The latest version seal aka the Cayenne style is in my hand. The green plastic ring in the middle of the seal is an installation aid and the ring is later removed.

Gee. It's so small and unassuming. Who would think that it could kill your engine?

Thanks for posting the pic!

Int. Shaft Bearing
 

Tool Pants scenario is exactly what happed to my '03 at 27000kms resulting in a '04 replacement engine.
Good luck with your ouutcome.
Glenn

On Renntech there was a thread discussing this issue as well:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15021

Here's a nugget from that thread..

"I don't know if the issue is completely resolved or not but the intermediate shaft has been redesigned. I cant say when exactly it was introduced or give an engine number range but the new style is very easy to recognize as the nut on the end is now something like a 24mm instead of the old 13mm. Anyhow pretty much all of the 05 and early 06s still have the old style shaft so 9x7's are still very susceptible to failure. For what its worth I have not seen a new style intermediate shaft fail, or leak for that matter. "

Does anybody have any more information on what the redesign actually is, and what dates the "new design" took over? Has anyone heard of a a failure of the new design?

Joe

I would have to guess this was done when they tweaked the motor for the 987 launch. My neighbors 04 model lost an engine due to IMS failure so not in that year! :D

Intermediate Shaft Broken (2005 Boxster S)
 

Hi fellow Boxster owners.

My 2005 Boxster S broke down and had to be towed to my local Porsche dealer. They said the Intermediate Shaft was broken and most likely needed a new engine. My 4 year warranty just expired 3 months ago. The dealer said they will try to get Porsche corporate to give a replacement engine for goodwill (no cost) and that i would have to pay for labor to replace it ($2,200).
Does this sound right ?
Seems as if there is a systematic problem / issue w Porsche's intermediate shaft.
Any advice?

This could be my last Porsche is this issue is not satisfactorily and pleasantly resolved.

Help.

You have the exact same problem that several of our customers have had.. Your Porsche Dealer is like the one mentioned in the testimonial on the front page of my site, at the bottom www.flat6innovations.com ... We saved his engine and his money when the same exact issue struck..

We **may** be able to save yours, but Porsche can't and won't try to.. Most don't know that the technology exists because their information supply source is limited to themselves.

These pics describe your scenario... Explore the possibilities outside Porsche before going further. if you just have oil loss, minor noise and etc the bearing may possibly be worth extracting and replacing. This is done with the engine in the car as depicted here.

http://www.flat6innovations.com/saving-an-engine-ims-retrofit

It's really a shame that we're now seeing 9X7 cars having IMS problems. Are you the original owner of the car? If so, it's likely that Porsche will offer a goodwill replacement, though you'll have to pickup the labor. If you get this option, it's not a bad deal (though not a great one either, as this shouldn't have happened). The new motor will come with a 2 year, unlimited mileage warranty and should have all the latest updates (although, unless your car was a very early production 05, it should have had the later, much larger IMS bearing).

It may be possible to save your motor by extracting what's left of the IMS and updating it to the LN part, but if Porsche offers you a goodwill motor that's still a better option. If Porsche does not, then it only makes sense to try to save as much of your motor as possible.

For those about to buy...
 

and would prefer not to die.
Is there any way either in the standard PPI - or by the means of a special procedure to spot an issue before hand?

Seems like it would be a big false sense of security to have a PPI catch a dirty air filter - and then miss an RMS or IMS problem.

The IMS or RMS cannot be accessed without removal of the gearbox, which would make for a very expensive PPI. If you're going to pull the gearbox, may as well update the IMS, replace the RMS, and do a clutch.

At this point in the game I wouldn't buy a NA 996/997/986/987 without planning on the immediate expense of having the IMS retrofit and clutch. My 99 is in right now for the IMS portion (unfortunately did the clutch just last year). Keep spreading the word Jake!

Chris

...it wasn't so much of an issue with 2.5L engines....you engine sleeves cracked instead. :p

Broken sleeves? I hadn't heard of that being as much of an issue on 2.5L as the larger variants later on. Doesn't worry me, I drive it as much as possible anyways! :)

Chris

They all have the potential to crack. 3.4 and 3.6 motors are likely to be seeing more of this as the mileage racks up, as the few that we've measured the bores on all show deformation across the thrust axis. As the cylinders become more and more oval, the ductility limit of the metal will be reached sooner or later, and the sleeve will crack. 2.5 and 3.2 motors have the thickest sleeves, but even those have had liner failures.

The only motor that hasn't seen a liner failure yet is the M97 3.8.