IMS tell tale

[Meir]

Originally Posted by Cbonilla

Learn something new every day: You can't change an IMS without taking the engine apart.

what JFP meant to say, is if you wish to do it in the dealership, theoretically they will need to take the engine apart. the reason is, porsche do not replace the bearing but the whole IMS assembly.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Meir

what JFP meant to say, is if you wish to do it in the dealership, theoretically they will need to take the engine apart. the reason is, porsche do not replace the bearing but the whole IMS assembly.

No, I meant what I said. Some years ago, Porsche released a factory TSB on the IMS bearing, stating that their "official" position was that the bearing could not be removed and replaced with the engine assembled, as it would result in "irreparable damage" to the engine, requiring engine replacement, which would not be covered under warranty. For a long time, shops kept copies of this TSB on their walls while they went ahead and did what Porsche said could not be done every day of the week. Porsche meanwhile also released the updated oversized bearing, which can only be purchased as an assembled shaft, which would require disassembly, and could not fit through the IMS shaft opening in any case. Meanwhile, many dealerships actually went against the factory and actually sent their techs to Jake's classes on how to replace the single and dual row versions with the engine still in the car and assembled. Eventually, Porsche simply stopped talking about it at all, but still only offers the oversized IMS bearing in the shaft.