I have just had the ims...
 

guardian installed by the local indy shop. I am very sorry to hear about the ims failures on this thread. My heart goes out to you. I took the cheapest way out with this install and if the ims guard prevents the failure of the engine then it has achieved its job. If I get the warning of an impending ims fail, then I can save $$$$$. A less than $1000 prevention for a new engine is worth it to me.

If you mean what I think you mean I'm pretty sure his answer would be "never" since he mentioned that he "babied" it.

Car was never laid up...i drove it daily. Ninety miles a day / 5 days a week. Changed the oil every 5k miles. As for Buzzing....I never raced and never red-lined. To me, this is being babied.

Like I said, having 129k miles I figured I was beyond the IMS failure "window". My understanding was that the IMS failed early on.

M1-0W-40 oil or something else?

Sounds like you did all the right things--driven daily/5-6k oil changes--and it still failed.

used mobil. followed maint schedule religiously. don't get me wrong...i love my box. i just find it hard to believe that it happened to me. i could understand if it happened to a garage queen or any other not well maintained vehicle. i followed all the rules and still got screwed. i still have a smile on my face when i drive my box...just don't ask me about the IMS! ;)

Silverboxter, did you ever drive the car in a spirited way? I know you said you never redlined it, but did it ever see any RPMs approaching the redline? That could be a part of the problem. I'm not talking about beating on the car, but I am talking about putting it through its paces and getting a good, heavy-breathing run once in a while. I see that as a part of the rules to follow, too. If the car never saw high rpms, despite being daily driven and well maintained (hat tip to you there on both counts), that has been another suspected factor in the failure of the IMS and other areas of the engine.

What is the theory/explanation behind the "spirited driving" approach? Hwo would this tend to reduce one's chances of a defecting engineering issue such as the IMS?

The "spirited" theory arose, IIRC, from comments by Jake early in the "IMS-is-a-problem" history when he observed that frequently driven and spiritedly driven cars seemed to have less IMS failure problems.

My guess is that frequently and spirited result in warm oil being splashed at higher temps and pressures, less condensation in the oil or perhaps the inner seal is kept more flexible/effective.

Don't know if he still feels the same way nor do I know of any statistical study on the subject.

i usally never rpm'd beyond 5,500. may have hit 6k once or twice. the fastest i ever drove was the one time that i hit 127mph. don't really understand how "spirited" driving affects the IMS issue. would redlining have kept this from happening?...don't see how. i don't want to scare anybody out there. the fact is that i have my base box running and i have my wife's 02 S running. the last thing i want to do is to start a string that states that all p-cars have an IMS waiting to happen. this would drop the price on these cars if i ever thought of selling them...which i don't.

i'm just telling you what happened to me. sad story....but i still love my box!

its a good theory, more RPM's= hotter oil (condensation being burned off) and higher oil pressure (oil getting pushed into all those little crevices)

I try and keep my RPM's above 3k as much as possible and have run it to the rev limiter a few times in 1st and 2nd

but Im still planning on doing the IMS upgrade with my tax return this winter/spring

so have we ever determined if the single row 02-up bearing is any better?

The theory is not sound in my opinion. Assuming you run the engine to full operating temp, the oil temp is 220-250, or higher if you sit in traffice. How much hotter does the engine oil have to be to somehow lube the IMS more effectively?

If anything, a seal or bearing that is poorly designed and grenades would tend to do so MORE at higher RPMs. That is why race engines often grenade, as they are pused to the limits of their engineering tolerances.

I don't think I've heard anything like that definitive from Jake, but a quick search of this forum would indicate the 02-up bearings fail just as much (my 2004 included).

The bearing that was used is the same one in a 4" electric forklift wheel, bearing #6204 2rs. The issue we had yrs ago with the manufactures was the lack of grease in the bearings. It wasn't every bearing, just a few out of a group of 100. They would fail within a week of install. Once we decided to repack the bearing with high temp red grease all problems stopped.

Just a side note S6204 2rs is the ceramic bearing, 5204 2rs is the double row bearing and I still haven't found the double row ceramic yet. But I don't think the double row was or is a good idea (personal opinion) because the they are actually weaker do to the fact that they can't load as many bearings in it. bearings can be found here Ball Bearings:Miniature bearings:Ceramic Bearings:Bearing

I'm doing my clutch next month and have an idea I can do this bearing project for less than $150 out the door. I will be using this bearing 6204 2nse and leaving the seals on after repacking it with the high temp grease.

