Kawpooooowww!!!! IMS Failure
 

On Friday (3/8/19) my IMS bearing in my '03 Box S, at 39,000+/- retired quite suddenly, about 80 miles from home and my mechanic...
I believe I got a little warning by the sound of a slight knock before the all hell broke loose....

So, having said that, I can't afford a new engine, so I looked on line and found some 3.2L for a Box S, and a few 3.4's for Caymans. The prices were for $5k to $6kfor engines at, or just under 40,000 miles.

Any comments from anybody buying an engine from an engine shop with a 2-5 year warranty or 30,000 miles. One shop even offered 5/50,000 on his engines.

I think I need some guidance and would appreciate any ideas...

tim

Sorry for your loss, I had my IMSB fail in my '03 S last July and hope to have my car back with a rebuilt engine this week. Mine was caught early enough that the whole engine wasn't wrecked and it was rebuildable. I decided to have mine rebuilt and also decided to go with LN Nickies and increase my displacement to 3.6 liters, which was the bulk of what took so long. For a 3.2 engine, you need one from an '03 or '04. 2002 and earlier 3.2 engines are 5 chain and won't work in your car. (By won't work, I mean the earlier cars have a different tune, variocam and wiring. Nothing is impossible but it would be very impractical.) You could also use a 3.6 from a 2002 or later 996, but there are some fuel injection system, wiring and other modifications that would have to be done and you would need a tune. The 3.4's may also require some modification or at least a tune. Used engines are a bit of a crapshoot, I would look into the warranty and see what's covered. The warranty probably doesn't cover installation labor or return freight. But what do you need to document to make sure the warranty is in effect? Does the installation have to be done by a qualified shop and what does the shop need to do to make sure your warranty is valid?

If you are willing to take the risk LKQ sells the 3.2 for 3k with low mileage and 1 year warranty.

I priced out several engine options as part of "possible" Boxster maintenance before I bought my car which has IMS fix.

Just curious, how do you know for sure it was the IMS? Did you have it taken apart and inspected, or just assuming because the motor died? No fun either way...

I would go for the 3.4L if you can handle the cost of the install/swap. My 2000S had a cracked cylinder in 2005 shortly after the release of the new Cayman, and the first owner of the car had the entire car overhauled to accept a 3.4L motor ordered from Porsche from the Cayman S.

Having driven both the original 3.2 from a 2000S, a 3.2 from a 2006S, and my current car I'd say this engine is by far the winner.

newb here. is there a specific thread here about what to replace to ensure this does NOT happen? Thanks.

Yup up in the stickies area of this forum :)

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/74445-ims-retrofit-upgrade-products.html

Awesome thank you!

This list, from Pelican, does not include the FVD Brombacher or he EPS roller bearing kit.

Hi Tim, sorry for your loss and hope you find a path forward soon.

Have you done, or do you plan to do, a postmortem to determine the root cause of failure? The IMSB could have caused the failure or it could have been taken out by a different root cause. Understandable if you don’t want to pursue this. There’s really not an upside to confirming the failure mode other than just knowing for sure.

Not "The Solution" from LN/Flat6. Nor the single row Pro from LN. Nor one from Porsche itself now. Nor about another half dozen kits now offered. I forget if it has the RS roller bearing kit.

There used to be only a few, now must be at least a dozen with varying installed base and history. Also varying pricing.

If you see lots of snide comments, it is because many of the old timers here are tired of the IMS subject being batted around with such certainty by the proponents of various kits or approaches.

There are darn few with hundreds of installs under their belt and it is those whose opinions and work I'd trust