IMS Replacement... The Jager Saga
 

986 Forum team,
I’m not sure how many pictures I can add in a single post, or how many pictures can be put on a thread, most likely I will find out the hard way. If you’re like me I really enjoy looking at the pictures from others on this site. I would like to share my project with the forum; hopefully a few folks will cheer me on while others will give me a hard time, and yet I know others will help if I run into problems. Brucelee please don’t get too upset if I use-up all the hard drive space on the server. : 0

A post from a well know member of this forum a few weeks ago, in response to a question I had on, “what’s the highest mileage you have seen on a Boxster?” (BTW I have over 210,000 miles on my car now) got me out of my chair to dust-off the old torque wrenches. My 2001 Boxster has been a great car, the best car I have ever owned, but I was reminded, indirectly, that I should take care of a known possible issue, and not to ignore its faithful wearing of parts.

While digging deep into the guts of my 986 I will replace the flywheel, clutch, rear main seal, O2 sensors, and motor mount.

I like these eye protectors.

Uncovered the motor...

Drained the oil and replaced plug with LN Engineering (Bigfoot) magnetic plug. Notice the socket size difference between new LN Engineering plug (on the left) and the original plug, 10mm versus 8mm.

Dropped the pan and found about 10 pounds of dirt and gravel. I had to use a shovel to find the top surface of the pan.

30 minutes later after using wheel cleaner and a brush.

Might replace this someday, but not on this project.

Transmission is next

I don’t think I have ever done a double take while working under a car but WTF is this? I don’t have that tool! A 10mm triple square near the bottom of the transmission on the driver’s side.. I did not catch this in the instructions. Dang it, now I had to find this socket.

Not a single store in town had triple square bits/sockets. So I called Snap On to see if he was coming my way today… Yes!

Now that I have a full set of triple square sockets/bits I was ready to hit it again.

Transmission is down, clutch and flywheel removed. Almost down to the rivets on the clutch plate.

Looks like a single row IMS bearing. Maybe with this RMS leak it was providing the IMS bearing additional lubrication. : )

Locked the crank at TDC.

Locked the cam.

Removing the RMS… This was easy; drilled a couple of holes and installed screws. I didn’t have to pull on the screw on the left side, probably because of the mileage on this seal.

I enjoyed the posts! Use .jpg and Bruce's server won't be so full :) I assume there is more to come.

Installing new RMS… I used a plastic pipe cap from the local hardware store plumbing department. This plastic cap worked great and was a lot less expensive than the Porsche tool for this job.

Yep, more to come. I will see how jpg look.

Time to remove the chain tensioners and IMS bearing... This bearing was getting lots of oil.

For added security, to help prevent the IMS shaft from moving, I inserted set screws. I didn’t tighten these too much.

Removed the bearing clip.

Time to remove IMS bearing using LN Engineering tool kit.

I put grease under the tool nut (nut box end wrench is on) and turned the box end wrench keeping the end of tool (ratchet end) from turning.

Out came the old bearing, it was very easy to remove.

A little movement of the bolt, unlike the new bearing that has no movement at all. Also spinning the bearing was stiff… Not as smooth as the new LN Engineering bearing.

This is a cool picture focused down the IMS, looks like the bearing was getting oil… Good sign.

Per LN Engineering instructions put into the freezer. When cold, install.
I took measurements during the freezer time:
Initial diameter: 47.00 mm or 1.8500 inches
After 1 hour: 46.99 mm or 1.8495 inches
After 2 hours: 46.97 or 1.8490 inches
After 3 hours: 46.97 or 1.8490 inches

Looks like two hours in the freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit is enough time.

In with the new IMS bearing. Installing the bearing is not easy; you don’t want to be laying on your back or stomach while trying to install the bearing. The car needs to be high enough so you can at least sit or stand while doing this task. No beer drinking during this task!! I had a heck of a time lining-up the bearing with the IMS shaft (no I was not drinking beer). The trick was to wiggle it back and forth, while trying to insert it, and feel it slip-in the shaft a little before hitting the insert tool with a “dead blow” hammer.

Last task for the day was the installation of the flywheel... Sure looks good. I marked the bolts with black marker after first step torque to 25 Newton Meters and then turning another 120 degrees.

Awesome thread and pics!! I was going to attempt this in my garage as well, great work! Must be a huge sense of accomplishment :)

Great thread, any idea if the old clutch was the original?

Thanks,
~ Nick

It was not the original clutch, but the flywheel was original.

Jager

Super post! Really enjoyed it. Excellent job!

Now, the real question is why this bearing was generally ok (not perfect but still working fine) after 210,000 miles when others fail at 1/10th of that mileage?

Jäger you should get an award for this post ...fantastic work

....and you were using jack stands!?!

One of the best threads
 

One of the best threads I've seen on here. Man, I've learned so much about my
car from you guys.

:cheers:

Clarity of pictures is excellent, enjoyed the read. I have been reading for some time about how to do this and your selection of steps to show was excellent, the nitty gritty steps I'll figure out as I get to them. Enjoy the next 200k miles!

Excellent. Do you have a professional background in auto repair?

I just 1-upgraded my exhaust (Fabspeed), the 2-MAF and 3-AOS went kaput, 4-front shocks had to replaced, 5-front wheels straightened and refinished, 6-new tires (B'stones), 7-new brake pads went in, 8-replaced the ignition switch.....10K miles ago I had to do the 9-alternator and 10-starter, 11-O2 Sensors, 13- clutch, 14-flywheel and the 15-LN IMS unit. :cheers:

I finished the project late this afternoon, including new motor mount installation. I also recorded some data that I am currently looking at.
The transmission installation was fairly straight forward. The trickiest part was installing the clutch slave cylinder located on the top side of the transmission. I have read other posts where guys had a hard time installing this. My trick was to install it before bolting the transmission to the motor. That way you don’t have the full load of the clutch pushing on the fork, pushing against the slave cylinder piston. The bolt holding the slave cylinder was still a challenge but got it in a lot easier than if the transmission was bolted-up.
See the bolt in the attached photo - red circle.

Installed new O2 sensors, the front sensors have a shorter cable than the sensor behind the catalytic converter.

Do you think I needed a new motor mount??

Pan back on... Sure looks a lot different cleaned-up.