An ironic answer to a rhetorical question

Jake hints that the cause of the problem may be misalignment
If so, any deep-groove ball or roller IMSB bearing would quickly fail -even a spherical bearing would fail?
Perhaps Martin's new IMSB patent addresses the misalignment issue ?
Hey Martin - here is a great opportunity to plug your new product -so "GO!"

I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in those JD Power rankings if you are interested in an apples to apples comparison. For starters, Half (at least) of Porsche's fleet see little mileage as these are not daily-driven cars. Japanese cars on the other hand and others like GM/Ford are not typically low mileage garage queens. If the Porsche fleet registered mileage similar it's competitors that sell 200K cars a month instead of per year, Porsche would be nowhere near the top of those rankings. Porsches may be reliable under low mileage conditions but they certainly not engineered to be durable. If they were, everyone would have one and the prices wouldn't be falling down to basically just the value of the engine itself.

Anyway these are NEW cars ,not old clunkers like ours !
JDP does not focus/study/survey the reliability of older cars. After 5 years old ,they are forgotten.

JD Powers "Initial Quality" is the first 90 days.

Get back to me in five or ten years and I'll tell you how many times this pig made me walk.

"all of our roller bearings are fine"

I love this meaningless self serving comparison that doesn't account for installation differences, pre-installation engine condition, age of the bearings, miles on the bearings, owner driving habits, driving conditions, oil change habits/products, etc.

Show me one seller of a specific kit that doesn't say mine is the best. Show me one kit that has had adequate testing/sampling. As I often say, Porsche got it wrong several times with all their 100k miles test mules.

Come back when you have ten million miles of sample data.

That sludge problem was hardly a quiet problem, all the auto rags and TV stations and even newspapers (remember them) were all over that problem precisely because it was Toyota and they had such a good reputation. Ditto the unattended acceleration problem.

I own 2 very different Toyotas with zero issues other than a bad alignment at delivery on one. (ignoring the obsolete map data.) Son just hit 120k on his.

In my 6 Boxster ownership years I had an O2 sensor burn out at exactly the same mileage as one in my Honda (the Porsche replacement was cheaper). One airbag light problem.

My Honda Acura left me stranded 250 miles from home in the middle of a high school reunion trip where time was critical. Known issue, recall issued, told mine was one of the good ones, sure enough transmission failed with the exact problem.

Me thinks all cars can have problems given the number of parts and variables involved, I'm not fool enough to think my little samples are all that meaningful to anyone but me. The more complex the cars get and the more gadgets they have, the problem is only going to get worse. And now we ask them to connect with other computers (phones, tablets, code readers, etc) with varying firmware/software quality.

I had never heard of the sludge problem, until I went to look at a 2000 Lexus ES 300. Thank goodness my best bud owned a Toyota Solara and clued me in on the issue. I didn't buy it.

JDP does do used car reliability ratings. I don't have one from them on 5 year old or older. I think it's pretty much a given that a 5 year old or older car isn't going to be reliable, some exception to that yes.

JDP's 2015 used car reliability results. Porsche didn't make the cut in any category.

19 Most Dependable Cars on the Road

Highest-Ranked Nameplate — Lexus
Small Car — Scion xD
Compact Car — Toyota Corolla
Compact Premium Car — Lexus ES
Compact Sporty Car — Scion tC
Midsize Car — Chevrolet Malibu
Midsize Sporty Car – Chevrolet Camaro
Midsize Premium Car – Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Large Car — Buick LaCrosse
Small SUV — Kia Sportage
Compact SUV — GMC Terrain
Compact Premium SUV — Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
Compact MPV — Scion xB
Midsize SUV — Nissan Murano
Midsize Premium SUV — Lexus GX
Midsize Pickup — Honda Ridgeline
Minivan — Toyota Sienna
Large SUV — GMC Yukon
Large Light-Duty Pickup — GMC Sierra 1500
Large Heavy-Duty Pickup — Chevrolet Silverado HD

Anyways my 2003 Boxster S "pig" has never made me walk with 117k miles on it now.

Interesting - no rebuttal from Jake or Charles...

Just like when the eye of the hurricane goes over...

I think because this topic has been absolutely beaten to death. Hey - there is a rule about cats....can we get a rule about the IMS???

Cats will only take out Timco's engine. The IMS can take out anybodys' regardless of bearing choice. That's why it's worth beating to death.

Perhaps they don't need to respond.

The attacking party is wrong on at least two points which undercuts the credibility of his posts.

