986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - All "IMS failures" are not IMS failures! Carnage within!

pcs5978 · 10-20-2009, 04:51 PM

I'm pretty certain Jake has done more M96 autopsies than anyone - anyone that is other than the guy(s) who work for Porsche AG tearing down blown up M96 motors - and those guys aren't talking.

This is the second failure he's seen like this and it occurred in an '03 M96/24, three chain motor with approx. 60K miles. There's not much that this 986 owner could have done to prevent this. Tic, Tic, Tic Boom!

Jake's contribution to this thread included photos of "The Replacement" tensoner paddle that he's developed along with Charles Navarro at LN Engineering. He gives you a description of the differences between the two. I have the first motor that this "Replacement" part was installed in. What Jake doesn't say in the thread is what was actually involved in fabricating the part. Once this problem was identified (N=1, now 2), there was an active decision not to rebuild my motor until this part could be perfected, because if this part breaks, there is nothing left of your M96 to rebuild.

It took three prototypes and nearly 4 months of work to get it right. Only then was my 3.6 upgrade reassembled - The guys are persistent! When I looked at the LNE website, the part cost $249 - this is an ounce of prevention.

Engine development is an iterative process. You build it, you drive (track) it, you break it, you analyze it, you fix it. Then you do it all over again. This mode of M96 failure isn't a common problem, but it is a problem. Any M96 rebuild need this "Replacement" part.

10-20-2009, 04:51 PM	#32
pcs5978 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 13	"The Replacement" I'm pretty certain Jake has done more M96 autopsies than anyone - anyone that is other than the guy(s) who work for Porsche AG tearing down blown up M96 motors - and those guys aren't talking. This is the second failure he's seen like this and it occurred in an '03 M96/24, three chain motor with approx. 60K miles. There's not much that this 986 owner could have done to prevent this. Tic, Tic, Tic Boom! Jake's contribution to this thread included photos of "The Replacement" tensoner paddle that he's developed along with Charles Navarro at LN Engineering. He gives you a description of the differences between the two. I have the first motor that this "Replacement" part was installed in. What Jake doesn't say in the thread is what was actually involved in fabricating the part. Once this problem was identified (N=1, now 2), there was an active decision not to rebuild my motor until this part could be perfected, because if this part breaks, there is nothing left of your M96 to rebuild. It took three prototypes and nearly 4 months of work to get it right. Only then was my 3.6 upgrade reassembled - The guys are persistent! When I looked at the LNE website, the part cost $249 - this is an ounce of prevention. Engine development is an iterative process. You build it, you drive (track) it, you break it, you analyze it, you fix it. Then you do it all over again. This mode of M96 failure isn't a common problem, but it is a problem. Any M96 rebuild need this "Replacement" part.