mile 996 and ignore the advice only to lose his motor 2 weeks later...

Flyfishnick

99 996 replaced at 97,000 miles, no problems. I just found the invoice for the repair from the previous owner. He sold the car at 99,000 miles to me so I am happy as a lark.
It was replaced with dual row LN. Receiving a copy of the work invoice has made my whole week! I was told that "all the updates were done" but I really had no proof or any work. This guy bought the car, did the RMS and IMS and a few other little items totaling $3700 and then sold the car 2,000 miles later. I'm happy!

996sf

vanspeed

3.6 M96 D Chunk failure @140k C4S, (which is delivered with bigger radiators). IMS looked "Ok" just a little play but some oil had made it past and into the tube. Was starting to notice plastic ramp/guide material in filter. California car relocated to South Carolina for last 15k of its miles. The engine was 100% stock, set-up factory thermostat, factory oil pan, factory radiator set-up. Factory PSE. Well documented maintenance and oil changes, (Mobile-1, best know at the time), Previous 2 owners appeared to spare no expense for routine maintenance and repairs.
Jake is right. It's not "if" it's "when" .... In my eyes, it's not a robust package, -I didn't expect it to be. The cost of engine failure however, is still a toss up for me as far as over-all value of the car. it's really not worth it but once you're in, it's a tough to give up, cut you loses, sell a roller and walk away... (probably what I should have done). But, who knows what future surprises are in store for us on the 991 direct injection engines ....

996AE

I went for a Christmas Day drive yesterday. Decided to exercise the AE. Off the battery tender, moved the Cabriolet, dropped the four post lift, checked tire pressure and headed out. Low T and new water pump last year brought temp up nicely. After a 3,500 RPM max 10 minute drive I push my 32k mi well maintained ride to redline.

Sad thought popped into my head as I sat at a stop light on PCH heading north to Malibu. IMSB Failure.

This thought quickly faded. Replaced by the 4.0L build Jake would do. The year long wait to get in line for the build was a blissful thought. The wait to replace all 51 modes of failure would be worth it. My wife would understand. She would, really.

Then I woke up in a cold sweat. I was dreaming.

pkalhan

It seems like a lot of owners got the replacement done before their engines/bearings went bad. I am glad many of you did not have to pay the high cost of a new engine. I have a question about the replacement bearings and was hoping someone could answer it for me. Before replacing the bearing for preventative reasons, does the car have to go through a qualification test of some kind? I thought I saw a video or read somewhere that it is important to do this because if the original bearing was going bad their could be some metal shavings in the engine that could damage the new bearing. I am not sure if I read that right or not as it was some time ago. This is kind of important to me because I am very interested in one of two 911s (a 2004 4S and a 2005 Carrera) and would also want to get the IMS bearing replaced, but it would suck to get the PPI done and buy the car only to find out that the car does not qualify for a replacement because the damage has already started and I.

Is the information I posted correct or did I get my facts mixed up. If I did, my apologies, still learning about the 996 and early 997. Just want to make sure if I ever do pull the trigger on one of the babies, I have a game plan in place to really enjoy the car.

Thanks!

808Bill

Yes, a prequalification is a must.

texcwa

Also, check the manufacturing date on the 05, I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but in 05 Porsche made a change where the IMS is not removable without a complete tear down but then again, they also used a much more robust bearing at that time.

pkalhan

808Bill

Dec 2014?
You're playing a guessing game until eyes are set on the bearing. How do you know that these cars have not had there motors replaced at some point like many others?
Do you have documented service history and if so how far back?

panzerwagen

Paul Gavazzi

Update: many oil changes and 25k Miles since the IMS solution. HPDE'd a few times. Car is running strong -- early oil changes had a few flecks in the filter. Nothing in the latest changes and nothing ever on the magnetic drain plug. Love the car... Never selling it

Christopher28

I just bought my 2001 996 a few weeks ago. It has 104k miles; pretty sure it's the original engine - the IMS/clutch was done at about 90,000 miles. I have a bar code kit from LNengineering - I THINK a shop in South Carolina installed it but I can't find the paperwork confirming that right now. The engine sounds strong, if that counts for anything, but I've only put about 30 miles on the car, so it may be too early to tell. I'm too cheap to buy the Carfax report - may splurge for the Blackstone Oil Analysis test later in the year when it's due for an oil / filter change. This car is way out of my league in every sense, but what an awesome car.