I'm pretty surprised to see so little failures. I just bought my 98 Boxster yesterday and had always assumed IMS was just something I would need to replace ASAP. I still plan on replacing it but maybe I'll put it off a little while =

IMS bearing replaced!
 

I have a 01 Boxster S
Just replaced my IMS last week....pain the arse!

Do we have model year for sure, where the IMS has been addressed? Is it safe to say '10 and up are immune? I would seriously consider buying a newer one in a few yr is that is the case

From Pedro's site:

"...Curiously, the latest engines (A19) on 2009 and newer cars were completely redesigned to not have an intermediate shaft..."

Here is the source:
Kaboom!

You'll find that right before Pedro starts talking about D-chunk, about halfway down the page.

Thanks overdrive. I know I am jinxing myself, but i dont feel it is an epidemic by any means

Dodged the bullet
 

Just to add to the discussion - '98 Boxster Tiptronic 58k miles - mechanic says my IMS bearing was the worst he'd seen without a catastrophic failure. I found metal and black seal pieces in oil filter canister and stopped driving the car. The 911 in the shop wasn't so lucky. He drove to the shop and half way there his engine blew. I wouldn't consider my Boxster a "garage queen" but with 13 years and only 58k it hasn't had that much usage which definitely puts it in the low usage IMS bearing failure category.

What was the condition of the old bearing? How many miles? Driving style? Oil change history?

how much debris did you see in your filter?

Intermediate Shaft Bearing Failure
 

Hi Guys:

Just sold my 1997 Boxster with 254,500 miles on it. Yes that's right 254,500. The car never had any engine, transmission or clutch problems whatsoever and ran as strong as it did when I purschased it in July 2005 with 52,052 miles on it. I put over 202,000 miles on it and only replaced two water pumps and one fuel pump. The water pumps seem to last about 120,000 miles. The fuel pump was replaced at 225,000 miles. The car still had the original engine, transmission and clutch with no work done on these components whatsoever. My car was built in Stuttgart. I strongly endorse 1997 Boxsters. I am surprised to hear that they are subject to intermediate shaft bearing failure as I had heard that only the second series Boxsters from 2000 onwards suffered from these problems whereas the 2.5 liters had sleeving issues namely the 1998 models built in Finland. I am strongly considering purchasing another 1997. What can anyone tell me about 1997 shaft bearing failures. Thanks.

Philintl, I don't think it's really specific to any model years. For all we know the quality and tolerances of the parts of the Boxster that came down the assembly line right after yours blew its engine in 6 months. But that's part of the problem, too...we will never really know how serious the problem is or was from year to year in the first two Boxster generations.

As for the slipped sleeves, porous blocks, and those other issues that happened to early cars, I believe that was only on early 1997 models. It's not an exact science by any means, but I'd say look for a car that was built in late 1997 that would still be a 97 model (around August/97), or get a very late 97 build which is most likely an early 98.

Do you happen to know what the build date was on the placard on your car's driver's side door jamb? It would be very interesting to find out that yours was a very late 96 or early 97 build and survived as well as it did.

2001 Boxster Tip
 

2001 Boxster tiptronic 90,000 miles no problem with IMS bearing. Engine still doesn't leak. Nothing leaks on this car. No spots on garage floor, ever.

IMS Failure
 

I recently purchased an '03 with 52K. The engine failed at 14k and was totally replaced by Porsche under warranty with a new engine. My question is this...were IMS upgrades/improvements made on the new engines that Porsche installed under warranty?

What was the failure?

Add me to the poll...2003 Boxster S, 88k miles, no oil leaks, clutch is tight, never a hint of as problem.

IMS failure
 

I was only told that the engine froze/ failed. No further exolanation was given and unfortunately, I did not ask....I am assuming it was the IMS.

Did you purchase it from a Porsche dealership ? If so, they could help. If not, would providing Porsche
the VIN # be of any help ? I'm guessing here....

My car is at the shop as we speak. It's a '99 with 72k on the clock. I decided to do the clutch, rms,ims fix because it has been vibrating a little more lately. Good thing I did.
Turns out, the clutch was on it's last legs. It had worn through the rivets and the flywheel was scored. There was also play in the twisting of the flywheel. Flywheel was toast.
The RMS seal was still good with no leaking.
the IMS was on it;s last legs as well. It was loose and had only a few miles left on it. had I kept driving it until the clutch wore down to nothing, I would have had been making payments on one very expensive lawn ornament.
I hasd planned to use the tax money to do this and I'm glad that I made the right decision!
13yo car w/72k ? IDK, but I'm glad this forum exists, or else I would be out even more bucks.:dance:

Replaced mine last week. IMS, RMS, Clutch, Flywheel. IMS was in great shape.

