First time I heard of this theory... IMS
 

In the video below, a comment from user 'Stubahn' claims that IMS failures can be attributed to a certain driving technique from owners who upshift a gear/ or mutliple gears to higher gears when the rpms are too low, thus putting undue pressure on the IMS and eventually that this type of bad driving habit causes the IMS to fail. So it's the driver's fault now. :)

Video of 996 engine failure while on track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSCPDYuUYL4

"Zee, zhat's vhat ve bin zaying all along!"

- Porsche M96/M97 Engineers

Actually, that theory is just the simple inverse of the theory you should drive it hard whereas trying to not drive it hard is actually harder on the engine = Driver's Fault

;)

Works fine for me then, as I like to keep her above 3K rpms in all gears normally anyway! :)

It was a bad idea to put an anti-friction bearing in an IC engine.
I believe that higher engine speeds helped lubricate the bearing better after the seal fails. This is why I think that tip cars had more failures but I'm only going on what the local Indy says on that one.

And Stubahm's expertise in this area is what?

If I had a buck for all the theories and fixes that have been advanced, I'd go buy that beautiful 718 I saw yesterday.

Lol... in his comments, he claims that Porsche even sent out a TSB to dealers and certified indys telling them to retrofit certain reinforced bolts to protect the engine from those small percentage of drivers with such bad driving habits that would cause their engines to fail due to upshifting in lower RPMS when they shouldn't. You see!...it's the driver's fault!! :D

Odd...I had read the opposite, that tiptronic cars had less failures.

Theories are like butt holes; everyone has one..........

JFP - I don't have one










A theory that is

LOL, I'll stick with my own theory that things break when they want to be upgraded.

If you replace a part with OEM stock, its just going to have the same problem and fail again.

We have seen many talented innovators on this forum produce upgraded parts that do better than stock in any number of areas.

I suppose carrying this theory to the extreme, we might have upgraded a 986 to the point where it will last forever :)

We have already seen some with 300,00 miles. Thats 12 times around the earth, or the distance to the moon and half way back.

Correct !
It never ends..........

A theory in conflict with another theory? Yes that will never end. :) At least it was based on this Indy's experience of dealing with failed IMS bearings.

Mathematically, this is correct, but only because there are fewer Tiptronic equipped cars......

JFP - some people I know are known to have more than one! LOL

356Guy - I've read that tips have a lower incidence of IMS bearing failure. As far as the higher revs better lubricating a ball bearing based IMS bearing - I'd question that. I remember seeing a Pedro video where he spun an IMS bearing up in oil. At higher RPMs oil is slung out of the bearing and the bearing was shown to be running dry. I won't base a theory on one test, but it sure had me thinking.

I ended up going with Jake Raby's IMS Solution. The permanent nature of the design (it doesn't use ball bearings) made sense to me, plus at higher RPMs there would be increased oil pressure which would better lubricate that type of bearing.

Yeah I saw that demo. I worked in the rotating equipment business for 20 years. Most of the equipment had splash lube bearings which worked very well. Others ran in an oil mist. The bearing needs very little oil. Too much isn't good either. Small amounts of moisture in the oil is a killer too. LN's bearings are open on the exposed side right? They seem to run fine even though the engine was not designed for a splash lube bearing.

ps I'm going to talk myself out of buying a Boxster at this rate :)

Oil pressure is not what keeps the IMS Solution happy, it is oil volume......

Whoohoo - the solution. The only way to save your life.

Well, i'm an expert in cooking water to make a hot beverage - for example bad tasting coffee. And what i can tell you is that cooking water is hot. On everything else i can't say anything.

The only hint i have is to think about "theories" yourself.

Regards, Markus

I think you like cold beverages too :)

And... and.. most of them stink.

Correct
 

Truer words have never been spoken or posted