Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

View Poll Results: How bad is my old IMS bearing goint to be?
Perfect, like new. 18 52.94%
Some signs of wear, but not too bad. 15 44.12%
Starting to fall apart, needed doing. 0 0%
Just about to cause engine detonation. 1 2.94%
Voters: 34. You may not vote on this poll

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-21-2014, 08:42 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Talking Poll, Condition of my IMS bearing

Hi Everybody,

Ok I've decided to get my IMS bearing replaced with an LN Engineering retrofit. My car is a 2002 base (2.7) manual with 85K Kilometres on the clock (56K miles approx.)

I've only just got the car, and it is in great condition with nothing apparently wrong with the engine. There are no funny noises, the engine is strong, and I had a PPI done. However, the previous owner did the bare minimum of oil changes. I've just had it serviced, but the last oil change was about 4 years ago, at about 65K kilometres. Not ideal really.

Anyway, please place your bets on what condition my old IMS bearing will be in when I have it replaced on Friday!



__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.

Last edited by Pominoz; 09-21-2014 at 08:49 PM.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2014, 09:38 PM   #2
Registered User
 
Porsche9's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 1,796
If it's not perfect the engine is already in trouble.
__________________
03 Carrera
02 Boxster S Guards Red, black interior with matching hardtop
89 Carrera 4
89 944 S2
78 911SC
Porsche9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2014, 10:06 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
IMS Bearing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Porsche9 View Post
If it's not perfect the engine is already in trouble.
Three guesses what condition I'm hoping it's in
__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 02:37 AM   #4
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: It's a kind of magic.....
Posts: 6,261
.................
__________________
Anything really new is invented only in one’s youth. Later, one becomes more experienced, more famous – and more stupid.” - Albert Einstein
JFP in PA is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 03:11 AM   #5
Registered User
 
kjc2050's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 867
Garage
More Forum clutter.
__________________
2000 Boxster S, 6 speed, Sport Package, Litronics, LED tail lights, LNE IMS-B, OBC, Skybreaker wind deflector, Arctic Silver/Graphite Grey
kjc2050 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 03:53 AM   #6
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjc2050 View Post
More Forum clutter.
Sorry you feel like that. It's just meant to be a bit of fun, possibly at my expense if it turns out to be bad news.

Cheers anyway.
__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 05:46 AM   #7
Registered User
 
Giller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Listowel, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,120
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pominoz View Post
Sorry you feel like that. It's just meant to be a bit of fun, possibly at my expense if it turns out to be bad news.

Cheers anyway.
Ah, don't sweat it. Personally, to me, the whole point of these forums is to talk about our cars, whether we are sharing/asking technical questions or we just want to share a funny story or anecdote. Forums are open-concept (except for cats!) and all are free to share thoughts, ideas and yes, silly fun.
__________________
2011 Boxster 987.2 Arctic silver / Black leather, PDK with Sports Chrono Package Plus
Giller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 07:15 AM   #8
Certified Boxster Addict
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 7,669
My IMSB was in perfect shape after 136,000 miles and 89 track days. Instead, lifter failure was caused the engine to fail. Best of luck but odds are very high that if your bearing had a problem, you'd already know it.
__________________
1999 996 C2 - sold - bought back - sold for more
1997 Spec Boxster BSR #254
1979 911 SC
POC Licensed DE/TT Instructor
thstone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 07:37 AM   #9
Registered User
 
Perfectlap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 8,709
you say the bare minimum of oil changes were done? How many?


Another factor is how often was the car driven. a 12 year old car that saw about 4,500 miles might be good if the mileage came in somewhat frequent and year round trips. Not so great if they came from mostly summer time driving without having the oil changed after the driving season.

Did your PPI include a leak down test? That will tell you more (engine wise) than a visual inspection of just the IMS bearing, which really needs to taken apart to see what's doing (by someone who knows what to look for).
__________________
GT3 Recaro Seats - Boxster Red
GT3 Aero / Carrera 18" 5 spoke / Potenza RE-11
Fabspeed Headers & Noise Maker
BORN: March 2000 - FINLAND
IMS#1 REPLACED: April 2010 - NEW JERSEY -- LNE DUAL ROW

Last edited by Perfectlap; 09-22-2014 at 02:53 PM.
Perfectlap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 08:41 AM   #10
Registered User
 
BoxsterPHD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Lancashire, UK
Posts: 33
I would bet that it's probably in pretty good shape. I just had the retrofit LN bearing done a couple of days ago. My car is a 2001 2.7 and the previous owner had only done one oil change in 3 years. The car has done 36K miles. Here's the old bearing:



I couldn't find any visible signs of scoring. Yours will probably look the same. However, the seals had leaked and there was no grease left inside, but at least it was well lubed by engine oil.



Hope you can post some pics of your old bearing when the job's done.
BoxsterPHD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 08:43 AM   #11
Engine Surgeon
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Cleveland GA USA
Posts: 2,425
If the tube was filled with oil and the seals compromised, then the bearing was at Stage II failure. Looks like it was caught at the perfect time, before wear increased and contaminated the oil supply. Once that happens, the health of the retrofitted bearing is seriously impacted.
__________________
Jake Raby/www.flat6innovations.com
IMS Solution/ Faultless Tool Inventor
US Patent 8,992,089 &
US Patent 9,416,697
Developer of The IMS Retrofit Procedure- M96/ M97 Specialist
Jake Raby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 08:54 AM   #12
Registered User
 
epapp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 700
Garage
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?
epapp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 10:21 AM   #13
Registered User
 
woodsman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Land of naught
Posts: 1,302
That all depends on how fast the bearing progresses through the phases of destruction and if the bearing was designed for grease oil is a poor substitute. You haven't read much about this issue have you?
__________________
Death is certain, life is not.

