Different! - 2005 S owners - what's your engine number and production date?

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03-29-2013, 04:53 PM

#46

mgordon18

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Quote:

Originally Posted by carjmark

I must be backwards. I've started my search for a 997 and I'm only looking for M96 style bearing cars. I'm not convinced Porsche has fixed the problem as I continue to hear of M97 failures and like M96's no one but Porsche knows the % of actual failures.

I have yet to hear of a single failure from an engine with the new bearings. Can you point me to some?

Quote:

Originally Posted by carjmark

I would rather have a M96 and replace the IMS bearing w/the ceramic LN bearing. As others have mentioned, a M97 (w/new bearing design) requires the cases split to replace the bearing, an impractical cost for most.

Maybe the lucky guys have the M96 or like me are looking for one that may sell at a discount due to a weaker, but (preferable) replaceable bearing design.

Be careful with your terminology. M96 and M97 are not sequential engines (i.e. the M97 did not replace the M96). M96 was the 3.6L engine (base cars) throughout the 997.1 lifespan. M97 was the 3.8L engine (S cars) throughout the 997.1 lifespan. Each engine was built with both old-style bearings and new-style bearings, depending on the build date. The bearings themselves are not M96 or M97. M96 engines and M97 engines were concurrently built throughout their life cycle. Therefore:

The early M96 engines have old bearings.
The later M96 engines have new bearings.
The early M97 engines have old bearings.
The later M97 engines have new bearings.

So yes. There have been IMS bearing failures in M97 engines, but those engines had the old-style bearings. I know of no failures (of M96 or M97 engines) from the new style bearings.

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03-29-2013, 05:10 PM

#47

SecretAsianMan

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There seems to be some conflicting data about which engine #s for M97 have the new bearing. One post says it starts at 68513295, another says it starts at 68509791.

My VIN # falls *outside* of the range, and my engine # is 68512902.