Quote:
Originally Posted by JOC IN IL
My VIN. number on my 03 Boxster is WP0CA29863U620735. Can some confrim for me my car is not affected by the IMS problem?
<<< Never mind looks like i jumped the gun i'm affected by IMS issue  WP0CA29821U625959 - WP0CA29891U627644 |
In order of importance:
#1 Porsche never associated VIN numbers with engine numbers, so VIN numbers are useless in determining which style IMS is in a car,
period. Assuming the car has its original engine, 1997 thru 1999 cars were all dual rows; 2000 and 2001 cars can go either way, but under NO circumstances will the VIN or build date tell you anything useful, you need to pull the car apart and look to find out if it is a single of dual row.
THERE IS NO OTHER PROVEN WAY. Cars built from 2002 thru 2004 are ALL single row engines. 2005 is another crap shoot year, some of the cars are single row serviceable IMS bearings, others are the over sized non serviceable IMS bearing. Again, YOU HAVE TO PULL THE CAR APART TO FIND OUT WHICH ONE IT IS. VIN numbers, build dates, or phases of the moon won't help you, it has to come apart, period. 2006 thru 2008 engines are all non serviceable IMS bearings.
#2 Your 2003 car, if it has its original engine, has the single row bearing in it, which has the highest probability of failure (around 8-10%).
#3
All engines with IMS bearings in them have some level of potential for the bearing to fail, the only thing that changes is the probability of failure.