Poll:IMS related engine failure

[poorsche1]

01 boxster S 42K miles.
I was replacing the rms last week and had mentioned to a buddy that i wanted to check the ims bearing to see if it was going bad when he, thinking that he was lending a hand removed the flange on the ims bearing before i had locked it in tdc and lossened the tensioners now the bearing is wedged around 2 oclock in the hole . called jack raby on friday and he said to get it retimed. so i have been looking for a porsche guru with the proper tools to come to my house where the car is jacked up and re-time the cams.----So far, Hard to find . --- Today another friend of mine with porsche knowledge but no tools, was over looking at the project and mentioned that he did not think it would need re-timing. so i am posting a picture of what the bearing looks like now with the flange off and still in tension.
I was thinking if i can make a tool out of nylon material in my shop to fit in the inside of the bearing, the outside would be slightly off-center then rotate the tool untill the bearing is centered, then lock the tdc and loosen the tensioners.
now the question is (hopefully jack reads this and can respond) will that put the cams back to where they were before the flange was removed or am i still screwed? and need it re-timed?
by the way it is a double bearing made by NSK, since the bearing is exposed i popped the seal off to see what it looks like inside, i found no grease but it had oil that seeped out. The bearing feels solid and the balls look shiny and not pitted, the oil that was in it was not dirty (i run amsiol 10-40 high zinc) if i leave the seal off to allow the oil to lubricate it freely will it be ok for service? or will it remain a high risk

[seningen]

Originally Posted by poorsche1

01 boxster S 42K miles.
I was replacing the rms last week and had mentioned to a buddy that i wanted to check the ims bearing to see if it was going bad when he, thinking that he was lending a hand removed the flange on the ims bearing before i had locked it in tdc and lossened the tensioners now the bearing is wedged around 2 oclock in the hole . called jack raby on friday and he said to get it retimed. so i have been looking for a porsche guru with the proper tools to come to my house where the car is jacked up and re-time the cams.----So far, Hard to find . --- Today another friend of mine with porsche knowledge but no tools, was over looking at the project and mentioned that he did not think it would need re-timing. so i am posting a picture of what the bearing looks like now with the flange off and still in tension.
I was thinking if i can make a tool out of nylon material in my shop to fit in the inside of the bearing, the outside would be slightly off-center then rotate the tool untill the bearing is centered, then lock the tdc and loosen the tensioners.
now the question is (hopefully jack reads this and can respond) will that put the cams back to where they were before the flange was removed or am i still screwed? and need it re-timed?
by the way it is a double bearing made by NSK, since the bearing is exposed i popped the seal off to see what it looks like inside, i found no grease but it had oil that seeped out. The bearing feels solid and the balls look shiny and not pitted, the oil that was in it was not dirty (i run amsiol 10-40 high zinc) if i leave the seal off to allow the oil to lubricate it freely will it be ok for service? or will it remain a high risk

If you were in Austin -- I'd be able to help you :-(

all this info below is from Jake and Charles.
I believe that oil in there takes out the grease - and the steel balls
do not get enough lubrication from the oil and can't take the heat.
the IMSRs use ceramic ball bearings, tougher and more heat tolerant.

Not sure if my mechanic would do a Houston house call.
We've got the tools to retime as well as replace the IMS with
Jake/Charles IMSR.

If you are interested, I can check with him and see if 1) it is possible
2) what it would cost.
Possibly cheaper to have it flat bedded to us.
(I paid <$200 to haul a car from Corpus to Austin 2 weeks ago)

email me mike at lonestarrpm dot com.

thx,

Mike

[Jake Raby]

If the IMS flange was pulled with the tensioners in place, and/or without the crank locked at TDC #1 cylinder the engine must be re-timed.

You must take this seriously as their is virtually zero margin for error.

Even if the engine isn't far enough out of time to experience a piston/valve collision it has definitely seen camshaft timing deviations between the 1-3 and 4-6 banks of cams which will lead to low fuel mileage, poor performance and general lousiness.

This procedure must be done in a progressive manner, the first thing that is accomplished is crank locking for TDC #1 and the second is tensioner removal. If not done in this manner expect issues.

Someone did not heed my warnings last month and ended up with 3 busted pistons.

The IMSR procedure is not difficult, but it must be done in a prescribed manner, which just happens to be the simplest manner as well.

If you found no grease inside the bearing when the seal was removed, then the bearing has worn to stage II and the seal has been compromised, allowing engine oil to wash the grease from it. This would be fine if the seal hadn't been impeding the proper amount of engine oil from finding its way to the balls. To properly inspect the bearing it must be removed and taken apart, worn races can't be seen with the bearing intact. Worn races lead to spalling of the balls which leads to failure.

[Roxy]

2000-2004 (2003) IMS Failure 27000km. 2.7

[eclou]

Originally Posted by poorsche1

01 boxster S 42K miles.
I was replacing the rms last week and had mentioned to a buddy that i wanted to check the ims bearing to see if it was going bad when he, thinking that he was lending a hand removed the flange on the ims bearing before i had locked it in tdc and lossened the tensioners now the bearing is wedged around 2 oclock in the hole . called jack raby on friday and he said to get it retimed. so i have been looking for a porsche guru with the proper tools to come to my house where the car is jacked up and re-time the cams.----So far, Hard to find . --- Today another friend of mine with porsche knowledge but no tools, was over looking at the project and mentioned that he did not think it would need re-timing. so i am posting a picture of what the bearing looks like now with the flange off and still in tension.
I was thinking if i can make a tool out of nylon material in my shop to fit in the inside of the bearing, the outside would be slightly off-center then rotate the tool untill the bearing is centered, then lock the tdc and loosen the tensioners.
now the question is (hopefully jack reads this and can respond) will that put the cams back to where they were before the flange was removed or am i still screwed? and need it re-timed?
by the way it is a double bearing made by NSK, since the bearing is exposed i popped the seal off to see what it looks like inside, i found no grease but it had oil that seeped out. The bearing feels solid and the balls look shiny and not pitted, the oil that was in it was not dirty (i run amsiol 10-40 high zinc) if i leave the seal off to allow the oil to lubricate it freely will it be ok for service? or will it remain a high risk

Call Viking Motorsports 832-250-5995 he can fix this for you. Viking is going to be doing a few of the IMS upgrade kits soon

[markhammo]

I have experienced an IMS failure at only 15,159 miles on my '04 Boxter S special edition 550 Spyder. Out of Warranty, Porsche are holding out with an offer of meeting some of the cost of replacement, but I think it is less than others have been offered, anyone willing to give me details of settlements in similar cases?

[MikenOH]

http://www.ppbb.com/phorum/list.php?19--Pete's Boxster board.

There are several guys on the board with the same model that have had an IMS failure. Send them a PM to discuss.

Since you are in the UK, I suspect you'll be treated differently by Porsche than if you were in the US; it seems like the UK owners get less help with these issues for some unknown reason.

[mts]

I need a way to change my answer. I voted no in the poll last year, but my 2004 Special Edition suffered an IMS failure with 20k miles on it this month.

It looks like a scary ratio of the 2004 SE's have had issues.....not good.

[dennis]

I know I am reaching to try and find some false sense of security here, but out of the peple polled, how many were S models? Seems more S than non.

[stephen wilson]

IMHO, enjoy your car, and stop looking for answers when non are forthcoming. Make your risk decision, and forget about it, ie. warranty? Upgrade IMS bearing? Emergency fund? None of these? I drove myself nuts for 2 years, and still bought one.