1996-1999 Boxster IMS
02-22-2015, 01:02 PM
#1
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1996-1999 Boxster IMS
What is the rule of thumb for 1996-1999 Boxsters and IMS? I know they are not immune but have heard that after 50k they are probably going to be trouble free? Any truth to that?
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02-22-2015, 01:31 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
Think of failures occurring on a bell curve plot of time and frequency. They can occur at any time. When or even if they happen can be influenced by lots of variables. How driven, where driven, how maintained, what oil was used, installation variations, parts variations, etc.
There is no truth that they don't fail after 50k. At the same time we know of some that lasted 4 times that long.
You probably have the best of the 3 IMS designs. I say probably because you could have an engine replacement which puts you into the worst design. There were lots of replacements in the early cars.
You can go broke trying to do preventative maintenance on all the things that could go wrong on a 15+ year old car.
How is your clutch? Any signs of leaking near the engine/clutch area?
Interested in where you'll get yours serviced. Part of the reason I sold mine was I was equidistant from Cary/Fayetteville and I didn't have a handy independent I could trust. That and I wasn't using it enough.
There is no truth that they don't fail after 50k. At the same time we know of some that lasted 4 times that long.
You probably have the best of the 3 IMS designs. I say probably because you could have an engine replacement which puts you into the worst design. There were lots of replacements in the early cars.
You can go broke trying to do preventative maintenance on all the things that could go wrong on a 15+ year old car.
How is your clutch? Any signs of leaking near the engine/clutch area?
Interested in where you'll get yours serviced. Part of the reason I sold mine was I was equidistant from Cary/Fayetteville and I didn't have a handy independent I could trust. That and I wasn't using it enough.
02-23-2015, 05:05 PM
#3
There is no truth to that by itself.
There are however other truth's to consider:
It fails, you do not catch it, you rebuild motor.
It starts to fail, you catch it, you rebuild motor.
You verify it hasn't started to fail, you change it, you maintain it.
You are happy until one of the other lesser quantified failure modes may or may not happen, you rebuild motor.
You wear out motor, you rebuild it.
You sell car, buy a lesser car, it breaks, you rebuild it.
Face it, its a mechanical device, it was designed and built by humans, not magic fairies in the deep woods of Germany.
There are however other truth's to consider:
It fails, you do not catch it, you rebuild motor.
It starts to fail, you catch it, you rebuild motor.
You verify it hasn't started to fail, you change it, you maintain it.
You are happy until one of the other lesser quantified failure modes may or may not happen, you rebuild motor.
You wear out motor, you rebuild it.
You sell car, buy a lesser car, it breaks, you rebuild it.
Face it, its a mechanical device, it was designed and built by humans, not magic fairies in the deep woods of Germany.
02-24-2015, 04:43 AM
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Originally Posted by ltusler
its a mechanical device, it was designed and built by humans, not magic fairies in the deep woods of Germany.
02-24-2015, 01:29 PM
#5
Drifting
What he said:
"You are happy until one of the other lesser quantified failure modes may or may not happen, you rebuild motor." Dead right !
There are 29 other Modes of Failure.
The biggest danger of the IMSB angst is that you think that if that is 'fixed' your worries are over.
I bought a car with the best replacement IMSB,RMS,AOS,Waterpump. The M96 failed within a few hundred miles of purchase - yup ,just one of the other 26 items nailed it!
These other issues may be less common but are just as terminal.The reason they are not discussed so much maybe that the other 20+ items are high miles/abuse related ? The data we have is all in the rearview mirror.Not much predictive.
So here's a predictive - if your DMF has close to 100k and it may have been abused(how would you know for sure?)- it may be worn out..... =terminal also.
Just my experience. $$$$$
"You are happy until one of the other lesser quantified failure modes may or may not happen, you rebuild motor." Dead right !
There are 29 other Modes of Failure.
The biggest danger of the IMSB angst is that you think that if that is 'fixed' your worries are over.
I bought a car with the best replacement IMSB,RMS,AOS,Waterpump. The M96 failed within a few hundred miles of purchase - yup ,just one of the other 26 items nailed it!
These other issues may be less common but are just as terminal.The reason they are not discussed so much maybe that the other 20+ items are high miles/abuse related ? The data we have is all in the rearview mirror.Not much predictive.
So here's a predictive - if your DMF has close to 100k and it may have been abused(how would you know for sure?)- it may be worn out..... =terminal also.
Just my experience. $$$$$
02-24-2015, 09:49 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
1. There is no rule of thumb. Each of us has their own tolerance for risk. Mine is high on the financial side. I can afford to replace a motor. I'd enjoy having to do so. You might not. Also each of us has a different willingness to invest in preventative maintenance (but remember you can't prevent everything). Even engines with $30k complete rebuilds fail sometimes.
2. They do fail after 50k. Just because they got there is good from the standpoint that you have gotten over something commonly known as infant mortality. But the randomness of things and the history of use and maintenance both influence when (and not if) the IMS will fail. (Every wearing part fails eventually.) And as Schnell said, other things could take down the engine either before or after your IMS fails or before or after it is replaced.
Assuming your car has a '97 thru '99 original engine, is the period between 50 and 100k a high IMS failure zone? No. I think that is really your hidden question. But a '97 thru '99 could have a factory replacement engine with a IMS design with a much higher failure rate.
We love these cars. We care greatly. Thus you can read about all the possible problems in more exhausting detail than you would for other cars. If they weren't good, we wouldn't care.
2. They do fail after 50k. Just because they got there is good from the standpoint that you have gotten over something commonly known as infant mortality. But the randomness of things and the history of use and maintenance both influence when (and not if) the IMS will fail. (Every wearing part fails eventually.) And as Schnell said, other things could take down the engine either before or after your IMS fails or before or after it is replaced.
Assuming your car has a '97 thru '99 original engine, is the period between 50 and 100k a high IMS failure zone? No. I think that is really your hidden question. But a '97 thru '99 could have a factory replacement engine with a IMS design with a much higher failure rate.
We love these cars. We care greatly. Thus you can read about all the possible problems in more exhausting detail than you would for other cars. If they weren't good, we wouldn't care.