NuttyProfessor

Have you replaced your IMS bearing?

Please take a poll on what product you used or if you chose to keep the OEM bearing in the car. Thank you.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ke-a-poll.html

Tim Lawton

I did on my 1999 Box at around 80000 miles. I bought it with 68000 on it. I found out about the IMS issue from reading here, and other 986/987 forums.
I decided to change it so I could sleep better at night. As it turned out, the original bearing was just fine...but I did sleep better.

I have just acquired an '04 S with 36000 on it. It spent a lot of time sitting in a garage. I think letting a Porsche sit up is the worst thing that can happen to a car.
Sooooo…..I believe I will change out the bearing for peace of mind....

tim

dr914

we just got in a 2001 Boxster S that has 125 thousand miles on it, engine still runs, IMS bearing is just fine, but mixing oil and water. This is another problem with the cars besides the IMS bearing. Someone will take It on as a project to rebuild. Yet it is only worth less than 3000 dollars

Tim Lawton

I never heard any issues about coolant leaks being chronic on a M-96 block....
The coolant tank is a known problem with all of the 986/987 Boxes and the 996 and 997 911's....
I had to replace the tank at about 110000 on my '99.

tim

digs

I picked up an 03 this summer with 38k on it . I had the IMS and clutch done . IMS was fine but sudden failure is not unheard of . So far I really like the car . Shop talked me out of the L and N solution and recommended the ceramic by LN .

mikefocke

Pointless survey as it will show nothing useful to the discussion about IMSs. At least 35k of them have been replaced out of however many were produced.

NuttyProfessor

Your comment is nonconstructive unless you can offer more substance to your argument. Begin by explaining to all of us where you came up with this "35K" number. Then explain why a one-question poll in order to simply identify top brand choices among IMS bearing companies is not useful to people that are in the market for a bearing replacement.

paulofto

Mike doesn't have to explain anything. This kind of 'survey' has been done many, many times. Do a search. The request to do a survey pops up at least once or twice a year usually by someone who bought a Boxster with no knowledge of the issue until finding out about it here or on the 986Forum. Anything you get from the survey is completely anecdotal and unscientific. For the record mine was done 21/2 years ago with an LN Single row and no issues since, the original was pristine. You will hear this countless times and it tells you nothing.

Good luck!

Tim Lawton

a lot of people (including myself) replaced the IMS bearing as preventative maintenance, not because the bearing went boom, and fried the motor...hence replacing the bearing was too late.
the IMS issue not only applied to Boxsters, but 911's having the M-96 block. I believe I read (maybe on this forum) that the failure rate was less than 5%
When I replaced my IMS, it was for peace of mind. as I had mentioned, the bearing that came out of my car ('99 Boxster) at maybe 90K miles. It was just fine. But I did indeed sleep better at night.
Now that I just bought a "garage queen" '04 S, with 36400+/- on the clock, I believe I'll have it changed out. My Porsche guru says that letting a Porsche sit up in a garage is the worst thing you can do to it. All of the seals and axle boots dry up.
I drove my '99 just about every day and my wife and I made all of our road trips in it. It was a beautiful car, but was stolen, 10 minutes later, recovered, but totaled....
tim

NuttyProfessor

Thank you for that insight, but you must realize the goal of a poll of this nature is to bring forth an hypothesis. We're not talking a full blown scientific peer-reviewed study by a research 1 institution here. It's simply a one-question poll in order to identify what is the brand of choice among a small sample of people on the the forum. What I think is pointless is to continue to make exaggerated claims. It's simply an attempt to identify what brand of IMS bearing people are choosing.

Tim Lawton

I used the LN in mine. My guru said it was the way to go....
tim

GVA-SFO

Well, I think that repeating things is nothing negative at all.
Many humans do need to read the same things many time, ..before accepting these !
(Or, ..do you want to change humans ?)

This being said, on a regular time base, NEW solutions comes in the market, to solve this bad design problem of the M96.
In my case, the very first thing that I did when I bought my 2001 Boxster S (about 60k miles), was to change the IMS, after I driving for some time, and checking that oil filter was clean. (Just changing it in order to cut and watch the one in place), ..like a dog would smell a place before a pee !

And, I order a LN "Double Row Pro".

..my two cents !

Well, I should really say : my US$ 3,000.- !!
Btw, it is not exactly true, as when I bought my 986, I asked that question: "did the ISB was changed ?" and as the answer was no, I said, OK, then my offer is your price less US$ 3,000.-

or : back to my 2 cents !

(I'm sure that Jake will ROTFL, ..if he read this post !)

Tim Lawton

GVA,
Good response. The IMS issue isn't going away soon on the 986's or the 996's.
I agree with you that the replacement products are being reviewed and tweaked. Frankly, I wish the providers would put out a notice if they do make improvements or see any differences in the statistical failure rate.
Not all of the cars that had replacement bearings installed were going to fail. The one in my old '99 which I replaced the IMS at around 90K was perfectly good.
It would be interesting to hear from those whom changed bearings actually needed changing.

tim

ElmerKTM

I have not replaced my IMS; 2003 S w/ Tiptronic, that I purchased in Feb of this year with 34.5K on the clock. I had read all of the internet wisdom, watched all of the videos, and read many of the surveys. My guru wants to change it, but I have taken a different strategy. Right now, I'm monitoring engine oil by changing every 5K miles, have a magnetic drain plug and pull apart the oil filter at each change. At the moment it starts to show signs of degradation, I'll go that route. If it fails catastrophically, then I'll deal with it then. Right now, I drive it everyday, have taken three trips over 1K miles, and am enjoying it immensely.

timothy dunn

I bought my 2002 boxster 986 with 63k miles on it a few months ago and the first thing I did was have a LN engineering IMS bearing installed for only 2200 dollars plus he also changed the rear main seal. better safe than sorry.