Another one bites the dust - probable IMS issue - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

jmatta · 04-12-2010, 02:59 PM

Be interesting to see what Jake has to say about your engine...it really doesn't fit the profile to have something as serious as an IMS failure.

Keep us up to date and your fingers crossed.

Perfectlap · 04-12-2010, 03:57 PM

Bob O,
I think you should do it. If I'm not mistaken the experts on the subject have written that if its going to go, it will do so by 70K. Sounds like you are in the eleventh hour. But on the other hand If you're still on your original clutch you might have a couple more years left of clutch use. The way I looked at it....a clutch job at an Indy shop will cost you $1200. That's works out to a couple hundred bucks a year if you can get 10 years out of it. I'd rather skip the $400 lost in doing the clutch 2 years prematurely and reduce my risk of DEFCON 3 down to probably less than what..1%? Meanwhile you still have a new clutch at the end of it all, albeit adding another $600-$800 to the job.
There's a guy on YouTube who did his 996 Carrera in his garage without any experience taking apart transmissions. So an experienced shop could do it no problem, 8 hours tops? I guess that's one of the great things about these newer Porsches. It's much less complicated than old 'hand assembled' Porsches.

coreseller · 04-12-2010, 05:29 PM

Did mine in my garage exactly one month ago, other than replacing a motor mount it was the first time I had ever worked on a German car. I had to pull out the tranny to send it out for rebuild so I figured what the hey, new clutch, RMS and IMS bearing while I'm in there. Once you are to the point where you can see the IMS flange, it really is a simple procedure to remove and replace it. Other than cramped quarters, these Boxsters really are easy to work on.

P.S. I have a 2002 Boxster S with 39k miles. Single row IMS bearing removed was as tight as a drum. These forums and stories like MTS's cause me no regret in doing the procedure / spending the money....peace of mind.

seventythree · 04-13-2010, 06:40 AM

Coreseller, the single row IMS bearing was "tight as a drum" in a good or bad way?
Also, to the original poster, don't you think you should have your 04 SE with only 20K miles diagnosed by a Porsche dealership? It might trun out to be something simple, or worst case, you can ask for good faith help from PCNA. Won't hurt to ask!

Good luck

mts · 04-13-2010, 07:05 AM

Our local dealership closed in January. Frankly, if the engine isn't toast I'm much more comfortable getting Jake to look at it than the dealership. Even if I got a new motor from Porsche the first thing I would do is do the IMS upgrade on it so I'm pretty much out that $$ no matter what and was planning to do that anyway. If the engine is toast perhaps that's a different story.

Boxtaboy · 04-13-2010, 07:26 AM

How do you know for sure it's the IMS? Could be just a failed water pump or bad lifter or something else. Instead of keeping it out of commission for so long, why not have it checked by a local indy shop?

Perfectlap · 04-13-2010, 07:45 AM

Seventythree,
tight as a drum is a good thing. No leaks, no play, no loose bearings, no problem.
My Indy reported the same about my dual row after 10 years of use.
I was a little worried at first because I bought the car with barely 9K miles
and after four years it probably had only had one oil change.. and then I was using Mobil at 8 to 10 month intervals for the next 50K miles because the car is only a weekend driver. I've since gotten off the 0 weights and use Castrol Syntec 5W40 every six months, Advanced Auto usually has a 5 for $25 sale.