centexsi

I finished an IMS/Clutch project and figured I’d give a quick rundown to anyone who is interested and to contribute to the community who has helped me out a lot over the years.

The car: 2002 Carrera 6-speed with 103k miles – single row IMS bearing

The car was on the original IMS bearing, RMS, clutch/flywheel and air/oil separator. I was a little worried taking this project on after everything I’ve read about the bearing issues and not having done anything this extensive before. Overall, it went well but there were a few bumps along the way and I figured I’d share my experiences here to help anyone thinking of taking on this project or stuck in the middle of it. I won’t be super detailed on the procedure, but will give you an idea.

I went with the Pelican Parts IMS bearing replacement to save a little money – the LN engineering one was quite a bit more expensive and with the stock one lasting this long, I didn’t see a reason to spend more.

Parts List

Clutch kit with throwout bearing by Sachs
Dual mass flywheel by Luk
Rear main seal by Victor Reinz
Flywheel and pressure plate bolts OEM Porsche
Trans input seal OEM Porsche
Trans tube bracket OEM Porsche
IMS bearing from Pelican Parts
LN Engineering IMS Pro toolkit
Clutch alignment tool
Air/oil separator OEM Porsche

I have a huge advantage in that I’ve got a nice lift, which makes the job much easier. I’ve also got a transmission jack and screw type support jack. This can all be done without this stuff but will take a lot longer. This is a very quick rundown of how its done:

To start, remove negative terminal on battery and drain the oil. Put the new IMS bearing in the freezer. Jack the car up and take off all of the plastic panels underneath. Next, remove the shift linkage cables from the right side of the transmission and push them to the side. Disconnect the axles from both sides of the transmission. I used my screw type support jack at this point on the oil pan to support the engine – you’ll need to support it with something. Loosen the bracket at back of transmission that holds it to the body of the car – its held on with two nuts. Remove the bolts that go through the transmission mounts. Support transmission. Remove all of the bolts that hold the engine and transmission together. Disconnect the hydraulic line that goes to the slave cylinder. Unplug the speed sensor and tuck wire away.

At this point you may want a helper to balance the transmission as you pull it away from the engine. Find an angle that works and rock it back and forth and try to pull it towards front of car. You may need to lower it a bit. Separate it from the engine and lower it out of the car and put it to the side. Its not very heavy if you don’t have a lift, two strong people can lift and move it.

Now you’ll need to remove the pressure plate, clutch and flywheel. Be careful as the flywheel is very heavy and will fall when you take the last bolt off. When reinstalling, install a new transmission seal, throwout bearing and guide tube in transmission as well as replacing all of the flywheel and pressure plate bolts.

I then installed a new air oil separator from underneath – this was a pain. There are three bolts holding it in and one is hiding around the back. Lots of hose clamps to undo as well. Keep track of where all the hoses go. Lowering the engine made this much easier.

I then removed the rear main seal by drilling a small hole and driving a screw in it, then using a pair of vice grips (a slide hammer would work better) to yank it out. Install new rear main seal (I ended up having to do this three times, details later on. The spec depth is 13mm from the top of the crank.

Next, lock the engine at TDC with the t-tool that comes in the LN Engineering kit. Remove the plastic cam plugs from each side of the engine and use the LN Engineering tools to lock both cams in place. You can then remove the chain tensioners. Remove the reverse torx bolts that hold the IMS cover on and remove the center nut. Take the cover off and clean it well. Install the new brown IMS cover gasket, replace bolt and O-ring and set aside. Now comes the part everyone is scared of! Get the IMS tool with the long bolt and nut and place over the IMS bearing. Screw the pieces together and thread the bolt in the center of IMS bearing. Use the tool to turn the nut and slowly pull the bearing out. I had no issues doing this – the tool worked perfectly. Once you have the bearing out, clean the inside of the shaft and place the new bearing in the shaft. You’ll then use the special tool to press it in. Make sure its straight and take your time. Again, no issues at all for me and the tool worked great.

Once the new bearing is in, reinstall the IMS cover with new gasket and spacer and use three new micro-encapsulated bolts. Some people like to replace the three bolts that hold the engine case together so now is the time for that. Now you can start the process of reinstalling the transmission. Make sure to bleed the clutch and get the clips back on the shift cable mount points.

I spent the most time dealing with a leaking RMS issue. I put the car all back together the first time and the seal immediately started leaking (I rolled the inside of the seal). I had to pull the transmission again and install a new seal – I crafted a tool from 3” PVC end pipe that fit perfectly and measure a line on it using a caliper to measure install depth. The second time around I messed up with my measurements and let it get too deep on the install, and again it leaked. The second time I only installed a few bolts and mount to hold the trans in place while I ran the engine to check for leaks. The third time I got it in perfect when I re-measured everything, and it has been a few hundred miles and its bone dry. This would have been much easier with the Porsche tool but it can be done without it.

All that said, the bearing I replaced had no signs of wear and seemed to be in good shape. The seal was intact on the bearing and it spun freely. The oil was clean and free of debris. I was able to do all this in one day with no previous experience working on this car. The way they are put together is fairly straightforward and there are plenty of resources here and elsewhere if you get stuck.

You can DIY with the right tools and a little help. I have since bought an 03 Turbo, so the car I did all this work to is now for sale. I’m happy to answer any questions anyone might have on this project so shoot me a PM or reply to the thread!

Brlin

Thank you for sharing!

sammaw

This is a great write up. I am considering doing the same on mine (c4 2002 cab 67k miles). A couple of questions if i may.
would it be much more work just to drop engine and trans out in one, just thinking for AOS this may be much simpler and the additional time to drop engine out cant be too much more.
What did the transmission mounts look like? I am thinking while it is out, to change these as well.
IMS is what causes me the most worry, Is the install fairly idiot proof or do you really need to know what you are doing? the cost of having the indy do this instead of me is about £600 but i dont need to buy the tools and they have the experience of installing. but if it is fairly straight forward then i think I will give it ago.
Clutch fork? did this look ok?

relinuca

Centexi's posting is excellent! Congrats.

BTW, replacing the trans main input shaft seal is an excellent idea "while you're in there". At a minimum, doing so saves a bunch of grief down the road.

Well done, Centexi.

FYI-I just had "the alphabet" done on my 83K miles '99 Mk I. I jobbed the work out though.

relinuca

Slakker

Great post! Not sure how I missed it first time around. Well done.

rockhouse66

Hard to believe you did all of this in one day as a first timer, unless you had a really good helper. As far as dropping the engine, that is the way I would do it if I had the job to do over again. It is worth it just for the hassle of replacing the AOS in the car, at least IMO.

dmw996

Great write up! Thanks for sharing!

Noz1974

Yes drop the engine and box as one it's easier , motorcycle jack under sump and trolley jack under gearbox , just make sure car is jacked up high first so engine will clear when it's on the lowered jacks so you can pull clear!!