gpjli2

I hope you slept well but unfortunately this information is not correct.

Stone859

Just a word from a person that recently had an IMS failure. I have an early '05 Boxster (2.7 w/small bearing and I'm the original owner) and mine failed a couple of weeks ago (21K miles). Three years ago I installed the LN Spin on Filter and Magnetic Drain Plug. For the last seven years I've cut my filters open and have NEVER seen any metal. This April... 1,900 miles ago, I changed the oil with clean filter and nothing on my drain plug...no problem...right...wrong! Three weeks ago I had a catastrophic IMS failure...no warning...zip...zero!! This design from Porsche sucks...period. You can try to rationalize it away (I did) and think you won't have a problem by saying things like: "I check my oil"..."I drive it hard"..."I use special oil"..."I don't drive it at night, or when the moon is full"...etc. but the truth is with these IMS bearings "you either pay me now, or pay me later"!

Thanks for letting me vent a little.

Petza914

Sorry to hear about your troubles with your Boxster. According to Jake from the 101 & 102 courses I took from him, it is not an uncommon occurrence to have a catastrophic failure of the small IMS bearing in the early 997s and 987s within one oil change cycle as you did.

The advantage to the really early small double row bearing is that it was robust enough to start shedding ferrous debris while still functioning and by checking your filter for metal debris, you could tell when you were on the verge of failure. It was this bearing design for which he developed his IMS Guardian for the 996 and 986. It was essentially a magnetic fork with a warning light on the dashboard and once it collected enough ferrous debris on the fork to connect the two forks, it would illuminate the warning light.

With the 987 and 997s (except the Turbo & GT cars), the smaller bearing is just a crap-shoot as to if and when it might fail. If I owned a small bearing 2005 or 2006 I would proactively install The IMS Solution as it's a much better design. For those of us with the larger bearings, there's not much we can do but pull the seal from the IMS bearing and allow it to get splash lubrication by sitting in oil. The sealed bearing design is not a good one for it's purpose as the bearing seal allows some oil in to wash out the grease, but not enough to be a good lubricant for the bearing.

Let us know what you decide to do with your Boxster. I think either here or in the 6speed Marketplace there is someone selling a used Boxster motor which might save you some money if your plan is to get your low-mileage car back on the road. The better solution, if the car is really nice or has some unique options and you plan to keep it, is to get an upgraded motor for RND that has the Nickasil cylinders, IMS Solution, and other upgrades pre-installed during the rebuild process.

Stone859

Thanks for the word Pete. Actually Jake has my car now and is installing the IMS Solution. "The Guardian" is an a great idea and is called a "Chip Detector" in helicopter transmissions...if that light comes on and your in the air you need to land now. I've seen the helicopter chip detectors and all they are charged screens (positive and negative) in the flow of the oil. When they get shorted out with metal particles the light turns on. Simple but efective.

rhinoman

2010 - 997.2 C4S - NO failure 58000 miles

jhbrennan

997.2 (9A1 engine) doesn't have an intermediate shaft - you won't get an IMS failure.

Jfisk

So the production date on the door says 10/04. That's quite early and most likely has the smaller bearing. I think the best thing to do is change it out every clutch change. The mileage just turned 58k and my clutch is only a year old. My mechanic told me not to worry about it and to enjoy my car. Lol

07CarreraS

Mine was built in 11/2004 (WP0AB299X5S741487). I bought it a month ago and was told the IMS was taken care of when it went in for service back in 2008 at Porsche in Naples, FL Would this be accurate? Is there a way for my local dealer to pull records showing the IMS being replaced?

Jfisk

I'm sure there would be a record of the ims bearing change performed at a major dealer like Naples. Definitely worth a call to the dealership. I guess if that's true, it just further proves my point that early 997.1's have the smaller bearing that can be switched out fairly easily. (My engine is even an M96). In some ways it makes these early 05's quite desirable because we can enjoy a 997 with a replaceable brand new aftermarket bearing of our choosing. 1-2 grand for the switch out every 25 thousand miles or so is a heck of deal compared to 15 grand for a new engine.

911super

No Issues 90,000 on my 2005 S

997GTScab

2012 997.2 GTS cab; 14K, no issues. Car lives in mild San Diego climate, though.

NIACAL4NIA

The 2012 997 has a DFI engine with no Ims bearing.

997GTScab

Thank you for your post!

gpjli2

2006 997.1 48K miles. Comfirmed failure #6 cylinder. need a motor

Stone859

Well, I just wanted to give everyone an update on my '05 Boxster's failed IMS: Talked with Flat 6 and Jake Raby and ended up sending my car to them. It left here on or about on 10/24/16, and I just got it back two days ago and have put just about two hundred miles on it. In summary, it had a failed IMS that caused some collateral damage but not so much damage that it could not be repaired. After several phone calls we decided to restore the motor and install "The IMS Solution". Anyway, the car runs like a dream, I perceive it runs both smoother, and has better throttle response than it did before the failure. In general, dealing with his company and him was a very positive experience...they totally kept me in the loop...for example, when they said they were going to call me at 1:00 the next day...they called at 1:00! It was actually kind of weird... they made me feel like I was their only customer, and I certainly know that this is not the case. Anyway, dealing with Jake and his team helped turn this very negative experience into a positive one.