1997 Porsche Boxster IMS Bearing replacement

[SteveKJR]

I have been doing a lot of research on the problem with the IMS bearing on Porsche vehicles. I have also been doing research on the replacement bearings available and I must say Porsche owners are getting screwed.

Now I must digress - I know there are those of you who need to have someone else do the work on your vehicle and as such you pay to have the work done - however there are those of us who work on our own vehicles and are always looking for ways to save on costs of labour and instead put that money towards tools and parts.

Now with that being said I am a proud owner of 3 Porshces - 1978 Porsche 911 Sc, owned for around 15 years, 1997 Porsche Boxster which I just purchased within the last 5 months and a recent owner of a 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera.

I rebuilt the engine on the 78 911 SC and now have the transmission removed on the Boxster because the sleeve on the transmission came out and as a result caused the transmission seal to pop out resulting in a loss of power to the transmission along with oil all over the place.

So with the Tranny out I inspected the IMS bearing and it has never been changed out with 120,000 miles on the car. Apparently the failure rate on the 1997 is around 1% possibly because it has the double row bearing.

My next chore is now to pull the bearing and replace it but I am not planning on spending close to a thousand dollars for parts which goes back to the reason for this post.

I have researched the bearing size that needs replacing and it is 20 x 47 x 20.6 for the double row bearing and 20 x 47 x 14 for the single row bearing. Those figures are based on the bearing numbers that I found on pictures of bearings being either replaced or removed.

So here is what I found out. i can get a double row bearing that meets the same specs as those being provided by high dollar suppliers for around 15 - 35 dollars. I have also found the ceramic bearing single row which is what is being used as a replacement for the low low price of between $69.00 - $129.00

I am going to post the web sites where I located these bearings. In addition I also found the specs on both the steel double row and ceramic bearings - temperature ratings along with load and rpm specs are greater then or meet the standards of the Porsche bearing.

One caviat is that just replacing the bearing may not be enough. So I am looking at the possibility of being able to tap in a grease fitting on the flange seal along with a weep hole. The fitting will be 90 degrees turned down and the Tranny will be notched out similar to doing that when a oil line is installed to provide oil to the bearing at the cost of over $800.00.

I am just getting into this so I am looking for feedback from all of you who have any experience with replacing the IMS bearing or what you think and feel about the bearings I am providing information on.

I am not looking to get into a pi**ing match about doing this - I want your input and tell me what you think and if you think this would be a better idea then going with a oil line off the oil filter to the bearing seal.

I feel this is a viable alternative as you will have access to the grease fitting and be able to add grease when you do your oil change - it will always be accessable without having to take anything apart.

So this is my idea and information about replacing the IMS bearing - tell me what you think. Your input will be greatly appreciated. OH BTW - I am a newbe to the site so please don't condemn me for not introducing myself - I will do that at a later date.

Here are the sites that has the info on the bearings.

http://www.nskamericas.com/cps/rde/dtr/na_en/na_literature_bearing/TNSK_CAT_E1419c_Needle%20Roller%20Bearings.pdf


Porsche-m96-IMS

https://www.bocabearings.com/products/bearing-and-ball-types/radial-bearings/ceramic-hybrid-series-1?loadResults=true&ProductType=0&P_Id_equal=20&P_Od_equal=47&P_Width_equal=14

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

We have a lot of info about the IMS bearing here: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Intermediate Shaft Bearing Replacement and Upgrade (IMS), which also includes info about our replacement bearing kit: Pelican Parts - IMS Kit. Hope this provides some additional insight for your research.

[Gelbster]

History(SEARCH !) is a wonderful resource.
There are plenty of much cheaper "correct" size bearings than you quoted .Try $2 on FleaBay.
The results of fitting them have been mixed.
One memorable disaster involved a good quality replacement from a decent vendor -Boca Bearing fitted by a prolific Forum member .
Boca Bearing , to their credit advised against it. He fitted it anyway with many postings about the money saved.Car was quickly sold to another Forum member.IMSB failure was almost immediate. Of course most such cases do not get published.
The cumulative wisdom is that yes, you can use a generic bearing but you'd better know what you are doing. Start with a discussion of ABEC and seal material.There is more geekish detail - and that is just the steel ,deep groove bearings. If you include ceramic-hybrids and rollers the discussion would be a magnum opus.
DOF is not new. But not with grease ! And anyway it has been somewhat discredited in cumulative wisdom because splash+seal removal or using a plain bearing is better.
So maybe the source documents you used in all that reading you did were old?
And anyway there are other upgrades to do at the same time that come in the kit so we have an apples/oranges problem with your price comparison.
There is a reason Pelican sell a kit and not just a cheapo generic bearing for the IMSB replacement. The above hints at just some of those reasons. First ,do no harm....