LNE retrofits come without outer seals (see attached photo from LNE website) and the expert claims they do.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1429912680.gif

Pictures shown in the two cited LNE failure examples show bearings with outer seals, which means they aren't LNE bearings to begin with or have been doctored

You cannot see the seal in this picture, its on the other side of the bearing. I don't think Porsche-land is lying. Any bearing can fail. The bearings shown do have the correct number of balls for the classic ceramic bearing and also have the correct number of seals which is one. What is not clear is what the operating environment of the bearing was. If there is contamination in the bearing it will fail, and as it does it generates more contamination. There is a reason the engines get screened.

Shhhhhh.............. so quiet....SSSShhhhhhhhh

Of course one cannot see the seal because its is on the inside of the inside and that's the point. Both the LN critic and his cited failure cases say / show respectively there's an outside seal. If so, they aren't talking about / showing LN bearings.

BTW: I fully agree with your comment that debris in the oil will kill a perfectly good IMSB once it contaminates the bearings / race(s)

We did find a number of rubber tubes that were just short of cracking and she is running fine but the majority of what we changed rubber wise were all of the coolant lines. We used all factory Porsche parts, some of which I purchased ahead of the work that was done so that helped contribute to the lower cost. My local dealer sells me my parts for 10% over cost which saved a whole lot on what the job cost me. I used almost all factory Porsche parts including the front motor mount that was totally shot. The only non factory part I used was the water pump. If anyone is interested in talking with my indy mechanic PM me and I will be glad to hook you up.

It has already been confirmed that it is an LNE ceramic bearing, so this is not even worthy of discussion. I'm appalled by how quickly some of our members are to demonize anyone that doesn't worship Jake and/or LNE.
MB Motorsports has nothing but good reviews and personally, I feel that information regarding IMSB failures can only benefit the community.
Jake is also very valuable to the community.

Are we confusing the ball cage/shield for a seal? I think so ;)

Let's clear up the confusion (I think even Martin was confused).

What you are seeing in this picture on the front of the bearing is not a seal, but part of the cage.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...3BBB83E186.png


Again, this is the front of the bearing and this is part of the cage, not a seal.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...C507079A4B.png


This picture shows the rear of the bearing. This is a seal.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...78018A472F.png


And finally, here is a picture of the rear of the bearing (again) with the seal removed. Note the cage including the rear portion which is a shield and part of the cage structure, not a seal.

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...7C5673840F.png

This is absolutely, positively an LNE ceramic bearing with inner seal only.
Where's that door? It's dark in here. :p

I need a potato break...

http://spa.fotolog.com/photo/58/46/4...90206171_f.jpg

Thanks to particalwave, I am now up to speed thanks for the info.

On a side note, its seems its only in the last 2-3 years that Flat6 / LN has pre qualified fitting the ceramic ball bearing (by dropping the sump) making sure that collateral damage was not going to happen if debris was present. I had my LN bearing fitted in 2010 and no qualifications regarding dropping the sump / possible collateral damage was forwarded to me, the Australian importer or the Porsche Indi shop which fitted the bearing. So perhaps the owner who now has this suspect bearing could have had the original Porsche factory bearing already shedding metal which has compromised the LN assembly......

What is super interesting on the picture of the bearing is how boogered the screw slot is. Straight screw slots are a pain, but they have their place. A tip to the "mechanic" who installed the bearing, get a proper sized screwdriver that fills the slot, and you won't tear up the head. Even more telling is that the slot is damaged, and rusted in the direction for removal. It appears that this bearing may have been installed, and then removed, early in it's service history. If that is true, it does not matter which ball bearing is used, it will fail due to damage between the balls and race incurred during the removal process.

Here's a used LN Dual Row Bearing on eBay. I'm sure they can be found and installed in otherwise good engines. Think it may have issues if it is reinstalled?
That is how you take a genuine, high quality item and make it almost certain to fail.
99 Porsche Boxster Engine Motor Upgraded Duel Row IMS Shaft Bearing LN | eBay
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1429960673.jpg

I would not touch a used bearing of any manufacture if my life depended on it.

Why not?
It's half price, so if it lives half as long, you're out nothing... Except a motor when it lets go. :barf:

JFP in PA says the LN ceramic bearings get damaged in the extraction process.

http://986forum.com/forums/433861-post16.html

Previous post was in jest...
No f'in way would one re-use an extracted bearing!
Man, the stuff some people try to schill on eBay!

I knew your post was made with sarcasm. I just wanted to make sure anyone else reading this thread would not think about buying it.

:cheers:
Now extra fjgjjtifjffkv so my post is long enough.