It could happen to you......

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Originally Posted by black pegasus

I thought I'd wanted one of these cars. I've even drove a few. But nevertheless I don't think this car is for me. Porsche used the customer to propel its transition to water cooled cars all the while leaving them in the dust as well as their lustrous history.

Originally Posted by black pegasus

I'll just stick to my 86 air cooled 911 and you can have fun in your ride. I was just stating that reliability is no more with the water cooled 986s. This is a 986 forum and I respect that you enjoy your rides but reading the op's situation makes me not opt for a 986.

Originally Posted by black pegasus

Oh so only one 986 engine has blown?
Silly...

So, you've only read one scary news story?
My point is that the post said nothing about the engine failing due to an IMSB failure and even if it did, the rate of failure is small and the issue completely overblown. Engines are complex and any engine in any car can fail. By your logic, you should never do anything, ever.

You don't own a 986 and say that you won't buy one, yet you're posting on a 986 board.
I think the kids call that "trolling".

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by black pegasus

For the record I think they're beautiful cars but reading about engines that grenade even after an ims fix is a real bummer, that's all.

I don’t blame you for thinking that. Heck, I wouldn’t buy another 986 either, and yet I’ve had nothing but joy with mine. I’ve owned it for 16 yrs now, and besides brakes, a battery change every 4 yrs or so, oil changes (once every 2 yrs), a water pump, coolant tank and motor mount replacement, it’s been totally reliable. Original IMS and still going. I guess it’s just luck. Anyway, if I were to buy another Boxster, it would be one of the newer year models without the IMS altogether. In the meantime, I’m still waiting for mine to give up, but not worried about it. I don’t care if it blows up now...I’d just discard it, as it's already done it’s job and then some.

[10/10ths]

2004 Boxster S "50 Years of 550 Spyder Edition" I bought in June of 2015 with 25,000 miles on her. I shipped her to Jake Raby of Flat 6 Innovations and had him install his "Level 3" preventative service--"IMS Solution", AOS, cam chain idler R&R, Water Pump, RMS, new clutch and flywheel, plugs, and filled with Driven oil.

I've put 20,000 miles on her since getting her back from Jake.




















Get busy living, or get busy dying.

[grc0456]

Those are a bunch of great shots, 10/10ths! I love the SE cars with the silver over cocoa. Wish I would have found one when I was looking 2 years ago, but I am more than happy with my humble little base





Also love the Shawshank quote


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[10/10ths]

...nothing humble about that sweet ride! Love your wheels. Enjoy!

[sfkjeld]

2000 S, 33k. I will say this about the Boxsters at this point. The IMS issue is factored into the price. When I was looking last spring, I found a lot of low mileage Boxsters in the $10-15k range. And many with IMS upgrades. So yeah, it is a gamble. But smiles per $, hard to beat.

[78F350]

$ per smile, I agree that 986s are one of the best deals out there. Still I can relate to black pegasus. Reading this thread, I started thinking about my experience with Ford trucks. I loved my 1978 F350, but when it came time for an update, I read horror stories about most of the newer trucks. It was enough to steer me away from any of the F-series built after the 1990s and I ended up with a Cayenne as a replacement for my old Ford truck.
Do I worry about an engine failure in my Boxsters? Not 'worry' but anticipate that it may happen and gradually build my engine swap inventory and education.

[Robert993TT]

I'm sorry to hear about the engine failure.

I bought my 986 550SE less than 1,5 years ago and have been drivning it 20000 km. It's been perfectly reliable. I was a bit worried about all the IMS tales at first. It even got me thinking never to buy a Boxster or 911 once.

Now that the 986 are priced the way they are. I could not pass the opportunity.

I won't change the IMS. Not even thinking about it until the day the clutch go or I get indication that I may save the engine in time. Life is to short to worry. That way you can never enjoy the car. I will be keeping my 550 SE long term. I drove a 987 and to be honest. It was a bit dull with bigger wheels. More Audi like interior. The 986 are still a simple roadster. The newer versions are more grown up and mature.

[sfkjeld]

Agreed. The IMS replacement should be seen as part of the clutch replacement. That said, I would worry about an early 986 with an original bearing. I wouldn’t risk a single row IMS bearing for long.

[Lacostas]

A blown motor is always a very bad thing... But yes unfortunately it's a risk that we (as 986 enthusiasts) have to take. Not many things we can do, just drive it as it should be driven and frequent oil changes... After all, isn't this the main reason that boxster are so "cheap" (to buy) ?

