Pls help: RMS vs IMS failure?

[Cloudsurfer]

Originally Posted by jhandy

For what it is worth I got this explanation from a respected Porsche mechanic.
The factory Bering has a plastic seal that locks in the factory grease.
The plastic seal is crappy and engine oil seeps in and washes out the factory grease.
Low engine revs, low internal pressure, long oil change cycles allows the old poor quality motor oil to stay inside the Bering rather than a pressure forced change.
As a matterof fact if you can not afford the IMS retrofit/repair, I was told to fully remove the factory crappy plastic seal entirely so that clean motor oil can bathe the berings at the very least.

Just passing along what I was told.

Again, the IMS bearing (by the way, it's "bearing," not "Bering" as we're not talking about the Bering Straight here, thus no capitalization is needed) is NOT pressure lubricated. You're absolutely correct in that the "sealed" bearing is not really sealed and that the sealed lubricant gets washed away by the thin motor oil, which is nowhere near as good a lubricant for a ball bearing. Removing the seal on the factory bearing will allow engine oil to at least get in there and provide better lubrication, but under no circumstances, regardless of RPM, is there pressure lubrication to the IMS bearing.

[jhandy]

I understand that the bearing is not pressure lubricated by design. That's my point. The internal pressure forces past the plastic seal by accident and washes out the factory grease. The point of the post was to explain how high revs and high pressure can be good in that it changes more oil inside the bearing.



And by the way I am not an idiot. I was typing on my Iphone and it auto inserts words. I sure you understood I did not mean the Bearing strait, but thanks for pointing that out.

[Jake Raby]

I generally don't post information that I can't back up with empirical data, because some jackass is bound to challenge me and I like to be prepared for that.

Lets just say the phone calls I get don't come from people that admit to driving their car hard..

[jhandy]

Just to better understand this issue...
Jake,

The oil that comes out from a RMS leak, is the oil going around the bearing or through it?
Along those lines...If it is going through it, do cars like mine that had 4 RMS repairs prior to the IMS replacement have a less chance of failure?
Should a very leaky RMS be replaced?
Do cars that have a single leak and then never leak again have a greater failure rate because there is oil going through the bearing, but at a slow rate and therefore not washing completly through?

Enquiring minds want to know

[davemon]

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

Lets just say the phone calls I get don't come from people that admit to driving their car hard..

I love reading this statement. The more excuses I have to drive the hell out of this 2.7, the better. I haven't hit the rev limiter yet, but I have been about 200 rpms into the red. Unfortunately any red in 3rd gear is way over any posted speed limits.

[97boxster2.5]

i have a 97 boxster 2.5 just had it serviceds and it needs the rms doing as it is leaking at 50k miles i have only had the car for 3 months done 2k miles in it plan to drive it as my day to day car once the rms is replaced will this happen agian the car has a full service history and has had the rms done before.

what is the chance of ims happening at 50k miles +

also the drive window sticks some times when openning/shutting the door garage wants to replace the door lock £125 but isnt there a senser they could check first?

love the car but this rms and ims is a bit scary

[jhandy]

as for the window, pull the panel and shoot some spray white litium grease on gears and rails. Sometimes the soundproofing gets pulled into the rails or gears also.

For the RMS- mine has been fixed three times. finally it is holding. The RMS just leaks oil and makes a mess. unless it is pouring out or you are doing a clutch anyway, fixing it is not really needed.

As for the IMS- it can go without warning at any time regardless if the RMS is leaking or not. If the RMS or clutch is going to be fixed, it is simplely a matter of 600$ to have the IMS replaced.

The cost of the IMS replacement is in the labor to get there to begin with.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by 97boxster2.5

what is the chance of ims happening at 50k miles +

40-60K has been the "sweet spot" for several IMS failures......

[ftor]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

40-60K has been the "sweet spot" for several IMS failures......

OK can some please tell me that if i get the IMS replacement for my 01 Boxster will that in fact take care of the failure of IMS or am i still in the same place. porsche service has not been very helpful !!
thanks
FTOR

[Cloudsurfer]

Originally Posted by jhandy

I understand that the bearing is not pressure lubricated by design. That's my point. The internal pressure forces past the plastic seal by accident and washes out the factory grease. The point of the post was to explain how high revs and high pressure can be good in that it changes more oil inside the bearing.



And by the way I am not an idiot. I was typing on my Iphone and it auto inserts words. I sure you understood I did not mean the Bearing strait, but thanks for pointing that out.

My apologies.

However, you must separate the RMS and the IMS. The RMS is simply a seal that keeps oil from leaking out of the junction of the case halves and the back of the crank, where the flywheel attaches. It is completely separate from the IMS, which is below the crank. Again, high revs and higher oil pressure have nothing to do with IMS lubrication, as the only oil that gets to that bearing is from windage and splashing. There is NO pressure feed to that bearing.

On a related note, the oil that does get to the IMS bearing does not go around or bypass the RMS (as again, they are completely separate), so you could replace the RMS seal 25 times, and this has zero impact on the health of the IMS bearing below it.