Question about reman engines and IMS

[yelojkt]

As long as you have an M96 motor with a IMS you should keep the bearing in the back of your mind. But it has not been sitting in used oil for 4-8 years now. As long as you keep your oil changed at least once a year you should be good. For total confidence in the bearing it can be replaced each time the clutch is done.

[JFP in PA]

I’d be more concerned about who’s updated IMS it is; if it is Porsche’s, it would be a “deduct” from the price. If it has the LN Engineering unit, it would be a plus. Porsche never found a true “fix” for the issue, and eventually engineered the shaft out of the engine entirely. You also need to be aware that around 2005, Porsche went to an over sized version of the IMS bearing, which still failed, but cannot be updated without total disassembly of the engine; so if the engine in question has that unit in it, it is still at risk of failure, but cannot be upgraded to the LN unit, and the “update” would be a major negative…………..

[xamfed]

It is a factory re manufactured engine

[JFP in PA]

Then it probably falls into the last category with the oversized IMS bearing that cannot easily be updated with the LN unit.

[kcpaz]

Good luck convincing the seller that the IMS bearing question warrants any sort of price deduction. Basically, the ignorant don't care until there's a problem...

[JFP in PA]

All the seller knows is “It has a new factory engine” and will act accordingly. If he/she is not interested in talking, then it is time to walk away and let someone else pay too much for it……………. The problem with most car sales, new or used, is that too much is based upon emotion, not cold, hard facts……….

Another poster asked about a really clean 99 car he found that the buyer was asking $19,000 for; only problem is that any 99, even a pristine example optioned to the limits is only worth $10-12K, max. Unfortunately, the facts could not dissuade the seller from an emotion-based price they will never get……..

[mikefocke]

a later motor can be updated with the LN bearing...it is just that you have to split the case and take the shaft out and send it to LN to get them to redo the shaft for it all to work.

There is no way to tell what that engine the car has in it is...the '02 version which can be updated with the LN bearing assembly next time the clutch is replaced without removing the engine.... or some new block with the later IMS assembly... until you have the clutch out and can look at it. Some original engine cars from the same model year have as many as 3 different IMS designs in them.

JFP's original point is certainly valid. If it is a Porsche remanufactured engine, it has an inner seal and a Porsche sourced IMS and some small percentage of both go bad over time which is very expensive.

So in this case, because of the uncertainty and the potential for about double the expense to install a better IMS bearing design, the factory replacement engine is not a plus to a knowledgeable buyer even though the seller thinks it is.

And any engine from any manufacturer will have weaknesses...it is just we know a lot and talk a lot about ours. And we have third party parts to replace ours.