RMS / IMS Engine Failure Poll

[rick3000]

Recently there have been a lot of posts about RMS and IMS engine failures. Some say it happens a lot, and others say it is very rare. So I suggest we find try and figure out how often this is actually happening. There is another thread on this but it is only related to RMS failure.
While this will be small scale and slightly biassed it may help finally determine how many people have actually had problems.


Please post the year of your car and the size of the engine (e.g. - 2.5L, 3.2L, etc.)
If you have had failure make sure you have confirmed the cause of the failure before you post. And let us know what you were doing when the failure occurred. (e.g. - Where you redlining the car or cruising at 3k RPM.)

Pre-'01 IMS Engine Failure
Post-'01 IMS Engine Failure
RMS Engine Failure
RMS Seal Replacement
Non-RMS/IMS Related Engine Failure (What caused it?)
No Engine Failure

[blinkwatt]

I really like the idea but unfortunately there are way too many variables to have any accurate statistics.

01' 986 S,3.2L 6-spd with 56k on it.

R.M.S. & I.M.S. replaced at 51k

(My car sat for a really long time-last owner was/is in Iraq so the seals dried up from what I was told by the shop)

[brewer69]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

I really like the idea but unfortunately there are way too many variables to have any accurate statistics.

01' 986 S,3.2L 6-spd with 56k on it.

R.M.S. & I.M.S. replaced at 51k

(My car sat for a really long time-last owner was/is in Iraq so the seals dried up from what I was told by the shop)

If this is true, would it be wise to start up winter-stored cars a few times over the winter months?

[Lil bastard]

The dired up seal thing is a thing of the past when rubber seals were used. Today, the seals are synthetic and do not 'dry up'. Today's seals are almost all 'Butyl Rubber', a synthetic also known as polyisobutylene.

[rick3000]

While newer seals are less likely to dry out, other things can affect the car if it sits. I got my car after it had been driven less than 2k miles a year. The first repair I had to do was fix a vacuum due to fuel in the lines crystalizing.

After being on this forum for a year and doing a lot of reading, weekend/summer only Boxster's tend to have far more problems than the ones driven regularly. So to answer your question it would be a good idea to start the car every few days, and if you want to avoid any more problems don't store it, drive it!
These cars where made to be driven!