IMS tell tale

[That986]

Originally Posted by algiorda

It's basic statistics; the respondents (universe) totaled 60 and there were 6 failures. That is 10%. To be more accurate, you would need EVERONE on this board to respond to the poll. Or better yet, Every Porsche 986 owner to respond. That would get an accurate accounting.

Perhaps we should spin up a website for all 986 owners to register their VIN, answer YES or NO as IMS failure, IMS Replacement, or No action. Then we would have a true accounting.

But to turn a blind eye on this problem and do nothing is inadvisable. When I had my IMS pulled, it had play in it. It didn't fail, but it was trending failure.

I think you should do exactly that, then at least we would get a true picture and not some half-baked stats we seem to have now.

Nobody is turning a blind eye but what I am saying is give people the FACTS and not hearsay and let people make the choice. As you said your bearing had play in it when it was pulled but hadn't actually failed. Last time I looked most bearings have an amount of play in them and if they didn't they wouldn't be a bearing, but i can bet when it was situated in your engine it wouldn't have had as much play as when it was in the mechanics hand. It's a bit like a headset bearing for a BMX, on their own outside the bike they're pretty poor but once installed and tightened to spec they can take forces that you can't comprehend and do it time after time.

I still think (and you don't have to agree) that there is a lot of hype and scaremongering going on over what is in reality a very small percentage of failures. Look after your car, change the oil regular and check the filter for any signs of metal but most of all get out there and drive it.

I know one thing for sure and that is if someone dropped on here looking for a car and info on it they would run away scared after reading half the threads on here thinking they would be buying a hand grenade unless they spent a huge chunk of money on something that just might not need doing. The IMS thing is well documented, it doesn't need to be mentioned on every thread.