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Old 03-03-2014, 09:08 AM   #17
Perfectlap
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pothole View Post

I make no comment on the products other than pointing out the simple fact that they're not proven in any substantial sense of the word. Assurances from people who sell products aren't even close to good enough. Independent data is required to define a product as proven.
But in the absence of independent data, which will always be flawed in of itself because of the pitfalls of misdiagnosing engine failure as IMS failure --- when in reality it was something else -- then all we have to go on is anecdote, like many maintenance decisions we make. In fact, there are so few examples of maintenance decisions that are based on independent data, that I'm unsure what one could actually decide without weighing anecdote. Everything form engine oil choice, to tires, to rotor make, etc.

As part of this culture of anecdote, we have a situation where thousands of units have been sold and installed. Yet since this alternative was introduced the only instances of failure that I've read anyone posting about are from one of the developers. I can log onto Amazon right now, pull up anyone of the washing machines sold on the Sears floor room and I will find dozens of negative reviews for each and every one. Yet in all of these Porsche forums I can not remember a single person who has done the LN swap, and later reported that it failed and took down their engine. Haven't seen in any of the various magazines or blogs that cover German cars. Which seems unsurprising to me because the IMS failure in the first 100K miles is not a common event, and someone who has exercised the prudence of refreshing the bearing is more likely than not to be in an even smaller pool of failure. In other words it may not be that the LN bearing itself wards off IMS failure, but that the LN bearing has proven more than adequate for the practice of prevention. It may be likely (IMHO) that the act of removing a serviceable bearing, at a regular interval, is what will save your engine, not so much that aftermarket IMS A or IMS B will cure the root of the cause of the failure.

So maybe what I should have said is that The OP is considering taking part in this practice of intervaling the IMSB, and to date LN has not been disproven as a good option for this practice, while seeing much more use than the alternative he's now inquiring about.
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Last edited by Perfectlap; 03-03-2014 at 09:26 AM.
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