Opinions are welcome on IMS issue. ...I know

[paulofto]

Originally Posted by chipmunk

An IMS Guardian is the middle road solution. I fitted one of those to my 03 986. Gave me some piece of mind.

I put on a Guardian when I first bought the car at 72,000 km (45,000 m). Picked it up on Kijiji from a guy in Calgary who never installed it on his 911. I have since done the IMS along with a full clutch job and I put the Guardian back on. I also change oil every 5000 km (3000 m) and cut open the filter running a magnet through it. This may sound like overkill but while I drive I have no thoughts of the bearing toasting my engine. I am now at 95,000 km (59,000 m). I knew when I bought the car that regular vigilant maintenance would not be cheap, but this is my baby and I plan on keeping her for a long time.

[thom4782]

To me, this whole issue comes do to: what do you plan to do when the IMS fails

1. Buy a new car and sell the old as a roller
2. Find a used engine and swap the used one for the failed one
3. Rebuild the failed engine and hope for the best
4. Replace the IMS, change the oil and hope for the best

All four choices involve time and money. Depending on which option you choose should help you decide two things:

1. Whether to replace the IMS before it fails
2. Which of the IMS options to choose

In my case, I installed an IMS Solution when it came time to replace the clutch. I'll never get the cost the Solution back if I sell the car, but the potential search and labor costs of experiencing a premature IMS failure far outweighed the cost of the part.

Thom