Pedro, I published that data on this forum long before I made the video. Only a month? What took you so long? I had to edit this after watching your long winded 18 minute video. The closest you get to engine heat induced pressure changes causing oil to be forced through the bearing is that you note something everyone on this forum knows, oil gets into the IMS shaft. Your rationale is it's because the IMS is sitting in oil. Period. You were as lost then as you are now. So now you've been caught twice with your hand in the cookie jar. Don't you learn? You steal my ideas and I'll call you out. One more item, your post above appears crafted to mislead everyone on the forum. That speaks volumes.

Nothing like an IMS issue to start all out war here. Almost as bad as oiled cone filters in after market Cold Air Intakes, which tires are best, what oil and gasoline to use and do after market exhaust systems really add performance. :ah:

You really think that Pedro just trolls this board all the time
 

looking for info to steal? I come here almost daily and probably spend no more than 10 minutes at a time reading two or three threads at most that may interest me. Every time someone asks a general IMS question like this, all the "egos" come out of the woodwork and it devolves to this.

It's simple. If you use someone's idea, credit them. My mind and my time are my merchandise (credit goes to Bar and Grill singers "Billing time". link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFVtkpsWCn4 ). See? It's easy. ;)

Well, he showed up as soon as his name was mentioned, so it seems like a possibility! ;)

Maybe true...maybe coincidence...
 

He wasn't the only one.

This guy explains the IMS failure better than anyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1lLWRPzdNA

Speaking of stealing, about 1/2 those photos in that youtube video were ours!

I swear that I wrote part of what he scripted out, too..

I'm not sure what to do now, if I should wait till then or just do the retrofit now. I never thought id start such a thread,I was just looking for a straight answer regarding the best possible ims bearings available,but I guess there's no such thing as a straight answer when it comes to the dreaded IMS bearing ��

@ boxster:

Well, i think it's a common, human problem. If you ask 10 people you'll get 10 opinions.

Personally i respect all the 10 poeple for their knowledge, but than i do my own research, look for facts and try to form my own opinion.

First step is to understand why the Porsche OEM solution might fail. Than you should do a research what solutions are out there and why poeple think their solution is best, what maintenance is requested, are there any guaranties that are really can be callled guaranties. How often were the after market products sold, how often did they fail, or are there any other problems… and so on.

And than there is the time consuming part. Research for facts. Research on bearing types, reseach on high quality bearing manufacturers, coatings, quality levels, how to replace things best, research on engineering solutions for the problem. Talking with engine developers, engine engineers, mechanics.

All hard facts about the OEM bearings (dimensions, type, rpm) can be found in this forum.

In the end you might have your own opinion.

Maybe this is not the answer you have asked for, but this was my way after getting stucked besides an IMS bearing war - we also had that in the german Porsche forums.

Regards from Germany
Markus

I did the LN retrofit on my car this year. For sure the IMS Solution is the best fix, but also costs more. From what I've read, the retrofit failure rate is way less than 0.1%. On a 12 year old car I'm happy with those odds and think other failures are now more likely. My original non ceramic bearing lasted 12 years, hope to get the same or more out of the LN bearing.

Jake if you're reading, why is there a time limit on the retrofit, my car is a bit of a garage queen doing only 5000km/yr. I have your oil filter adapter & magnetic sump plug fitted, I also have a FilterMag installed & change the oil each 9 months with DT40. (I know you recommend 6 monthly, but I compromised between my normal 12 months). Seems to me under these conditions my new ceramic bearing should outlive the original?

I totally understand and appreciate your opinion. I know that everyone thinks his invention is best, and obviously I dont blame them, but as you said, experience and r&d are very important in this field. I now read that injectors must be at their optimum as not to contaminate the oil with fuel, which reduce life of bearings. I'm wondering if its worth taking the injectors out to clean them now!

Thats exactly what I was thinking. If after the recommended dual row bearing swap at 6 years, I would have done 20000 miles on the bearings,will they still need to be changed?

All ball & bearings have a time in service rating from their manufacturer. You have to look hard to find these in most instances.

The reason why time matters, even if the car is not driven, is because people tend to service cars that sit static LESS than those that are driven daily. The cars that sit need twice as frequent oil services based on my direct experience, having collected oil samples from hundreds of engines over the last 10-12 years. Some of these case studies were from my Canadian customers who store the car 1/2- 3/4 of the year.

NOT driving the car continues to be the WORST operating environment that it can be exposed to.

Yes I agree Jake. That's kinda why I posted it. I only found it because youtube had it on the side of the Pedro video that I watched.

IMS seal or plug
 

Hi all,
The timing of this thread was perfect for me as I just pulled an IMSB from a 2002 3.2. The bearing had failed to the point where heat from the failed bearing had "smeared" the metal behind it. Since it was toast, and because of this discussion, I decided to pull the seal/plug out of the IMS. Based on Pedro's video, I expected to find rancid oil, but low and behold it was clean. Totally clean. No oil. Have there been different seals/plugs to the shaft? This one appeared to be two pieces, a steel sleeve with a steel plug pressed into the end of the shaft.

So, perhaps gas leaked out of the shaft, but oil was not drawn in to the shaft.

As an aside, though this motor is toast, for future service, is it a good idea to pull that seal/plug to learn if the shaft is clean? That would require that the seal/plug for the IMS be available from the dealer. Anyone know?

Thanks,
Joe

I just bought a '99 in August and immediately took it to a certified Porsche mechanic in Toronto and had the IMS done. He also said that it's now good for 6 years. He also put a stamp under the drivers door stating the date the IMS was done (apparently this is something that S/B done whenever any IMS is done). I asked him if the IMS replacement was related to time or km driven and he said time, regardless of how many km were driven.

"gas leaked out". Do you mean "air" ?
More important - was there any trace of grease in the ball race? I guess not.That is the problem. Grease has 3 main components oil,saponifier and filler/snake oil. So the heat(?) caused seal failure+separation and the liquid fraction leaked out.There may be a only a solid 'crud' remaining?
Why do you think the motor is "toast" ?If the IMSB did not disintegrate and their is no collateral damage ,maybe it can be rescued?

I seriously doubt it; I have never seen an engine that showed any signs of an IMS bearing failure that did not have metal everywhere in it.

Yep, thats what I'm thinking as well, that no matter the miles,since its now considered to be a service part, you have to change it every six years (for dual row)