[GTA_G20]

550 SE owner here too. On my second 986 and neither have failed from ims. Sorry to hear about your failure.

Truth is it's a beating. An integral bearing which failure is catastrophic. But a bearing all the same. Some cars wheel bearings fail @50k other cars same model 200k.....
Boxster is a great car

[Boxstard]

Sorry for your loss, if I'm in your shoes I'll find an another engine or a 3.4 motor for swap and be even happier. For the money you will be hard pressed to get another car as much fun and satisfying!

[Drphil]

i now have all that new stuff too, Merry Christmas, a LN dual row ceramic hybrid IMS, etc etc, - AND a upgraded updated clutch hydraulics, will pick up the car tomorrow- BTW wasn doing clutch and was not going to do the IMS but it was leaking, RMS was not, 39k original miles, the p.o. must have slipped the piss off the clutch as I had to do the flywheel which was bad too.- my last boxster I had I put 60k same clutch and Big Jake has put a bunch more on it too no issue- some people are not meant to drive manual!!! this will last me the rest of my ownership, 1 year or 10 years, - 35 years driving I have never burnt up a clutch like that! btw love your car great color combo!!

[BIGJake111]

@drphill

Happily over 100k now! Clutch is happy as can be.

Still drives like a dream!

[Drphil]

Jake that's great! many days I regret selling that car, but glad it has a good home!
loved the sound system too and have now upgraded my current car with the rear speaker system (bose)!. next will be coil overs , I will continue to do some S upgrades to this car to improve balance and performance, but this was and necessity to take care of and ended up being way more than I wanted or expected to do on a 39k mile car! - my mechanic is convinced its the low mileage cars that didn't get driven and sat too much that have more failures -

I picked up the car last night and its night and day! a good clutch is like butter, soft, smooth , but grabs and holds! amazing the difference, - should not have to ever do another clutch, you will eventually and what I learned from this is that if you wait too long and don't realize the pressure plate and disc is wearing out, you will then wear out your flywheel- the p.o. of this car burnt up this flywheel something fierce!! and that's a $700-800$ part - BTW my main seal wasnot leaking, it was coming from the IMS - and once out you can feel the bearning wear when rotating it so it was just a matter of time - a ticking time bomb- we did the LN dual row hybrid ceramic with 75k mile warranty, I think the bearing was $696, and the labor was 2 hours, so $200 from this shop for that as an add on for the original $1400 for clutch labor pressure plate and disc. in and out with fly wheel and the hydraulic upgrade its $3600.

just a word of warning to those who think they may not need an IMS because the oil looks ok !!! if you are doing a clutch do the IMS- if you do it yourself you can do this for under a grand - why take the chance???

cheap insurance for the next 75k miles-

[Geof3]

This thread is nuts... try owning a Jeep one day... that's all I'm going to say about that. My 02s is fantastic, and if explodes, I'll deal with it at the time. Mechanical things break, they just do. None are perfect, none last forever, some last longer than others. Just a part of the experience. Know it, except it. Or not.

[jdraupp]

Originally Posted by black pegasus

I thought I'd wanted one of these cars. I've even drove a few. But nevertheless I don't think this car is for me. Porsche used the customer to propel its transition to water cooled cars all the while leaving them in the dust as well as their lustrous history.

The water cooled cars saved Porsche from bankruptcy (specifically the boxster) and are more reliable and durable especially in use as a daily driver than the air cooled cars are. If you've really put 220k on an 86 911, then you know how much work you've had to do to that car. Boxsters need maintenance too. However, all engines fail. Nothing is impervious. Hope your 911 motor isn't next. For the amount you can get a boxster vs an air cooled 964 or 993, I'll take a boxster with a slim chance of motor failure any day.

[stephen wilson]

Each to their own, but you're missing out by passing up the Boxster. Because of IMS fears I bought a 987 ( I don't track the car ) , it's been probably the best purchase of my life. Other than annoying top issues it's been trouble free. I agree, you can't beat it for the money. I test drove almost every modern sports car in the price range, and none handled better. The BMW's had good power, but less confident handling.

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by jdraupp

The water cooled cars saved Porsche from bankruptcy (specifically the boxster) and are more reliable and durable especially in use as a daily driver than the air cooled cars are. If you've really put 220k on an 86 911, then you know how much work you've had to do to that car. Boxsters need maintenance too. However, all engines fail. Nothing is impervious. Hope your 911 motor isn't next. For the amount you can get a boxster vs an air cooled 964 or 993, I'll take a boxster with a slim chance of motor failure any day.

Plus they will run circles, especially an S, around a 964 or 993 in terms of overall performance especially in the hands of a typical driver.