Rms Slight Leak

[springer123]

Hello. I'm going through the same issue with my 1999 Boxster. I notice 3-4 drops of oil on the garage floor everytime I take it out for a spin. I'm going to have to take it to the dealer and have it checked out. I hope it's the RMS leaking but I guess it could also be the IMS support cover O ring, or both?

[tonycarreon]

Originally Posted by springer123

Hello. I'm going through the same issue with my 1999 Boxster. I notice 3-4 drops of oil on the garage floor everytime I take it out for a spin. I'm going to have to take it to the dealer and have it checked out. I hope it's the RMS leaking but I guess it could also be the IMS support cover O ring, or both?

if i might suggest, if you're worried about the ims, take it to an indy shop that can do the ims since it's pretty much the same work to get to it. rather than paying the labor to do the rms and then labor to do the ims again. that's what i would do anyway...

[springer123]

I know since the tranny is already out to replace the RMS you should probably replace the clutch and replace the IMS with the LN kit, however the Porsche dealers within driving distance won't do it. (southern Delaware) They will only replace the RMS, clutch, and IMS seal. I can't find and Indy shop nearby that will do it.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by springer123

I know since the tranny is already out to replace the RMS you should probably replace the clutch and replace the IMS with the LN kit, however the Porsche dealers within driving distance won't do it. (southern Delaware) They will only replace the RMS, clutch, and IMS seal. I can't find and Indy shop nearby that will do it.

The Porsche dealer likely doesn't want to recognize that a method exists of replacing the IMS bearing without having to tear down the engine. Even if they do, they won't use the LN bearing over Porsche's.

You might want to consider putting it on a truck and sending it to Jake.

[Lil bastard]

I'm confused why you're doing the IMS upgrade on a '99 to begin with.

The early cars (thru '99) don't have catastrophic IMS failure.

Cheers!

[springer123]

I'm not going to do the IMS upgrade. I just thought it was a good idea since they already have the tranny out. I'm only doing the RMS/IMS gasket replacement.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

I'm confused why you're doing the IMS upgrade on a '99 to begin with.

The early cars (thru '99) don't have catastrophic IMS failure.

Apparently the 97-99's are not immune:

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18280

[stateofidleness]

I noticed today that I had a drop of oil on the mating area between engine and trans today while changing the oil. I have a '00 non-S Tip. I see all the talk about "while you're in there, do the IMS", but I've never seen anyone post what that actually ends up costing.

what does having the RMS cost to get repaired (it's just a gasket right?) and what's it cost to have the "IMS done" (not really sure what "gets done" on this one)

thanks fellas.

[Lil bastard]

Originally Posted by springer123

Hello. I'm going through the same issue with my 1999 Boxster. I notice 3-4 drops of oil on the garage floor everytime I take it out for a spin. I'm going to have to take it to the dealer and have it checked out. I hope it's the RMS leaking but I guess it could also be the IMS support cover O ring, or both?

IMS is rarely an issue with the 1st Gen cars (up to and incl. '99). The IMS issue so often discussed here is in the later cars w/ the improved IMS bearing.

A '99 can still have an IMS issue - all mechanical things can break. But it's not really associated with the more common one discussed here.

Cheers!

[Richard E]

Pls post the results after having the dealer look at it. Thx

[2TrunkSteve]

I am tired of worrying about the IMS. I have a similiar story where I found oil seeping from the area of the bell housing and the motor. It wasn't dripping, but clearly I had something in there leaking. Since my 2.5 has 52k miles and the car was in the shop for other reasons, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I am having the clutch, rms and LN Engineering IMS update done. Based on the review of the clutch, I was pretty close to needing it anyways, and the cost to update the bearing and RMS was money well spent on a car I plan to keep.

As a side note, when I pulled my IMS bearing it appeared to be okay, but given all that I read I couldn't resist doing the job while I was there. Odd thing, the mechanic had another Boxster S in the shop at the same time. This car was having similiar work done. The owner decided not to do the IMS update although they replaced the clutch. I'm not sure I understand that thinking.

[clickman]

Originally Posted by 2TrunkSteve

the mechanic had another Boxster S in the shop at the same time. The owner decided not to do the IMS update although they replaced the clutch. I'm not sure I understand that thinking.

He's not reading this forum! Now is that a bad thing or a good thing?

[Richard E]

Did you ever determine where the oil leak was coming from?

[jdiba]

Steve, sadly they probably don't even know about the IMS issue. When I bought
mine in Jan of 09 it was a CPO. It had a slight oil leak. 3 months after I bought it.
I took it to the dealer and they opened it up and it was the RMS leaking. Which was replaced at no charge.

I didn't even know what the hell an IMS was. So needless to say, I didn't have the
bearing replaced at the time. I know what the IMS is now though. Thanks to this
forum and its members. I'll be doing the upgrade at some point this summer as
my CPO warranty expired 2 months ago. I went out and bought an extended
service contract with Fidelity Warranty services thru the dealer I got my S serviced
at in the mean time. I make monthly payments on the contract. I just hope I don't
have the issue before I get the chance to do the upgrade. I REALLY don't wanna
jump thru hoops with Fidelity if it DID happen before the upgrade gets done !

:ah: