Video - Help! Is this IMS? What's up with this engine?

[thom4782]

A clean oil filter is a good sign. There are no guarantees, however, only probabilities.

There seem to be two factors that increase the odds of an IMS failure. If your engine has a singe row bearing, its about 5 times more likely to have its IMS fail that a dual row model engine. The dual row version fails about 1% of the time. There's a good chance your 00 model is dual row although the only way to know for certain is to inspect it. Some 00 cars have single row bearings and some 01 have dual row bearings.

The other factor seems to be related to oil contamination. Cars with more frequent changes have less failures Cars with more miles have less failures because they get more freqeusnt oil change. The the thinking hers is the less time the IMS seals are exposed to contaminated oil the better they will hold up. As IMS seals degrade, the IMS bearing grease gets contaminated and loses its lubricating properties. So many Boxster owners change oil every 3K to 5K miles or once a year which ever comes first to keep clean oil bathing the IMS seals.

If you're really concerned, you can install an IMS Guardian in your car. It's easy to do and will give you an early warning if your IMS is beginning to fail. Metal debris in the oil triggers the Guardian's warnings and lets you know to get the car checked out. It does this in real time as opposed to between oil changes.