IMS Excellence Article

[Boxster33]

Hi All, I've read the latest article about a procedure to check for a potential IMS issue. It involves taking a part the oil filter and looking for patricles. My question is, how accurate is this method from preventing a IMS disaster?

Is there always increased engine wear (exalpining the particales in the filter) before the IMS completey fails?



Thanks

[JFP in PA]

No. it is metal bits from the IMS bearing as it begins to fail...............

[Boxster33]

Thanks JFP. That makes sense. It's good to know there is something we can do to warn us the IMS may be failing.

[Perfectlap]

I hate to sound like a broken record but I wouldn't wait to do this upgrade. Most experienced Porsche specialists could do it in a day. Two hours to drop the trans, two hours to installe the new bearing, check some things etc and put it all back together. Waiting for the clutch to wear out seems a little crazy to me in retrospect.
In order to save yourself $600 in labor your going to roll the dice on an engine replacement that will cost over $10K? I'd rather pay the labor to take down the tranny twice and consider it a insurance policy of sorts.

[clickman]

I'm sure JFP will correct me if I'm wrong, but metal bits in the oil filter don't necessarily mean the IMS bearing is failing. The metal could be coming from other places instead. None of which is good.

[JFP in PA]

The "trick" is what kind of metal you find. There are lots of light alloy sources in the M96 (block, heads, pistons, bearing shells, etc.), but only a limited number of ferrous sources; these include the crank, piston rings, valves & springs, the cams and followers, cam chains, the oil pump, and of course the IMS bearing. If you were to find any significant amount of ferrous debris in the oil filter (stuff you can pick up with a magnet), I would seriously consider taking the car out of service until you can determine the source; to do otherwise is to invite disaster…………..