Stupidest engine question...EVER

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by Laminarman

I had a PPI done and the dealer who did it said at 49,000 miles and the way it's been maintained it should not be a problem with the IMS.

That is strictly a guess on his part. There is no way to know w/o removing the trans to inspect it before giving a clean bill of health. Now if the previous owner did lots of oil changes and drove it 5K+ mi a yr, then there's a chance you won't have any problems. But it's a crapshoot and I wouldn't put too much stock in a guess.

Late in the M96 run, Porsche put the captive (larger IMS) in. So no way to know which IMS you might have. There's a chance with your car being a 2006, it might be late in the run and have the larger IMS. If you have an M97 engine, you'd know for sure it was the larger one.

Drive it for a while (a yr maybe?), save up some money and have the clutch replaced. Then you can see which version you have. If it's the smaller IMS, replace it.

[Laminarman]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

That is strictly a guess on his part. There is no way to know w/o removing the trans to inspect it before giving a clean bill of health. Now if the previous owner did lots of oil changes and drove it 5K+ mi a yr, then there's a chance you won't have any problems. But it's a crapshoot and I wouldn't put too much stock in a guess.

Late in the M96 run, Porsche put the captive (larger IMS) in. So no way to know which IMS you might have. There's a chance with your car being a 2006, it might be late in the run and have the larger IMS. If you have an M97 engine, you'd know for sure it was the larger one.

Drive it for a while (a yr maybe?), save up some money and have the clutch replaced. Then you can see which version you have. If it's the smaller IMS, replace it.

And if it's the larger??? Just leave it?

[husker boxster]

Yes. They are supposedly more reliable (break at a 1% rate vs 10% - allegedly).

[BoxsterSteve]

Originally Posted by Laminarman

And if it's the larger??? Just leave it?

You don't have much of a choice.
The engine must be removed and stripped and the case must be split to replace the large bearing.