It could happen to you......

[nobrakes]

For over 4 years I have really enjoyed my 02 S. It looked great, sounded great and ran great. I was very proud of it and took very good care of it. It only had 49k miles and an updated LN IMS. I slept good at night.........Last Friday the motor grenaded. There was alot of metal in the filter/pan. The motor is toast. After 3 days of deep thought I decided to sell it as a rolling chasis/paperweight. The car is now sold and Im moving on, but I have no interest in driving, owning or even looking at another Porsche........This is a great forum with alot of great people. I really learned alot here and everyone good luck with their 986's.
I mainly lurked here and will miss reading this forum. Please dont ask how much I got for my car, just know that these cars arent worth much without the motor and just because you have upgraded the IMS doesnt mean your motor is bullett proof......Good Luck.....

[pkp4911]

Originally Posted by nobrakes

For over 4 years I have really enjoyed my 02 S. It looked great, sounded great and ran great. I was very proud of it and took very good care of it. It only had 49k miles and an updated LN IMS. I slept good at night.........Last Friday the motor grenaded. There was alot of metal in the filter/pan. The motor is toast. After 3 days of deep thought I decided to sell it as a rolling chasis/paperweight. The car is now sold and Im moving on, but I have no interest in driving, owning or even looking at another Porsche........This is a great forum with alot of great people. I really learned alot here and everyone good luck with their 986's.
I mainly lurked here and will miss reading this forum. Please dont ask how much I got for my car, just know that these cars arent worth much without the motor and just because you have upgraded the IMS doesnt mean your motor is bullett proof......Good Luck.....

That sucks friend. I've owned Porsches in one form or another for over 30 years and NEVER worried about the engine(s). Have a 73 2.4E coupe that I tracked from 1990 until 2012 when I decided it had become too valuable and retried it back to street. Never had a mechanical failure. Picked up a 03 low mileage S and took measures to ensure mechanical integrity. IMS, deeper sump, pre- emptive leakdown, etc. The first time at the track (HOT day) I was chasing a buddy of mine in his 510 and we were having a great dice... no over rev, watching temp when I felt a flutter and loss of power. No bad sounds. Nursed it to a run off and shut it down. Let it cool for hours. Tow back to shop. Diagnosis: spun bearing. Took a year to find a low mileage 3.6 with IMS replaced. While i love how this car drives, I'm so snakebit, there will be no more track days for me though because the joy, thrill, adrenaline, etc won't offset the pain I'll feel if this motor goes. It sucks. A porsche ain't a porsche unless they can be driven the way Dr. Ferry designed them.

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[Twin headlight Ernie]

Huge bummer. Did you look into what part failed? I used to work at a car dealership that carried a lot of Porsche, Audi, & VW. My old shop foreman and I are still friends and he tried to talk me into a Miata instead. Time will tell if perhaps he was right. Another mechanic I used to work with had a 928 that blew up the motor. He put a small block chevy in it. Owning a exotic has it's price (and it's benefits too).

[Cbonilla]

Yeah, I had my 03 986S lose its IMS bearing at 100k miles. Never believe the adage that if its good at 30k it's good to 200k. In my case I decided to source a used engine nad have it dropped in. Painful many months long process not for the faint of heart. In the end the $4,500 engine (with 40K miles) ended up costing me about $8,500 when you add in the installation and the "while we're there" items -- replaced the IMS, AOS, water pump, etc.

Financially it was about a wash, but the year before I had put about $k into the car and had confidence in its bones

I hear you on being skittish about Porsches in the future. The way they left time bombs ticking away in the class action settlement left a bad taste in my mouth

[algiorda]

Sorry to hear about that. That is why I upgraded to a 2013 Boxster with a 3 year warranty.

I wouldn't indict the entire Porsche line just because of engine failure on a 16 year old vehicle.

Best of luck with your next ride!

[DWBOX2000]

Isn't there a 5 year, 75k warranty on LN if you use a recommended installer? Could be wrong.

[oldskool73]

^ I believe that's only on the 'solution' not the 'retrofit', and still only going to cover the cost of the LN parts not a whole new engine... so fairly useless really. Warranty – IMS Solution

[DWBOX2000]

Well if that's correct, I'm not too thrilled I put the in a LN. Everyone knos,, once it goes the motor is junk with or without a new IMS bearing. I would still get the $800 back. Shame on them for a terrible warranty and shame on me for not doing better homework.

[Frank N]

Let's be honest here, It could happen to you ....with any vehicle you own.

[CBRacerX]

Sorry this happened to you. So what failed?

[Oldcarguy]

At this point there’s no proof that the LN IMS failed in the OP’s car. Even if it did fail, there could be another root cause.

Not saying that LN IMS bearings can’t fail, just saying that it’s not good to assume or jump to conclusions without proof.

To Nobrakes, really sorry to hear what happened and all the best wishes for your future automotive exploits.

