Geeforce

Hi all,

I recently purchased an '05 997 RWD w/3.6, manual shift car with 117K miles on it. This single owner car was serviced at a Porsche dealer in VA for it's entire life and I was able to obtain the full service history.

All of the major and minor servicing was done on time and oil changes were performed every 7K miles. The AOS was replaced at 102K miles. I will be replacing the water pump and coolant as a preventative measure even though Porsche says the fluid is lifetime.

The engine idles smoothly and revs without any misses and is quiet at idle. There are no leaks under the engine or between the trans housing.
The trans and clutch operate without any problems as well.

The oil and filter was changed at the dealer 3K miles before I purchased the car but I decided to change out the oil anyway so i could send a sample to Blackstone and also to cut open and examine the filter.
The filter had no metal or plastic bits or anything actually and i am still waiting for the lab report on the oil. The expansion tank has no evidence of oil in it and there are no pending check engine codes.

I looked up my engine number to compare to the datatbase which states that my engine has the larger single row IMS.

This 997 will be driven only on the weekends and not for commuting but of course, I want to keep an eye on the IMS because I drive my cars like they were meant to be driven.

Am I taking the right actions to keep an eye on the IMS - should I have someone run the PWIS to see if there are variations between cams indicating the bearing is failing??
OR
should I just bite the bullet and have the IMS replaced even though I don't need a new clutch or AOS?

I am not the paranoid type. I do most of the servicing on all of my cars and i am not scared of internet hysteria. My feeling is that if this IMS were to fail, it would have happened long ago but I do want to take any preventative steps so i can enjoy driving the car for years to come. So I am asking for advice from the seasoned owners here.
Thanks in advance.

street rod

If it has the larger bearing then it can not be replaced. That bearing is much more reliable and you should be in good shape. Nice car by the way.

hagfish2

I hear you and agree with your comments. My 05 has been stellar as I watched for particles in every oil filter. Finally, at 79,000 miles my clutch pressure plate went weak, which was the perfect excuse to upgrade to the LN bearing. Now I sleep great!

Tarek307

Your good to go!- i wouldn't worry about the bearing- if something was going to happen it would have already- IMS is way overblown out of proportion online

Caughtacab911

I'm an almost 5-yr owner of a 997. IMS tales are legend, and as with all episodes of major systemic failures they're true but tend to get magnified. I was told by two dealer service managers that the vast majority of 997 IMS failures occurred in the first 30K. I had my RMS replaced at 40K (under warranty) but my car's IMS has proven to be sound. You did a thorough run-through and the car looks beautiful. Enjoy and relax...

I will say that I'm pleased to learn of a car with 30K miles more than mine - now I feel like mine has low miles at 81K :-).

Gene
________________________________________________
05 911 C2S cabriolet, arctic silver/black/full leather/chrono plus/nav/bose/tooki/sat/SRX
01 MB E320 4Matic wagon, midnight blue/beige

Lvt19672

+1 Ims failures are greatly exaggerated, now plant ur right foot to the floor in good health

joelpirela

my only concern is that, after 100k miles of trouble free driving, it will become a princess weekender. that's when your troubles may start....

buddy911t

I've been trying to tell people on the list that the late build '05 has the updated bearing like mine. Thanks for the coroboration.

JW911

"I looked up my engine number to compare to the datatbase which states that my engine has the larger single row IMS."

Can you elaborate on this? Where is the engine number located, and what is this database you refer to? I am quite curious about my 05 which was not quite a late build, but not early either. Only one way to find out...

Geeforce

I can't find the exact link but I checked the accuracy of the post on this thread. I found my engine number on my engine which was also confirmed on the build sheet I purchased from Suncoast for $10.

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http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...nual-cd-2.html

"The information on the IMS/engine number were extracted from the 2005/06 workshop manual. The info is on page 426. I believe you can still get a copy @ 997 6speedonline. As for manufacture date, there is no way to tell, same as for a VIN."

"To determine if your M97 engine has the improved IMS, you will need to check your engine number.
if the engine number is 68509790 and below, unfortunately it still has the smaller removable IMS bearing.
if the engine number is 68509791 and above, it will have the new large single row IMS. The IMS cover also has the 22mm nut."

gvcap10

With that kind of mileage, you're good to go. Drive the **** out of it and have fun!!

rsabeebe

Any chance you can tell me where I can find this database that shows where the potential switch from bearings happened? I know the exact switch timing is contested a bit, but I'd still like to know if I'm largely past the point - forward or back. Thanks!!

rsabeebe

sorry. i just saw geeforce's post and the reply. jumped the gun...

dreamof911

Hate to continue with this IMS issue. Would like some clarification. Does the IMS issue only pertain to manual transmission models?

Money Pit 951

Nope, all engine of this type. It's part of the engine design