Needless IMS replacement?
 

Just curious if anyone has an opinion or experience with needless IMS replacements.

I'm likely going to need my third RMS replaced (2001 S with 30K miles) and debating the IMS at the same time but I just had my oil changed and asked the tech to check for any metal shavings in the oil and filter. No indications at all of shavings. I've been on 3 full track days driving hard for 7-8hrs each time so think a failure would have happened by now.

Anyone have the IMS replaced only to find out it was still in good shape after all? Have had the car now for 6yrs and thinking about keeping long term. Trying to budget for repairs in the future.

Thanks for any thoughts.

- Rosso

I understand your situation. I have a 2001 Boxster base with 40k miles and had it a year now. PPI said slight weeping from rms but nothing on the garage floor. I had the IMS Guardian installed a few months ago and no problems. Original clutch, original ims with no plans to change anything unless the clutch gets bad or guardian warning whichever comes first.

Going with the LN IMS retrofit is a preemptive move, not a reactive one. Yes, many of the bearings replaced were still in working order, but many showed early signs of failure. Once the IMS bearing starts to go south, it can quickly fill the engine with metal particles; once that happens, it is too late to do the upgrade as the residual metal circulating in the oil system will most likely lead to a component failure. At that point, the engine should be taken apart. Both LN and Jake Raby have been very clear on this point from the start. Of the handful of known IMS retrofits that have gone bad, either poor installation techniques or this exact issue caused most of the problems.

I replaced the IMSB with an LNE bearing on my current 98 at 78K when the clutch was replaced. The old bearing was in excellent condition. The new bearing is even better. It added two hours labor and the cost of the bearing to the job. For that cost I received added reliability,resale value, and peace of mind. Like insurance I have transferred the risk of uncertain loss from one entity to another for a payment. Are you concerned? How concerned? Do you feel lucky? How lucky? My factory IMS bearing was in excellent condition so I will never know how good of an investment I have made. I do know that it is no longer a concern. Given that, I drive one of the worlds finest affordable droptop roadsters in a confident and robust manner as it was designed and engineered (except for one or two things) for. Ain't life grand.

One point everyone seems to overlook is that while we have changed a lot of these bearings, with vehicle mileage ranging from less than 10K to well over 100K, we are yet to remove one that still had the factory grease in it. This means that all of the bearings were at least in the first stage of failure, or more. Perhaps the bearings were still tight and turned without obvious problems, but with the grease gone, it is only a matter of time; they were all “on the way”.............

Well, there are a fair few early 2.5s knocking around with north of 200k miles on the factory bearing. In that context, not sure how much it matters whether the bearing was "on its way" - all engines are "on their way", quite frankly.

I'd say if you're in there doing a clutch and can afford to get the bearing done without much financial pain, do it. If you're already on a really tight budget and your car has 100k-plus, I don't think you need to feel bad about deciding it's an expense you can't afford.

mine had 65k miles on it and was certainly "loose" and noisy when turned by hand, had a bit of wobble to it too.

That is the beauty of the Pelican IMS Bearing. It is actually priced as a replacement part should be... reasonably.

If you do the clutch and don't do the Pelican bearing at the very least then you are truly a fool and I am the first to bash IMSB hysteria.

I changed mine over a couple of years back while pulling the transmission to deal with a 2nd gear synchro issue, car had around 30k miles on it. The stock IMS Bearing was as tight as a drum, no looseness or play. Was I upset at dropping $600 on the LN bearing? Not one bit. Upon selling the car last year that repair / replacement was a major selling point for my car vs. other Boxsters up for sale, no way to amortize the cost but I likely got most of the money back.

I don't know why anyone would not go ahead and replace the IMS bearing while it was accessible as a result of another repair. Peace of mind, resale value, etc. My 2 cents.

That is such a true statement.
 

Since LN was recommending replacement/inspection at ~40k intervals, why not just go with the simpler, cheaper bearing assuming it is proven to last through those intervals? I know there are plenty of people that will say the pelican bearing is unproven over many miles (we are talking 40k here since that is what LN is recommending) but I think the LN bearing is unproven at that interval as well. How many cars that have had the LN bearing installed have over 40k miles on the new bearing? 2%...5%....it's only been on the market for a few years so I just do not expect there to be that many cars running around with 40k plus miles with the new bearing. Suppose it turns out that the LN bearings start failing at 40-45-or 50k miles, (not saying they are) then why would you go with the LN over the pelican bearing if the lifespan or replacement interval works out to be the same? It may turn out that the pelican bearings are only good for 25-30k miles, but they just hit the market and their are no stats to back that up yet just like there are no stats to prove the LN will fail at 40k or last till 200k. You are buying into the marketing of each bearing as much as anything it seems.

That is one very large assumption.

I don't think that Pelican is going to risk its reputation selling bearings that don't work. While ceramic bearings are very durable, they are pricey as well. It is the decision of the buyer whether they spend more or less, the great thing is there are now CHOICES in the marketplace and who can complain about that?

Assuming they both will last 40k miles
 

and that they both are recommended to be inspected/replaced at that interval, then why go with the more expensive bearing? I realize that there is no data proving the cheaper bearing is a comparable solution, but there is also no evidence proving it is not. 40k intervals IMO is way too short but if results prove that both bearings will last through that time period, what are you getting by spending the extra $400-500 on the more expensive bearing? If it was guaranteed to last 100K miles or so it might be different as I drive too cautiously to burn up a clutch every 40k.