3 more IMS reports

[san rensho]

Harry, were the bearings single or double row? Was the motor destroyed on the car that had the failure?

[Jaxonalden]

Harry,

What kind of bearing did you go back with? With the number of bearings you've done, mileage, maintenance and the way you say they've been treated, are you tracking any type of trend analysis?

What I'm wondering; is the seal the culprit? Seals that are intact and holding in the grease are fine (according to this thread), but once the seal starts to go and hot engine oil begins to penetrate and wash out the grease that the bearings life is dealt a death sentence. You might want to ask your customers what type and brand of engine oil they used? Could certain brands be deteriorating the bearing seal? I would expect the seal is made of neoprene or some other type of oil resistant material, but you never know.

With that said, in your opinion, are OEM bearings fine as a replacement part as long as the seal is inspected?

[m332is]

Just had my IMS bearing replaced by my long time mechanic - specializes in Porsche and BMW for both street and race/track cars. The owner is a solid engine builder. Here's the background... 2001 Boxster S with 15,000 miles. I bought the car last year from my friend with about 12,000. It was his wife's car and the dealer maintained it each year. She never really drove it much (as you can tell) as they quickly had a few kids.

I had no external leaks but once the started tearing apart the car, my mechanic said the IMS bearing was showing signs of a light leak. It was a single row bearing.

I used the L&N kit, also did RSM and AO separator.

Glad I replaced it if for nothing else than my own peace of mind. Especially as the car wasn't used much over the past 10 years and wasn't driven hard... before me

Vince

[harryrcb]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

Harry,
What I'm wondering; is the seal the culprit?

This is a very interesting question. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
It makes sense that once the seal start leaking that it deprives oil to the bearing which it's not suppose to be there in the first place. I have found on every car except the blown bearings that there was an abundance of oil behind the bearing. When you pull the bearing out you get about half a quart of oil gushing out from the shaft. I sill remember doing my first bearing and not realizing there was that much oil behind it. I had to change my pants. (oil soaked for those who might be thinking something else)
I think that when a bearing starts to fail, you will get some overheating and possibly minute vibrations that contribute to the leak.
IMO it is better to be safe then sorry, 9 times out of 10 the engine will destroy itself when the bearing goes, then its gets very expensive

[Jager]

Originally Posted by harryrcb

This is a very interesting question. Which came first the chicken or the egg?
It makes sense that once the seal start leaking that it deprives oil to the bearing which it's not suppose to be there in the first place. I have found on every car except the blown bearings that there was an abundance of oil behind the bearing. When you pull the bearing out you get about half a quart of oil gushing out from the shaft. I sill remember doing my first bearing and not realizing there was that much oil behind it. I had to change my pants. (oil soaked for those who might be thinking something else)
I think that when a bearing starts to fail, you will get some overheating and possibly minute vibrations that contribute to the leak.
IMO it is better to be safe then sorry, 9 times out of 10 the engine will destroy itself when the bearing goes, then its gets very expensive

Yep, it looks like this:

[Jaxonalden]

Originally Posted by Jager

Yep, it looks like this:

Kind of reminds me of my last colonoscopy.

[Jake Raby]

Harry, You FEAR MONGER! How dare you share this information and scare people!

This month is our two yearly IMS Retrofit Clinic here.. We do this in April and October each yard and this year I'd not dare post what we have found.

Being hated for telling the truth has to be a 21st century thing.. Its all supposed to be Unicorns and Rainbows, right?

[Bobiam]

Thanks for useful information, Harry. And thinks for taking the time to post it in multiple forums. There's a lot of owners out there that may not subscribe to this forum (although they should!).

Bob (with the new dashboard)

[harryrcb]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

Kind of reminds me of my last colonoscopy.

thanks for your reply, I needed a good laugh. BTW your not far off

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

Harry, You FEAR MONGER! How dare you share this information and scare people!

This month is our two yearly IMS Retrofit Clinic here.. We do this in April and October each yard and this year I'd not dare post what we have found.

Being hated for telling the truth has to be a 21st century thing.. Its all supposed to be Unicorns and Rainbows, right?

Jake, tell me about it. I stayed out of it for a while but so many people just put their head in the sand and assume it doesn't apply to them. So I get bashed a lot,( as I know you and LN Eng do). One of forums took the post off completely saying that another member (supposedly not a sponsor) complained that I was promoting myself with the exact same post. Go figure.