Autoweek Words on IMS

[Trey T]

It seems there are too many theories and anecdotes but no actual scientific study. It's a big toss-up regarding the IMS issue.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by Trey T

It seems there are too many theories and anecdotes but no actual scientific study. It's a big toss-up regarding the IMS issue.

theories and anecdotes are unecessary in the first place. Simply swap out the original IMS and your worry comes to a screeching halt.

In the years since the improved bearings have become available, I can't recall a single member on this or any other forum coming back to say that they did the swap and their engine still exploded. Not a single one.

if people put this much time and energy into worrying about the water pump and oil changes, Jake Raby himself has said he'd have two cars sitting in his parking lot awaiting repair.

[Verhag]

If your Boxster has already had the LN retro fit completed, can you still benefit from adding the DOF as described by Pedro? Or is that "belt and suspenders" approach that is not necessary? Do ceramic ball bearings as in the LN bearing benefit from this direct oil injection?

[rp17]

Originally Posted by Verhag

If your Boxster has already had the LN retro fit completed, can you still benefit from adding the DOF as described by Pedro? Or is that "belt and suspenders" approach that is not necessary? Do ceramic ball bearings as in the LN bearing benefit from this direct oil injection?

LN bearings require that it be at least inspected after 50k miles if i'm not mistaken. So I would say yes belt and suspenders. But something to consider at your next clutch change. This is good news for anyone driving 05 1/2 thru 08 Boxster /Carrera.

There are thousands of cars running ceramic. DOF sounds good to me. And there is also the solution. There are options out there.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by rp17

LN bearings require that it be at least inspected after 50k miles if i'm not mistaken.

Not the case for their double row bearings. And since the single row bearing is/has being phased out by LNE in favor of their no bearing unit, the single row unit is not a going forward issue for new installs.

My guess is that you might want to do the DOF modification if you have an LNE single row bearing. Seems to me that it would extend the life beyond 50K miles. But LNE or Flat6 should probably be consulted first.

At the end of the day the whole IMS debacle seems to be one of simple oil starvation, the DOF attacks the root cause cause of this miscalcualtion by Porsche rather than fortifying the bearing itself to better withstand the oil starvation. Or do the no bearing upgrade. You have many options, anyone staying up at night over this simply needs to do any of these clever fixes and quit worrying.

[kashmir]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

Not the case for their double row bearings. And since the single row bearing is/has being phased out by LNE in favor of their no bearing unit, the single row unit is not a going forward issue for new installs.

I may be wrong on this, but I understand that they will be making a double row bearing kit for the single row engine.

[nieuwhzn]

Considering the serious consequences of an IMS failure this should warrant a recall. However, a recall means that Porsche should have a solution for the problem, which they don't. They have responded to the class lawsuit by offering a 'reasonable solution' that severely limits their responsibilities, which makes it possible for them to make it legally through the lawsuit but also limits their damages. Keep in mind that even when they would have a solution that this would cost at least $1,000 per recalled car, that quickly adds up to a couple of hundred million bucks.
If we would assume that they would be so nice to replace any engine that has had an IMS failure then this would still add up to a couple of tens of millions of dollars. So, if you would be the boss of Porsche, what would you do?

Note that I'm not defending Porsche, I think they are handling this in a despicable way, but that's what you get when bean counters run the show.