Rms Slight Leak

[Richard E]

I own a 2002 base with a slight rms leak. The car has 52k miles and to the best of
my knowledge it still has the original rms/ims bearing.
My question is, I believe I have a small 3 to 4 drop oil leak (when shut down) coming from the rms. Is this small leak enough to warrant an immediate rms/ims
bearing upgrade? Or can I wait until next winter and pull it all apart and do the upgrade.
Thx in advance for your reply

[laphan]

I had the similar amount of leak on my car last year. I freaked out because of the IMS bearing failure discussion in here. I sent my car to my porsche mechanic get it fixed immediately (cluth, IMS and RMS). When we had it apart, we found out that the leak was from RMS. Hopefully your is from RMS too.
Only if I knew that it was from RMS, I would have waited until my clutch is completely gone before I do something (I did not check my oil filter for metal particles).
My suggestion is try to look for metal debris in you oil filter. If you have no metal particles, I guess it might be safe to assume that it is the RMS that leaks (but check it every time you change your oil).

[clickman]

How do you know it's an RMS leak? It could be IMS. You can't see into that area without separating the tranny from the engine.

Apparently there can be a real bad smell to the oil if it's from the IMS, but I wouldn't bet my engine on it if it doesn't smell bad.

This is a tough situation. You don't know if the IMS is going to go tomorrow or if it's just an annoying leak from the RMS. If it was me, I'd probably sit the car until I could do the IMS, RMS and clutch.

That may not work for you.

[Richard E]

Thx for the reply guys. I thought the ims failure is a result of the rms leaking and washing the grease out of the sealed ims bearing. Am I wrong in thinking that?
The reason I assumed the leak was from the rms was because oil droplets form at the engine/transmission mating surface.
Thx

[tonycarreon]

a failed rms does not mean the ims is gone, and vice versa.

the rms was replaced on my boxster in 2008 before i purchased it, the ims was untouched.

[Richard E]

Does a leaking rms pose a threat to the ims bearing?

[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!

[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?