Quote:
Originally Posted by fins
Question: My build date was 12/2000 (Finland). The IMS recall build date range is May 4, 2001 and February 21, 2005. It appears my VIN is out of the VIN range also. Do I still pursue the IMS Retrofit/Solution?
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Odds are you have a single row bearing. That bearing is 14 years old now.
Your car has sat idle for long periods. Odds are also high that the oil was not changed immediately before going into storage (the only way you should store it). That means it was sitting in acidic oil. Acidic oil and low miles are the special formula for big IMS issues. How many total oil changes has your car had in the last 14 years? If the number is not in the double digits, that's a bad thing.
Dual row or single row, you should get it replaced as both of these will fail if subjected to enough neglect. The IMS can fail because of contaminated oil as mentioned, or because of oil starvation. These appear to be the root causes of IMS failure. Straight swapping the IMS doesn't really address this issue it just removes a potentially compromised bearing for a fresh one. Each bearing has a shelf life, like all bearings, especially a sealed one inside of a hot engine. And that's the important thing, get the original one out of there. Or you can go with the Solution and avoid the effects of contamination and oil starvation on this weak spot entirely. It will pay for itself if you log enough miles on the car and you in fact have a single row bearing. Dual row bearing last much longer but are still susceptible to oil contamination and oil starvation.
That's why people who think they're out of the woods while riding around on a nearly 20 year old dual row bearing are making a mistake. Especially if that car has seen little mileage. You should always make a point of driving the car for at least an hour every week or two. That burns off the build up. We have one forum member from Florida who posted over 300K miles and is still on the original IMS. He maintains strict maintenance and burns off a lot of buildup by rackign up 20K+ miles a year. With these cars low mileage can be a bad thing if you are not on top of the oil changes and the water pump/coolant/hoses/cap/etc. Change the water pump every five years and oil once a year at least and your engine has a good shot of living a long life.
In your shoes I would first do a leak down and compression test before you spend all this money. With your mileage its probably fine. The second step would be to inspect the oil pan for any glitter. If all you see is oil down there, then do the IMS and water pump. Once the trans mission is down, your mechanic will confirm if the Solution is an option or if you can go with a straight dual row retrofit.
Also, don't listen to any percentages on likelihood of failure, or anecdotal feedback on how many single row failures someone has seen. Those cars have absolutely NOTHING to do with the current condition of your car as every single row bearing car was treated to different maintenance and driving habits.
No one has maintained a log of all the known IMS failures since 1996 so any attempt to put a number on the likelihood of your single row failure is merely a guess. Sometimes these guesses coincide with other guesses, but the underlying data is still majorly incomplete. Too many people are taking comfort in these soft numbers while a ready made solution to address this issue is within reach.