I know the IMS issue is ancient news for many, but I have a question about the 2006 thru 2009 models.

Reading that in these years Porsche used a stronger single row bearing, but it was still sealed off from the engine's oil supply.

But - they say the bearing can be better protected by removing its seal and letting the engine oil lubricate it?

Is this done, and how exactly would one go about removing this seal??

Thanks

 

If your car is the one in your photo, it does not have an IMS bearing!

 

Starting in around mid 2005 ish Porsche moved to a larger bearing that if you wanted to replace requires splitting the engine. If you just want to remove the seal you need to drop the gear box, remove the clutch/flywheel. Lock the camshafts, remove the timing chain tensioners , then remove the ims cover. The seal comes off with a pick or small flathead screwdriver. A 22mm nut on the IMS Cover means you have the internal bearing, 13mm is the easily replaceable IMS

You will need some cam plugs, a new ims cover seal and possibly new clutch/flywheel.

This went on until the 9A1 engine replaced the M97

 

[QUOTE=Bud Fox;16730944]If your car is the one in your photo, it does not have an IMS bearing![/QUOTE

Thx. Aware of that. She is sold. Considering a 2006.

 

Thank you Gregster. As horrific as it may sound, I am looking at an Auto Tiptronic.

Does this make it even more complicated?

 

I recently had my clutch and rms replaced on my 06. Hunter advised against messing with the seal. Said he has seen ZERO failures of the larger single row bearing

 

IMS bearing failure in the 2005-2008 911's, Caymans & Boxsters is very rare. Anecdotally you'll find reports here on RL that the # is <1% failure rate. There are other much more common causes of catastrophic failure in these engines than the IMS bearing to be concerned about.

IMO, don't even lose a moment's sleep over the IMS bearing in these cars, let alone pay $$$$ to remove the IMS seal.

If you're considering a 2006: pay the extra couple hundred bucks and have a boroscope of the cylinder walls completed as part of the PPI that I am sure you were planning to do anyways. Bore scoring is the most common killer of these cars, especially if the vehicle was winter driven. If the cylinder walls look good, and there's good service history with the car, you're likely in the best position one could expect when purchasing one of these cars.

I have a 2006 Cayman S 3.4L race car. 120k KM on the original engine, >30k of those KM as a 100% dedicated track car (and now a full blown GTB1 racing car). Mantis deep sump, Porsche Motorsport AOS, LN Spin on oil filter kit & religious Motul oil changes every 6 hours of engine time (track) and still doesn't burn a drop of oil - and Blackstone analysis comes back great every time. Boroscope during last plug replacement @ 114k KM showed clean cylinder walls.

 

Agreed, don’t worry about IMS on 2006+ cars, bore scoring is the main concern, so get it boroscoped.

 

Bore inspection is the way to go. Thanks crew!

 

We have a 2006 C2S cab Tip that my wife drives in Summer. 4 years now and zero issues. Get Hunter to do the borescope and PPI as suggested. I enjoy driving the Tip just as much as the manual 993. Hunter has told me the tip is pretty much bullet proof if it wasnt abused. The PDK is likely a better drive from a sensory standpoint but owning one out of warranty especially the early years scares me a bit.

 

First hand input always appreciated!