Poll, Condition of my IMS bearing

[pjv]

Who's doing the IMS work on your car Pominoz? I had the IMS Solution installed by Weltmeister Melbourne a year ago (04 986, single row bearing), and am happy that I did it.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by pjv

Who's doing the IMS work on your car Pominoz? I had the IMS Solution installed by Weltmeister Melbourne a year ago (04 986, single row bearing), and am happy that I did it.

Hi,

Weltmeister did my PPI actually, but I'm having the IMS retrofit done by Autoart in Preston. I had the major service done there are they seem very good, very friendly and helpful.
They should be using the new IMS pro dual row retrofit for single row bearings on my car, although they think there is a small chance my car may have the older dual row bearing in it. I'm not sure if that's likely given my car is 2002.

What condition was your old bearing in, and how may Kilometres had your car done?

[pjv]

My understanding is that a 2002 is likely to have the smaller single-row IMSB, but one can't be sure until things are dismantled. My car has done 77k kms. With the IMS solution it runs a bit quieter and I think smoother at idle, but I suppose that's subjective. The dual-row pro upgrade was not available when I had mine done, but I am not sorry I had the Solution kit installed. My old bearing looked OK, but had no grease in it at all, and did not spin as freely as I would have expected it to. If you search for my posts here you will see pictures of it that I posted at the time (a year ago). Good luck with it.

[Jake Raby]

Originally Posted by epapp

I suppose the grease being washed out could be a 'stage' of failure, but if the bearing has engine oil to lubricate it, whats wrong with being in 'stage 2' failure for 150,000 miles?

A lot.. Because as soon as an IMSB progresses to Stage III, chances of a long term retrofit without collateral damage is greatly reduced.

[DennisAN]

My dual row IMSB was still full of grease when I removed it at 53K miles last June. As I did a self-install I didn't send the old bearing in to LN for inspection (no warranty on self-installs).

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by DennisAN

My dual row IMSB was still full of grease when I removed it at 53K miles last June. As I did a self-install I didn't send the old bearing in to LN for inspection (no warranty on self-installs).

That's pretty good, it fits in with the dual row IMSB being better than the single row. I'll be surprised if mine is as healthy as that.

[Pominoz]

So I've just dropped my car off to have the IMSB done. I'll be hearing fairly soon what condition the old IMSB is in, so I'm feeling a tiny bit nervous :-)
I'm getting the old bearing back, so I'll be putting some pictures up of it.
The only other question mark, is what condition my clutch is in. Could be an expensive day....

[Pominoz]

Phew!

The old ISMB was still intact, even has the seals on but it looks like the grease has been washed out. The IMS was full of old oil. The old bearing turns smoothly by hand and there was no nasty stuff in the engine oil although it was a bit dirty even though it had just been changed. I guess the last change has acted as a flushing oil to help get rid of the remains of the 4 year old stuff that was in there before.

The clutch was down to 1mm of lining so that's been changed, and they've done the RMS as well. For anyone who is in Melbourne I can really recommend Autoart in Preston, they've done the whole job quickly and at a great price, so I can still afford some fuel for the car :-)

I guess it's up to you to decide who was most correct on the poll, but I'm very glad the one person who voted for near engine detonation was completely wrong

Finally some pictures of the old IMSB.

Cheers!

[epapp]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

A lot.. Because as soon as an IMSB progresses to Stage III, chances of a long term retrofit without collateral damage is greatly reduced.

Sure, I understand a bearing progressing to other 'stages' of failure is BAD.

What I meant was, if the IMS gets oil, like the OPs was full of, why would it fail? Yes, the older the oil gets, the steeper the positive slope gets on the probability of failure curve, but hypothetically if the bearing gets some fresh oil now and then, how long would it be 'fine' in 'stage 2' failure?? Thats what I'm wondering..

[BoxsterPHD]

Originally Posted by Pominoz

Phew!

The old ISMB was still intact, even has the seals on but it looks like the grease has been washed out. The IMS was full of old oil. The old bearing turns smoothly by hand and there was no nasty stuff in the engine oil although it was a bit dirty even though it had just been changed. I guess the last change has acted as a flushing oil to help get rid of the remains of the 4 year old stuff that was in there before

That's a relief! Looks just like mine did. Now you have to get the Dremel out and cut it in half so we can see the insides.