[DWBOX2000]

Based on the warranty, I won't recommend to anyone. I'll go stock when/if the time comes.

[robdelorenzo]

So the $250 Pelican IIMS is no better/worse than spending a lot more?
I have an 02 Base with 149K and some days I feel like it's going to run forever and other days, I turn down the music and listen to the motor at every stop light.
I guess that uncertainty comes as the flip side of the joy that I get from driving a Boxster.

[oldskool73]

I think 'stock' involves buying (twice the cost+) and changing (more labour = more cost) a whole new IMS shaft though, don't think Porsche sell just the bearings.

Looks like the retrofit does have a warranty, 2 year / 24000 miles limited warranty. See bottom of IMS Retrofit – LN Engineering Genuine IMS Bearing Upgrade Kits for Porsche ® Engines

To be fair though, all the alternative aftermarket replacements have the same warranty clauses, they'll only ever cover replacing their product if it dies, not the engine or anything else it takes with it... it's just not much use having a replacement bearing and no working engine to put it in

[PaulE]

I wouldn't condemn LN for putting a limited warranty on the IMS Solution or any of their upgraded bearings. Porsche put a warranty on their car and engine that had a limited term. LN came out with some good fixes for a real problem they didn't create. If LN had offered a better warranty and the part cost 5 or 10 times as much, would that be a good deal? Every business has to balance cost/benefit and return on investment. The original cost/benefit analysis done by Porsche to use a sealed bearing on the back of the IMS was not a good one in retrospect. I always thought they did it because it was too expensive to get an oil feed to the bearing at the back of the engine. Then yesterday I watched the new IMS bearing video just posted on the PCA website and see there is a hydraulic chain tensioner on that end of the engine that keeps tension on the chain from the crankshaft to the IMS. So it wasn't because it was too hard to get oil pressure back there.

Anyway, I'm sorry for your loss nobrakes. I will tell you there are compromises made on every car I have ever owned or worked on, including Acura, Audi, Austin Healey, BMW, Chevy, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Mazda, MG, Nissan/Datsun, Peugeot, Porsche, Triumph. The later model Japanese cars do tend to be better in my experience. I hope you have good luck with your next car.

[grc0456]

Sorry to hear of your problem with the car’s engine. That really sucks, and would crush me if it happened. One thing is for sure, no matter if you are running the original IMSB, have replaced it, or are running with one of the aftermarket fixes (I am).....you should a) change the oil at least every 5k miles and inspect the filter for ferrous debris (UOA also a good idea) and b) drive the car like the Dr. intended.


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[thstone]

I am on engine #4. After the failure of engine #1 and the failure of engine #2, it becomes much less of an emotional impact and I have come to realize that its just the way it goes with these cars - the engines are a replacement item and I treat them as disposable. Thus, I keep a spare engine on hand to immediately swap-in since the current engine could fail at any time.

While there are a LOT of ways that an engine can fail, it is surprising and rare that your engine failed with less than 50K miles.

Plan for the best but prepare for the worst. My advice to everyone is to start saving NOW into a replacement engine fund so when it happens you have the money (and the mindset) to weather the storm.

Why? Because there is no other car that you can buy for less than $10K and have this much fun. Over 5 years, even if you put in $2K per year for repairs/maintenance and have to replace the engine once for $4K-$6K, you're still only in for a total of ~$25K and there is no other car that you can buy that will deliver this much enjoyment for that little of money. And after 5 years, you can still sell the car for $5K and have spent only $20K total.

[10/10ths]

....original poster, do you know WHAT grenaded your engine?

[911monty]

New owner.....cant sleep IMS ?s
I have wanted a Boxster for over 4 years now but I got a BMW Z3 2.5 instead, Its been a great car and I have enjoyed it, but I got the Boxster bug again several months ago. After alot of looking I found a beautiful 02 S. Its speed yellow with alot of extras and it only has 33k miles. I got the records from the local dealer and it got the RMS replaced in 06 and 07. The dealer also replaced the IMS "flange" in 07 and 08. Would this be considered the same as replacing the bearing? There are no leaks now and it runs great. I put a deposit on the car and Im suppose to finish the deal on Tuesday..........Any advice, comments, suggestions? I know all you seasoned Boxster owners are sick about the RMS and IMS problems, but please help a newbie out. Thanks in advance, Steve.
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First off I want to say I am sorry this happened to you. However I hardly ever take things at face value. The above is your first post, now you say you had bearing changed and name LN IMS. What is the real answer? Somehow I don't expect we will hear back but this strikes me as tossing a grenade in a room and slamming the door.

[Cbonilla]

Originally Posted by algiorda

Sorry to hear about that. That is why I upgraded to a 2013 Boxster with a 3 year warranty.

I wouldn't indict the entire Porsche line just because of engine failure on a 16 year old vehicle.

Best of luck with your next ride!

No, my indictment of Porsche was the way the resolved the class action suit. "If it fails we may fix it". It was a time bomb waiting to go off

CB