View Poll Results: did YOUR car suffer an IMS failure
Voters: 1663. You may not vote on this poll
IMS failure for your 997 car, Y or N? tell us (yr, 997.1, .2, m96, m97, failure mode)
09-10-2013 | 01:08 AM
#376
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 248
Likes: 0
From: Austin, Tx
As a person looking in the same range as you, my research shows there are some confirmed failures reported here and other boards but the numbers are very small compared to the smaller units. What's not conclusive is if this was the result of other issues resulting in the IMS failing, i.e. RMS leaking and owners not keeping up on maintenance.
The post early '05's still have the this cylinder wall issue that has caused problems hence why you still see LN Enginnering 'Nickels' talked about. In full disclosure, I'm not 100% positive on all this either just what I've pieced together from here and other sites. I talked to a good friend of mine that's owned two Boxsters, a '02 and a '07 and never had heard of these issues; nor had he had any problems. Take that for what's it worth.
The take away I have is that the IMS is an issue that plagues roughly 7% of 99-early '05's but I don't believe it's a big of an issue as some report. Some post '05's have had failures but its unclear as to what, if any, contributing factors were present.
Confused? Yep, so am I.
The post early '05's still have the this cylinder wall issue that has caused problems hence why you still see LN Enginnering 'Nickels' talked about. In full disclosure, I'm not 100% positive on all this either just what I've pieced together from here and other sites. I talked to a good friend of mine that's owned two Boxsters, a '02 and a '07 and never had heard of these issues; nor had he had any problems. Take that for what's it worth.
The take away I have is that the IMS is an issue that plagues roughly 7% of 99-early '05's but I don't believe it's a big of an issue as some report. Some post '05's have had failures but its unclear as to what, if any, contributing factors were present.
Confused? Yep, so am I.
There is no set mileage that IMS can occur.
So question still remains, how many 997's has it happened to in the 06-08 range? (trying to stay on subject of my question - too many people will start to speculate on triggers of IMS issues)
09-10-2013 | 07:17 AM
#378
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,406
Likes: 34
I am surprised to see that there have been reported IMS failures in the revised bearings. On 6speed, the OP went back to each that had claimed this. There were maybe three or four listed and he could not confirm a single one. I also believe the 7% number is arbitrarily much, much higher than reality. Where does that number come from?
09-10-2013 | 07:45 AM
#379
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,406
Likes: 34
If your 997 had the larger, non replaceable factory IMS bearings that Porsche installed in all post early 2005 997s and your car had an IMS failure, can you please respond? A VIN number would be helpful, if you can dig one up from your old paperwork (if you cannot locate the VIN, your insurance agent might still have your it).
It's worth a try... To the OP, is this OK to have in here or should this be a separate topic? My thought in having it in here is it should reach the vast majority of those who have posted and not changed their email addresses.
09-10-2013 | 06:02 PM
#380
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 958
Likes: 31
Sure, leave it here. If people post a failure I always ask for the car and engine number. Sometimes people are not that great about giving details. The point of the poll is not to give a true percentage of failures but to give a sense that it's not 50% failures and it's not 0.5% failures. This is far from a scientific poll.
There have been very few failures stated here in the list (use the search function) of the larger bearing but it's difficult to say 100% for sure that it was the IMS root cause as when the engine is trashed sometimes it's difficult to root-cause the failure.
Usually, when people do have a failure people are reticent to talk about it because they feel bad about it and of course the first questions people will ask are "did you money-shift it?" or "did you run it out of coolant" etc. So, it's tough to get details.
There have been very few failures stated here in the list (use the search function) of the larger bearing but it's difficult to say 100% for sure that it was the IMS root cause as when the engine is trashed sometimes it's difficult to root-cause the failure.
Usually, when people do have a failure people are reticent to talk about it because they feel bad about it and of course the first questions people will ask are "did you money-shift it?" or "did you run it out of coolant" etc. So, it's tough to get details.
09-10-2013 | 06:46 PM
#381
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,406
Likes: 34
Sure, leave it here. If people post a failure I always ask for the car and engine number. Sometimes people are not that great about giving details. The point of the poll is not to give a true percentage of failures but to give a sense that it's not 50% failures and it's not 0.5% failures. This is far from a scientific poll.
There have been very few failures stated here in the list (use the search function) of the larger bearing but it's difficult to say 100% for sure that it was the IMS root cause as when the engine is trashed sometimes it's difficult to root-cause the failure.
Usually, when people do have a failure people are reticent to talk about it because they feel bad about it and of course the first questions people will ask are "did you money-shift it?" or "did you run it out of coolant" etc. So, it's tough to get details.
There have been very few failures stated here in the list (use the search function) of the larger bearing but it's difficult to say 100% for sure that it was the IMS root cause as when the engine is trashed sometimes it's difficult to root-cause the failure.
Usually, when people do have a failure people are reticent to talk about it because they feel bad about it and of course the first questions people will ask are "did you money-shift it?" or "did you run it out of coolant" etc. So, it's tough to get details.
09-12-2013 | 09:41 PM
#382
Track Day
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: Virginia
I replaced the engine in my 997.1 C2 at about 51k miles. No symptoms except for a tiny oil leak; as the shop dismantled things to find the source of the leak they discovered play in the crankshaft. I could have had them tear the engine down to find out the problem, but would have had to replace it in any case so decided not to pay for the additional labor. Downside is that we don't know for sure what the cause was, but it wasn't the IMS. (Unfortunately, or I'd be able to recoup some costs via the class action suit.)
09-12-2013 | 10:03 PM
#384
Track Day
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: Virginia
IIRC the crate engine from Porsche w/included 2-yr warranty was about $16k. Plus labor, plus I had the clutch replaced, etc - close to $20k all told. Fortunately I'd bought the car used and got a great deal... so that made it just a so-so deal. But that's the only problem I've had (albeit a biggie), and she's still a beaut so I have no regrets. We're off next week for five days straight at VIR, and you can bet I'll wear out long before she does. 
09-12-2013 | 10:12 PM
#385
Nordschleife Master
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 5,408
Likes: 604
From: richmond hill
what year is your car? c2 so i assume its the 3.6L engine?
glad to hear your ride is back on the road
glad to hear your ride is back on the road
I replaced the engine in my 997.1 C2 at about 51k miles. No symptoms except for a tiny oil leak; as the shop dismantled things to find the source of the leak they discovered play in the crankshaft. I could have had them tear the engine down to find out the problem, but would have had to replace it in any case so decided not to pay for the additional labor. Downside is that we don't know for sure what the cause was, but it wasn't the IMS. (Unfortunately, or I'd be able to recoup some costs via the class action suit.)
