Intermediate Shaft Bolt

[IWC]

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.

[Jake Raby]

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.

[urban_legend]

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.

[Dragonwind]

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

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by Dragonwind

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.