Sorry! new worried porsche owner

[pitafrog]

Just changed IMS bearing at 76k in my 2002 986 S and all was good. Bearing was fine and the clutch and pressure plate could have went 100k. Installed the DOF modification from TuneRSmotorsports in Florida all went well. Installed stock bearing and now run Mobil 1 0w40 euro blend and motor purrs. Modified stock muffler with four 1/2 inch holes in tips to first chamber and drilled 5 1/2 inch holes through each secondary cat.
HAVE 800 miles on modifications and love the new sound.

[thom4782]

Striker:

Ceramic bearings typically last 2 to 5 times longer than steel ones in poor / harsh operating conditions.

When you do get around to making a decision, the best advice I can offer is to make sure you install an unsealed the bearing. This will eliminate the possibility of oil mixing with grease and compromising lubrication.

[jcb986]

The lawsuit against Porsche, I believe is for engines in the 01-05's. You might want to check the lawsuit settlement program. My 2000 S with a 3.2 liter has 75,000 on it now and purrs like a kitten. To me it appears to be a lot Boxsters with manual transmissions that have had this failure. Not totally sure. I wouldn't worry myself. Enjoy the ride.

Look at what Pedro has for bringing oil to the IMS.

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site/Products.html

[JustEnjoyIt]

If you read all the blogs regarding IMS failure you get the idea that they will blow any second. Who benefits by this "information"? Those who make replacement bearing and Guardian sensors. There are plenty of Boxsters with over 100,000 miles with original engine and seals. I've seen one that had 168,000 miles.

All mechanical parts will eventually fail and Porsche's are driven hard, sometimes, let's face it, by near idiots, but that doesn't mean your well maintained Boxster is a ticking time bomb.

I have heard that Porsche made minor changes to the vehicles after the first year or two and that some parts may have been bad, but if your Boxster has 40,000 miles you are okay. There are lots of reasons an engine can fail, not all problems are related to the IMS.

I know I'll get the hate mail from those who have had very bad luck, or are trying to sell their aftermarket parts, or think they know what they are talking about (but don't), but I say keep it maintained as intended, store it properly, and drive it often. I wouldn't worry about replacing the IMS on every Boxster owned. Porsche isn't perfect, but do you really believe that their engineers can't design or spec a part? Do you think that these tiny outfits have the top talent and research? Do you believe that Porsche would not replace a simple part with a better one if they knew the old design would fail? Common sense would tell you that if the IMS fails often and always, then they would put a newly designed part in. They wouldn't keep using the same flawed part for ten years.

Just enjoy it.

[Swhitcomb]

Originally Posted by JustEnjoyIt

If you read all the blogs regarding IMS failure you get the idea that they will blow any second. Who benefits by this "information"? Those who make replacement bearing and Guardian sensors. There are plenty of Boxsters with over 100,000 miles with original engine and seals. I've seen one that had 168,000 miles.

All mechanical parts will eventually fail and Porsche's are driven hard, sometimes, let's face it, by near idiots, but that doesn't mean your well maintained Boxster is a ticking time bomb.

I have heard that Porsche made minor changes to the vehicles after the first year or two and that some parts may have been bad, but if your Boxster has 40,000 miles you are okay. There are lots of reasons an engine can fail, not all problems are related to the IMS.

I know I'll get the hate mail from those who have had very bad luck, or are trying to sell their aftermarket parts, or think they know what they are talking about (but don't), but I say keep it maintained as intended, store it properly, and drive it often. I wouldn't worry about replacing the IMS on every Boxster owned. Porsche isn't perfect, but do you really believe that their engineers can't design or spec a part? Do you think that these tiny outfits have the top talent and research? Do you believe that Porsche would not replace a simple part with a better one if they knew the old design would fail? Common sense would tell you that if the IMS fails often and always, then they would put a newly designed part in. They wouldn't keep using the same flawed part for ten years.

Just enjoy it.

Thank you. That's what I've been thinking, but needed to hear it from someone else. I bought my Boxster last month, an 02 with 61k on it. Only read about IMS failure afterwards, and have been a little scared by the prospect of the engine imploding on me.

[Jake Raby]

Who benefits by this "information"? Those who make replacement bearing and Guardian sensors.

You mean the same people who developed the retrofit procedure. If it weren't for us and the things that we developed from scratch there would be no "fix" for these issues, just like the days before we created the solutions.

Back then, these threads were a lot different, there was no chance of a preventive and there was no hope for a repair, if your bearing started to fail you needed a new engine, period. So before you start vendor hating, think about that a little bit.

The things we developed were in response to demand and necessity. Nothing was fabricated as a conspiracy, just like no one fabricated the discovery information that created the class action suit.

People came to us to tell us what needed to be done, one of them was Bruce Anderson. If you are new to Porsches, figure out who he is.