2002 with 32,000 miles

'03 Boxster
 

How did you get the car repaired? was it under warranty or you talked to Porsche?
I have a '03 Boxster with a failed ims on it. just 66k miles. i brought it to service and they asked for 10k$ just for disassembly- assembly.

Thanks.

A Newbie Seeks Yoda on IMS Issue
 

Looking at buying a 2003 Boxster S with 16k miles. Would any one care to expand on this IMS issue I'm reading about? How does one check on this prior to purchase and is this a preventable issue?

Pedro has a very nice write up on the issue:
Kaboom!

Don't let it scare you away; a small number of the cars ever have the problem, and there are now aftermarket solutions to detect it before it destroys your engine, and superior bearings with which you can replace the stock one.

The best source of information is the web site at LNengineering.

Any rotating bearing wears. Some IMS bearings have gone 255k miles, some 10k.

Will a Pre-Purchase Inspection detect a failing bearing? Depends on who is doing it. Someone with the right software (late revision of Durametric..maybe PST2, PIWIS) can detect camshaft deviation which is a common early warning sign. One of those cases where a great PPI is worth every bit of what you'll pay, a lousy one worth very little. Ask if they do a camshaft deviation test, if they don't, go elsewhere.

Can it be prevented? Reduce probability by using a good oil, changing it much more frequently than Porsche calls for, drive it every day and keep the revs up. To prevent it, the best known commonly available approach is to replace the bearing with one that uses a different lubrication technique and a better bearing (when you do the clutch, do the RMS and the IMS). There are detection kits available (flat6engineering) but if the buzzer goes off, you still have to replace the bearing.

Your 2003 probably has the least desirable bearing of the 3 Porsche used.

The good news is that, even with all the above, the probability of failure in any one car is very low.

Owned 2, loved 'em both. As close to zero problems over 6 years as any of the 40 cars I've ever owned.

A shout out and a Thanks
 

to mikefocke and 2003S thanks for the feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

My cars been fantastic in the nearly 2 years I've owned it. I'm extremely pleased with the reliability so far for a car this age. All I've done is standard maintainance and recharged the AC.

When I bought it in 2010, I did have the dealer replace the RMS and all the other seals/gaskets throughout the motor and transmission. While doing this, they inspected all the engine components and gave it a clean bill of health.

I hope I don't have any IMS issues, but it's a daily driver (work/weekends, rain/shine), I change the oil every 5k with Mobile 1 and stretch it's legs a couple times a month. I think I'll be fine. I plan on replacing the t-stat, AOS and waterpump this coming spring as preventative maintainance. After that, I'm confident I won't have to do ANYTHING to the car until 100k (I'm at 58k now).

It's been an excellent experience so far and I'm glad I didn't let the horror stories on this site scare me away. I will buy another Porsche in the next 2 years (Cayenne S). Wish I had a S model now... :rolleyes:

Here's another 2002 Boxster without a problem. 2nd owner, 60000+ miles.

When I took the car in for its 60K service, my mechanic (a Porsche & German car specialist) mentioned the IMS issue to me and suggested I consider a retrofit. So, I'm researching and investigating. Right now, the poll results look pretty good for '02

I have just bought an early 2003 facelift Boxster s. The car was born with clear lights. I'm not sure of the build date but some of the plastic parts on the coolant bottle are date stamped with late 2002. The car is steptronic auto.

It has covered 112000 miles. I got it 3 weeks ago but I have done about 600 of these already at mostly 3000rpm due to a sudden spell of good weather in the UK.
The previous owner had the car in his possession for just over a year and only did just over 1 k that year. It must have therefore been on 110000 back in 2011.

The service history is good, but with no evidence that the gearbox has ever been off.

The car drives beautifully. Idle sounds clean and clear, with no oil drips underneath. I have a very sensitive ear for these sorts of things. I once had a triumph Stag which sheared the teeth of the jack shaft (same thing as IMS) on the M25 ands I can still remember the sound - these things leave you with a paranoia.

I feel my car is at risk from the IMS issue so even though the oil is only 2000 miles old I think I will put my own oil in this weekend and change the oil filter. Oil recommendations from UK owners will be most welcome.

This may seem excessive but it will enable me to perform a detailed scientific ferrous-contamination analysis on the filter cartridge, ie sitting it on some kitchen roll, letting it drain, holding it to the sun and checking for sparkly bits.

If it passes this rigorous test with no shining or sparkling, then my plan is to drive the carfor another 5k and then repeat the above.

Is this sane, or not?