Last edited by woodsman; 09-22-2014 at 10:24 AM.
woodsman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 11:47 AM   #14
Registered User
 
epapp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 700
Garage
Poll, Condition of my IMS bearing

Considering the DOF fix uses oil to lubricate the bearing, I would think oil as a substitute is just fine

And my point was, the bearing destruction wouldn't progress very quickly if it had oil around it to lubricate it...

Last edited by epapp; 09-22-2014 at 11:49 AM.
epapp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 04:56 PM   #15
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoxsterPHD View Post
I would bet that it's probably in pretty good shape. I just had the retrofit LN bearing done a couple of days ago. My car is a 2001 2.7 and the previous owner had only done one oil change in 3 years. The car has done 36K miles.
Hi, I think you are likely correct. I'm sort of expecting, and hoping my bearing will be no worse than yours. It's going to be interesting to find out.
I'm going to take some pics of the old bearing.

Cheers!
__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.

Last edited by Pominoz; 09-22-2014 at 05:19 PM.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 05:02 PM   #16
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perfectlap View Post
you say the bare minimum of oil changes were done? How many?


Another factor is how often was the car driven. a 12 year old car that saw about 4,500 miles might be good if the mileage came in somewhat frequent and year round trips. Not so great if they came from mostly summer time driving without having the oil changed after the driving season.

Did your PPI include a leak down test? That will tell you more (engine wise) than a visual inspection of just the IMS bearing, which really needs to taken apart to see what's doing (by someone who knows what to look for).
Hi, from the service history it looks like the car has only had 4 oil changes in it's life. The previous owner used 20K kilometres as his oil change limit, not the number of years. That's why it was a 4 year gap between the most recent oil changes. If the theories about leaving 'old' oil in the engine are correct then I might be in trouble :-)

On the PPI they did a compression test, not a leak down test as far as I know.
The compression test has 4 cylinders down 4% and 2 cylinders down 6% which isn't too bad I think.

Cheers.
__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2014, 10:57 PM   #17
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by thstone View Post
My IMSB was in perfect shape after 136,000 miles and 89 track days. Instead, lifter failure was caused the engine to fail. Best of luck but odds are very high that if your bearing had a problem, you'd already know it.
Thanks for that, I'm keeping everything crossed!

One more factoid I forgot to mention, it's only ever had Mobil1 0w40 oil from new.

I know there are different opinions again on the best engine oil with some people going for higher viscosity. I know nothing about oil, but my hunch is that you'd be better off with lower viscosity in an IMS bearing with the grease washed out, assuming that the worst wear is happening on engine start up. Having said that, I don't think the longevity of the bearing is likely to be down to one thing. We'll probably never know.

Cheers!
__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-23-2014, 12:33 AM   #18
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: London
Posts: 15
Not bad as it really need to replace.
roux is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-23-2014, 08:26 AM   #19
Registered User
 
Perfectlap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 8,709
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pominoz View Post
Hi, from the service history it looks like the car has only had 4 oil changes in it's life. The previous owner used 20K kilometres as his oil change limit, not the number of years. That's why it was a 4 year gap between the most recent oil changes. If the theories about leaving 'old' oil in the engine are correct then I might be in trouble :-)

On the PPI they did a compression test, not a leak down test as far as I know.
The compression test has 4 cylinders down 4% and 2 cylinders down 6% which isn't too bad I think.

Cheers.
4 oil changes in 55k miles? That's well beyond the limit of a mass market oil like Mobil 1. I would get a sample of your oil after 4K miles and send to Blackstone Labs for one of those simple oil analysis. Then move to a more expensive oil like Motul Xcess 8100 or Joe Gibbs DT40 and use a spin on oil filter, which makes sure you're only using filtered oil at all times. Do a second oil analysis after a few oil changes. And make sure you let the egine warm up with a good 20 minutes of driving before you start laying into the higher RPMs. Best to take it easy until you have better sense of the impact of such long stints with old oil.
Or ignore all of the above and roll the dice. It's kind of like investing in stocks, some people sleep fine others check the computer every 5 minutes.
__________________
GT3 Recaro Seats - Boxster Red
GT3 Aero / Carrera 18" 5 spoke / Potenza RE-11
Fabspeed Headers & Noise Maker
BORN: March 2000 - FINLAND
IMS#1 REPLACED: April 2010 - NEW JERSEY -- LNE DUAL ROW
Perfectlap is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-23-2014, 02:20 PM   #20
Registered User
 
Pominoz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perfectlap View Post
4 oil changes in 55k miles? That's well beyond the limit of a mass market oil like Mobil 1..
I don't know why the previous owner left it quite so long between oil changes, especially as he's a designer for a car company. I'm going to change the oil between services myself, and generally look after the engine as I intend to keep the car..
Assuming nothing serious is uncovered on Friday then I'll be reasonably confident about the engine going forward.

__________________
Boxster Base, 2002 Manual, Black.
LN Single Row Pro IMS retrofit.
Pominoz is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 05:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page