Bit the bullet: IMS pro
 

Our friend CBRacerX has the Faultless tool which he is willing to rent out (cool), I am certainly capable of doing the job, and I would no longer have that little black cloud that follows me around. Other side: Do I really want to jack it up nice and tall on jackstands (again), remove all those braces and shields and swaybar and...(again), undo all those bolts including the triple square (thanks for that, Porsche) and drop the transmission (again), pull off the clutch and flywheel and... (all on my back/side/knees/hurt,hurt,ouch,ouch), when my indy will do it all for less than a g-note? Now I'm not rich, nor am I so young anymore: I may look studly but my bones know better! :eek:
So tomorrow: new imsb pro from LN (cheater double row in a single row space!).
So now it's done, it's a Porsche, what else could possibly go wrong? :rolleyes:

Oh, and yes, you do need the Faultless tool from LN to do the job. So contact CBRacerX on this forum if you're feeling confident and able!

That has to be the most up-beat imsb post I've ever read. :D:D

You have a very entertaining writing style, and you will be so happy to have the ims monkey off your back...:cheers:

Hi there NewArt, fellow Montrealer here, well actually a bit north, a few KMs from Icar.

Last week I bought my very first Porsche, a 2004 Boxster S. The PO left me a bunch of receipts of stuff done on the car in the last few years. Tranny and clutch were replaced, and the flywheel re-surfaced but he had no recollection or knowledge of the IMS bearing, neither is it mentionned on the bills... I will call the shop that did the job to see if they remember anything about it.

If it wasn't done or I can't get confirmation, I will also bite the bullet. I've got friends who specialize in Porsche/Audi in Sainte-Catherine just 5 minutes off of Messier Bridge (Eurozone) I was planning on asking them to quote me a price on that but if you know someone that does it for a grand, it is good to know.

Congrats on the positive attitude, I've just spent the last 2 years on a project car gone awry and that ended up being a financial and emotional drain, but getting angry never got me anywhere faster... I sure do hope this Porsche thing doesn't bring me down the same path.

Figure the part is just over $1k Canadian ( currently $719 US at LN ). Add 8 hours shop time, that's another thousand, plus taxes. Benny Auto, a LN certified installer in NDG, quoted me $3500 for the job, including prequalification. Andrew at WeTune came in at a much better price.

The joy of knowing you are driving with a replaced IMS bearing......PRICELESS!

IIRC, there was the Faultless tool and there was a prior multi-part tool kit and you needed both. I could be wrong, but check what CBRacerX has exactly.

Yes, you need both.

I've got the LN Pro Kit and the LN Faultess, both are needed for LN Single Row Pro. Also have the proper RMS tool - which is really a must do job during this process unless you've done it recently with the latest 997 PTFE seal.

There are other suppliers for this LN part that are cheaper.

Ooookay, at 3-3.5k, my enthusiasm is dwindling a smidge... :-)

Well the guys @ Eurozone told me they've done a bunch of IMS on earlier 986's 2.5 and 2.7's but had yet to see a failure on a late 3.2 wich is what I have. They also told me I shouldn't worry because with the mileage my car has, if it had a bad IMS bearing, it would have grenaded a while ago. Now they've inspected the car and found nothing wrong except for a link kit needing replacement and that the clutch engages a bit high and will need changing eventually. It could still last a while if I baby it, but of course I don't...

I don't know WeTune, I might look them up though, you can never know too many good mechanics... I hope your big job goes smoothly and you can get back behind the wheel soon.

Honestly that sounds backwards. Early cars are less likely to have failure because of double row bearing. Higher mileage car means the bearing has the grease washed out and replaced with seeped in engine oil (bad because it does not circulate). Later car more likely failure because single row bearing.

My 2004 Boxster S had 106000 km on it. The old bearing looked fine.
Total cost was 2.7k with front engine support and oil change and tax in. All in Can $.
( About $2000 US)

2.7 is better than 3.5k$ but still a hefty sum.

At least you can enjoy it relatively worry free now. Mine has 160 000 km on the counter. I'm still debating wether I want it as a long term keeper or if I want to sell it and drive something else a bit later in the summer. At a grand I would've gone for it without blinking. At nearly three, well it kinda puts a damper on my motivation, seeing as I probably won't be able to jack my price up 3k$ to recoup in case I decide to sell.

The Boxster has never been my dream car, I just wanted a fun fun daily driver. But the little sucker is growing on me every passing day. Damn, I hate dilemas...

When I sold my '01, which had the LN bearing, the fellow that bought it had never heard of an ims. No, you would probably not get your money back on a sale although it might increase your market somewhat. If you're not sure, I would suggest checking the pleats in your oil filter at each oil change and maybe installing a magnetic drain plug.

I had my oil change at the dealer in Ottawa and everything is fine no metal in the filter it has 101000 KM on it. I asked them to check it over and the only thing they found was a boot on the right side that is cracked and the top is starting to go. So I don't think I will change the ims as it's running great. I will probably drive it this year and sell it next year.