IDK,, that filters there for a reason, i would imagine you'd find some in any filter after 5k miles. Nothing to compare it to, though. Have you ever cracked yours open?

OK, thanks for this, a very good base line. What it tells me is that THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING W/O CRACKING OPEN THE PACK, AND LOOKING. thanks.

I'd imagine JFPinPA has cut his share open. It is routine and not something new. For comparison this is the metal caught by a Filtermag on my engine at last oil change 4,100 mi, 93k on engine.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1464920187.jpg

911monty,, those tiny dots distributed randomly around the inside of the metal cylinder your holding right? That's about what I'm seeing> Thank You So much, i feel better, seemed normal to me. you have to put eyes on it, and that's not always possible, T/Y.

Heed JFP's advice. If the metal sticks to a magnet, you need to look deeper b/c that's not normal. All the other chat about how much metal matters little.

I open about 20-30 oil filters a week in the shop; we see some synthetic bits (sealant or chain wear pad materials), a bit of aluminum (not unusual for an all alloy engine), but rarely do we see ferrous bits (other than the very fine black material caught by the FilterMag shown above). When we do find ferrous material, we become concerned and start looking further; quite often, what we find is not good.......

What he is showing you is the ultra fine ferrous grit that normally passes right through your oil filter and continues to collect and circulate in your oil unless you:

• Add a "full flow" (read no bypass) spin on oil filter
• Use a FilterMag on the spin on housing to trap the ferrous grit and remove it with each filter change

OK, well for many reasons, including your experienced advice, I've decided to go ahead with the IMS Bearing replacement. I'll update with what they find, heck, I'll have them give me the part. t/y.

Very bad idea. Once ferrous metal shows up in the oil filter, the car is no longer a candidate for an IMS retrofit (you can read up on this on the LN website). With ferrous flakes in the filter, there is a better than even money chance the metal will simply kill the new bearing. Any reasonable shop that got the car for this would simply say no.

The source of the metal needs to be found and repaired first.

My car ('03 S) has the IMS Guardian on for about 2 years. Never a beep which is good. I cut open my filter at each change and have never found any flakes of anything, ferrous, alloy or plastic. A month ago at about 84,000 KM I determined i needed a new clutch so in she went to a local indie shop. Did clutch, flywheel, release bearing, RMS and a new LN IMS bearing. Got the old bearing back and it looked and felt fine. Grease was washed out but it was filled with clean engine oil and was smooth as silk. There was a problem with a frayed wire on the Guardian oil plug so it was not reinstalled.

Was it all worth it? I think so. Peace of mind and the fact that I will be going on a 5000-6000 KM trip in June is more reason to have things in top order. Before the trip I will be doing another oil change and at that time I will reinstall the new Guardian I got from Raby Engine Development (thanks Jud). Why am I reinstalling? Well, you can never be too careful and the Guardian will detect any ferrous bits, IMS bearing or whatever.

The car has been great to me so I'm treating it great too.

I'll take the recommended steps on the LN site for a microscopic amount of materiel in the filter. Once I have mine changed, i look forward to hopefully many, many years of problem free driving. Thank you for your advise.

From your previous description of the metal bits in your filter, yours are hardly microscopic. Suggest your re-read this: Bearing already failing? – IMS Retrofit

We have seen several people do what you are about to attempt; to date, very very few have ever been successful, with most suffering failure in only a relatively few miles after retrofitting. Its your car and your money, so proceed however you please, just be conscious of the risks (financial and time) you are entertaining.

Good luck.

OK, Thanks. I'm sure you've forgotten way more about this issue, and porsches in general, then I'll ever know. And that's fine, because i really just want to drive the car. That being said, the engine has been going for 54k miles thus far. I would be very surprised if it suddenly blew up, just because i improved the bearing and installed a magnetic drain plug, no bypass fliter, and magnetic filter screen. But thank you for pointing out the risks, because of it, i changed the oil, and ordered afore mentioned parts from LN. Only time will tell what happens, but i intend to drive it and not worry. On balance, this works for me. Thank you for taking the time to advice me on this issue. Chris.

If you are going ahead with the IMS replacement with metal in the oil, the LN replacement may not be the best solution as it has the bearings open on one side so that they can be lubricated by splash oil. This means metal residue can get in and damage the bearings.

Your better bet may be to buy a Pelican IMS bearing in which the ball bearings are incased and lubricated with grease. This will protect the bearings from larger metal particles in the oil and is cheaper.

I've seen this written before, but I'm not a mechanic so take it with a grain of salt.

Hoping that works out for you. Best of luck, but I don't think this will end well.
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view4/454...in-crash-o.gif

This. At least if you find metal shavings in the future, you can spend time sourcing the issue without it ruining your new bearing that's being fed by the same oil with the shavings in.

Look into this as well, T/Y.