New Owner.....Advice - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

John99Boxster · 10-29-2011, 12:27 PM

Hi all. Just picked up a 99 Boxster, Automatic, Midnight Blue/Savannah Beige.

61,500 miles.

PPI was clean and carfax was clear.

I am looking for advice on how to avoid the Dreaded IMS Failure. Other than keeping the service up to date, What else can I do?

Thanks All

brian325is · 10-29-2011, 12:43 PM

Supposedly, driving it like the Dr. intended it to be driven helps.

thstone · 10-29-2011, 02:13 PM

Congrats on the car!

Anectdotal ideas (good ideas but not proven):

Use a high quality oil
Change oil often
Don't be afraid to rev it

Otherwise, either have the IMS replaced or hope that you're not in the small percentage that fail.

fivepointnine · 10-29-2011, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

Congrats on the car!

Anectdotal ideas (good ideas but not proven):

Use a high quality oil
Change oil often
Don't be afraid to rev it

Otherwise, either have the IMS replaced or hope that you're not in the small percentage that fail.

+1 good oil and change it often, dont baby it! (at least after its warmed up) most people will tell you that Mobil 1 0/40 is NOT good oil, it used to be much much better until they reformulated it a couple years ago.

John99Boxster · 10-29-2011, 03:05 PM

Good Oil.....I bet that is a highly debatable issue!

That being said....what do you guys recommend?

san rensho · 10-29-2011, 03:16 PM

If you are mechanically inclined, pull the oil sump plate and check for ferrous metal, same thing with the oil filter, cut the ends off and carefully check the entire filter. Any significant amount of metal is not good. Consider getting a magnetic drain plug.

Small bits of dark brown plastic in the sump and filter are usually ok.

fivepointnine · 10-29-2011, 04:13 PM

a good oil is usually a group IV or V basestock....redline is good, Motul 8100 is a group IV/V mix, lubro-moly is a very very good quality group III.....go to Bobistheoilguy.com and read your fill about oils!

jmatta · 10-29-2011, 07:32 PM

As stated, change the oil often (no greater than 5k miles) and use at least a 5W40 full synthetic. Once warm, keep the revs above 3000 rpm in daily driving...low rpms and lugging the engine are not good for it.