Poll:IMS related engine failure

[MikenOH]

check the other threads on this topic on the forum, in particular the posts of Jake Raby--an interesting read.

There have been suggestions that more frequent oil changes may help as well as not lugging the engine at low RPM

From what I understand, if the failure is going to happen to your car, there is nothing you can do to prevent it, short of taking the engine apart and putting in a revise bearing assembly along the lines of what Jake has come up with.

The question that has not been answered is why all boxsters with these particular bearing assemblies don't fail in the same relative time frame--say 30-60K miles. It could be due to driving, maintenance habits or that the bearing supplier has terrible QC and these are random failures due to the luck of the draw as which bear goes in your car.

In other words, no one knows for sure outside of Porsche and they aren't talking.

[turbo23dog]

I was at a local independent shop specializing in Pcars this past Thursday to pick up some tune up parts. It seems they just replaced a 3.4L engine from a 2002 996 due to IMS failure and the old engine was in a corner of the shop sitting on the pallet the new engine had arrived on.

The tech showed me the actual broken end of the Intermediate Main Shaft. I was able to hold the broken end of the shaft in my hand and it still had the "nut" on the end of it. To my untrained eye, it looked like the nut was over tightened and the stress over time caused the metal to fatigue and the shaft seperated at its weakest point. The tech didn't think so. He did think that the failure patten was random and offered that maybe random batches of the shafts were defective from the factory that supplies the shafts (something gone wrong with the forging process), meaning that its a total crapshoot to which IMS your engine got at the time it was assembled.

Again, no science behind this, just pure speculation, but interesting nontheless.

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by turbo23dog

I was at a local independent shop specializing in Pcars this past Thursday to pick up some tune up parts. It seems they just replaced a 3.4L engine from a 2002 996 due to IMS failure and the old engine was in a corner of the shop sitting on the pallet the new engine had arrived on.

The tech showed me the actual broken end of the Intermediate Main Shaft. I was able to hold the broken end of the shaft in my hand and it still had the "nut" on the end of it. To my untrained eye, it looked like the nut was over tightened and the stress over time caused the metal to fatigue and the shaft seperated at its weakest point. The tech didn't think so. He did think that the failure patten was random and offered that maybe random batches of the shafts were defective from the factory that supplies the shafts (something gone wrong with the forging process), meaning that its a total crapshoot to which IMS your engine got at the time it was assembled.

Again, no science behind this, just pure speculation, but interesting nontheless.

Interesting. You would think the factory could have sorted this out by now?

[Jake Raby]

Here is the answer to the IMS issue.

Porsche could have done this, but it would have cost them a couple of Nickels per engine.

Read about it next month in Excellence L:-)

Billet double row arrangement on the left, stock early on the right.. Every aspect of the billet arrangement is bigger and stronger. The IMS it's self must be modified for our newest generation to be used, the one pictured is Generation II, Gen III is now in service.

[stephen wilson]

I've "heard" that late '05 and later Boxsters have an improved design, is there any truth to that? How much would it cost to preemptively install your upgraded part? Since It virtually requires a rebuild of the engine, do you provide a "core charge" for the exchange of a good running engine?
Thanks,
Steve

[Jake Raby]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

I've "heard" that late '05 and later Boxsters have an improved design, is there any truth to that? How much would it cost to preemptively install your upgraded part? Since It virtually requires a rebuild of the engine, do you provide a "core charge" for the exchange of a good running engine?
Thanks,
Steve

The upgraded IMS bearing and IMS cost 895.00 as a unit..

BUT the engine must be disassembled completely and at the same time we apply Nikisil plated cylinders to avoid the D chunk failures and apply our other upgrade components.

Good ruunnings have the same core value to us as those that have already failed, because its just a matter of time till the inevitable occurs.

[stephen wilson]

I guess my question is, I don't see prices for rebuilds on your site, just complete engines. I was looking for the cost of rebuilding/upgrading an existing engine, presumably less expensive than a complete engine.
Steve

[bonesy]

Originally Posted by turbo23dog

I was at a local independent shop specializing in Pcars this past Thursday to pick up some tune up parts. It seems they just replaced a 3.4L engine from a 2002 996 due to IMS failure and the old engine was in a corner of the shop sitting on the pallet the new engine had arrived on.

The tech showed me the actual broken end of the Intermediate Main Shaft. I was able to hold the broken end of the shaft in my hand and it still had the "nut" on the end of it. To my untrained eye, it looked like the nut was over tightened and the stress over time caused the metal to fatigue and the shaft seperated at its weakest point. The tech didn't think so. He did think that the failure patten was random and offered that maybe random batches of the shafts were defective from the factory that supplies the shafts (something gone wrong with the forging process), meaning that its a total crapshoot to which IMS your engine got at the time it was assembled.

Again, no science behind this, just pure speculation, but interesting nontheless.

If this was the case there would be a pattern to the failures and people would see this through engine numbers & build dates?

[pjq]

yes 2004 ims failure engine replacement/complete rebuild