[Porsche9]

Glad to see the bearing is in decent shape. When I pulled mine at 43k it was much like yours, seals intact but the grease washed out. Basiclly got it before the next failure stage were the real damage begins.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by BoxsterPHD

That's a relief! Looks just like mine did. Now you have to get the Dremel out and cut it in half so we can see the insides.

That means I'll have to buy a Dremel ��

I took it for a gentle run yesterday evening, and the engine seems noticeably quieter to me, mechanically. Did you find that?

Annoyingly though, I started getting a clunk from somewhere at the back over bigger bumps. Hopefully it's just something needing tightening. The engine mount was changed so it won't be that. Oh well.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by Porsche9

Glad to see the bearing is in decent shape. When I pulled mine at 43k it was much like yours, seals intact but the grease washed out. Basiclly got it before the next failure stage were the real damage begins.

I'm pretty pleased to see that it survived the 4 year old oil. I'm very glad I didn't wait to get it done.
The guy that did the work has obviously seen a few, and he says if you think your IMSB might be dying, then it's already too late.

[pjv]

My bearing was much the same as yours when it was taken out. It is a relief to not have the IMS worry, and I wonder if this is why the engine seems to run better? As for your rattle from the back over bumps, I had that too, which turned out to be the rear lower control arms. These seem to be a common problem, and they cost a bit but fortunately was done under warranty in my case. The OEM parts are expensive, but cheaper non-OEM arms are available on Ebay I think. Search this forum for more information, I believe you may be able to DIY.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by pjv

My bearing was much the same as yours when it was taken out. It is a relief to not have the IMS worry, and I wonder if this is why the engine seems to run better? As for your rattle from the back over bumps, I had that too, which turned out to be the rear lower control arms. These seem to be a common problem, and they cost a bit but fortunately was done under warranty in my case. The OEM parts are expensive, but cheaper non-OEM arms are available on Ebay I think. Search this forum for more information, I believe you may be able to DIY.

I'll check out the rear lower control arms, thanks. I probably will have to DIY this if I can because I'm stretching my toy budget a bit with all this :-)

[Steve Tinker]

Log onto < designe911.com > and look under "suspension & axle" for your particular Boxster.

The suspension parts (made by TRW) are OEM and they ship to Oz same day. Prices are +/- half of what you pay here, delivery in a week....
I've been using them since 2009 without a hitch.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by Steve Tinker

Log onto < designe911.com > and look under "suspension & axle" for your particular Boxster.

The suspension parts (made by TRW) are OEM and they ship to Oz same day. Prices are +/- half of what you pay here, delivery in a week....
I've been using them since 2009 without a hitch.

Hi, thanks for that, looks useful.

I got under the car today just to have look, and gently hit a few things with my trusty rubber hammer. It looks very clean underneath and the bushes I could see all look intact. The noise only seems to happen at about 40K over pretty bad surfaces. As this has only started since I got it back from having the IMSB done, my first stop will be to phone them in the morning and see what they say about it. Interestingly the car pulls slightly to the left now, and it didn't before I had the work done. Seems like something has moved.

Cheers.

[pjv]

I had a look under my car, the arms that were replaced were the 'trailing' arms, and from what I have read on this forum previously, they are the most likely to be the problem. When mine were replaced (under warranty) I was told the job was worth about $2K, which seemed high to me but that's what he said. It included rear suspension realignment. If you have a look at the Pelican Parts website, there are 'technical articles' that should help you, including DIY alignment.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by pjv

I had a look under my car, the arms that were replaced were the 'trailing' arms, and from what I have read on this forum previously, they are the most likely to be the problem. When mine were replaced (under warranty) I was told the job was worth about $2K, which seemed high to me but that's what he said. It included rear suspension realignment. If you have a look at the Pelican Parts website, there are 'technical articles' that should help you, including DIY alignment.

Yes. I think if there is a problem, trailing arms will be it. There's some good stuff about how to replace them in some old posts here. It's going back in on Thursday and I'll see what they say, if it's trailing arms, and it's expensive, I'll have a go at doing it myself.

Thanks.

[jsceash]

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