Poll:IMS related engine failure

[recycledsixtie]

guardian installed by the local indy shop. I am very sorry to hear about the ims failures on this thread. My heart goes out to you. I took the cheapest way out with this install and if the ims guard prevents the failure of the engine then it has achieved its job. If I get the warning of an impending ims fail, then I can save $$$$$. A less than $1000 prevention for a new engine is worth it to me.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by MikenOH

How often do you buzz it?

If you mean what I think you mean I'm pretty sure his answer would be "never" since he mentioned that he "babied" it.

[silverboxter]

Car was never laid up...i drove it daily. Ninety miles a day / 5 days a week. Changed the oil every 5k miles. As for Buzzing....I never raced and never red-lined. To me, this is being babied.

Like I said, having 129k miles I figured I was beyond the IMS failure "window". My understanding was that the IMS failed early on.

[MikenOH]

Originally Posted by silverboxter

Car was never laid up...i drove it daily. Ninety miles a day / 5 days a week. Changed the oil every 5k miles. As for Buzzing....I never raced and never red-lined. To me, this is being babied.

Like I said, having 129k miles I figured I was beyond the IMS failure "window". My understanding was that the IMS failed early on.

M1-0W-40 oil or something else?

Sounds like you did all the right things--driven daily/5-6k oil changes--and it still failed.

[silverboxter]

used mobil. followed maint schedule religiously. don't get me wrong...i love my box. i just find it hard to believe that it happened to me. i could understand if it happened to a garage queen or any other not well maintained vehicle. i followed all the rules and still got screwed. i still have a smile on my face when i drive my box...just don't ask me about the IMS!

[Overdrive]

Silverboxter, did you ever drive the car in a spirited way? I know you said you never redlined it, but did it ever see any RPMs approaching the redline? That could be a part of the problem. I'm not talking about beating on the car, but I am talking about putting it through its paces and getting a good, heavy-breathing run once in a while. I see that as a part of the rules to follow, too. If the car never saw high rpms, despite being daily driven and well maintained (hat tip to you there on both counts), that has been another suspected factor in the failure of the IMS and other areas of the engine.

[Brucelee]

What is the theory/explanation behind the "spirited driving" approach? Hwo would this tend to reduce one's chances of a defecting engineering issue such as the IMS?

[mikefocke]

The "spirited" theory arose, IIRC, from comments by Jake early in the "IMS-is-a-problem" history when he observed that frequently driven and spiritedly driven cars seemed to have less IMS failure problems.

My guess is that frequently and spirited result in warm oil being splashed at higher temps and pressures, less condensation in the oil or perhaps the inner seal is kept more flexible/effective.

Don't know if he still feels the same way nor do I know of any statistical study on the subject.

[silverboxter]

i usally never rpm'd beyond 5,500. may have hit 6k once or twice. the fastest i ever drove was the one time that i hit 127mph. don't really understand how "spirited" driving affects the IMS issue. would redlining have kept this from happening?...don't see how. i don't want to scare anybody out there. the fact is that i have my base box running and i have my wife's 02 S running. the last thing i want to do is to start a string that states that all p-cars have an IMS waiting to happen. this would drop the price on these cars if i ever thought of selling them...which i don't.

i'm just telling you what happened to me. sad story....but i still love my box!

[fivepointnine]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

The "spirited" theory arose, IIRC, from comments by Jake early in the "IMS-is-a-problem" history when he observed that frequently driven and spiritedly driven cars seemed to have less IMS failure problems.

My guess is that frequently and spirited result in warm oil being splashed at higher temps and pressures, less condensation in the oil or perhaps the inner seal is kept more flexible/effective.

Don't know if he still feels the same way nor do I know of any statistical study on the subject.

its a good theory, more RPM's= hotter oil (condensation being burned off) and higher oil pressure (oil getting pushed into all those little crevices)

I try and keep my RPM's above 3k as much as possible and have run it to the rev limiter a few times in 1st and 2nd

but Im still planning on doing the IMS upgrade with my tax return this winter/spring

[fivepointnine]

so have we ever determined if the single row 02-up bearing is any better?

[Brucelee]

The theory is not sound in my opinion. Assuming you run the engine to full operating temp, the oil temp is 220-250, or higher if you sit in traffice. How much hotter does the engine oil have to be to somehow lube the IMS more effectively?

If anything, a seal or bearing that is poorly designed and grenades would tend to do so MORE at higher RPMs. That is why race engines often grenade, as they are pused to the limits of their engineering tolerances.

[mts]

Originally Posted by fivepointnine

so have we ever determined if the single row 02-up bearing is any better?

I don't think I've heard anything like that definitive from Jake, but a quick search of this forum would indicate the 02-up bearings fail just as much (my 2004 included).

[feelyx]

The bearing that was used is the same one in a 4" electric forklift wheel, bearing #6204 2rs. The issue we had yrs ago with the manufactures was the lack of grease in the bearings. It wasn't every bearing, just a few out of a group of 100. They would fail within a week of install. Once we decided to repack the bearing with high temp red grease all problems stopped.

Just a side note S6204 2rs is the ceramic bearing, 5204 2rs is the double row bearing and I still haven't found the double row ceramic yet. But I don't think the double row was or is a good idea (personal opinion) because the they are actually weaker do to the fact that they can't load as many bearings in it. bearings can be found here Ball Bearings:Miniature bearings:Ceramic Bearings:Bearing

I'm doing my clutch next month and have an idea I can do this bearing project for less than $150 out the door. I will be using this bearing 6204 2nse and leaving the seals on after repacking it with the high temp grease.

[986_inquiry]

I'm pretty surprised to see so little failures. I just bought my 98 Boxster yesterday and had always assumed IMS was just something I would need to replace ASAP. I still plan on replacing it but maybe I'll put it off a little while =

[StarFox]

I have a 01 Boxster S
Just replaced my IMS last week....pain the arse!

[dennis]

Do we have model year for sure, where the IMS has been addressed? Is it safe to say '10 and up are immune? I would seriously consider buying a newer one in a few yr is that is the case

[Overdrive]

From Pedro's site:

"...Curiously, the latest engines (A19) on 2009 and newer cars were completely redesigned to not have an intermediate shaft..."

Here is the source:
Kaboom!

You'll find that right before Pedro starts talking about D-chunk, about halfway down the page.

[dennis]

Thanks overdrive. I know I am jinxing myself, but i dont feel it is an epidemic by any means

[FlyBoy767]

Just to add to the discussion - '98 Boxster Tiptronic 58k miles - mechanic says my IMS bearing was the worst he'd seen without a catastrophic failure. I found metal and black seal pieces in oil filter canister and stopped driving the car. The 911 in the shop wasn't so lucky. He drove to the shop and half way there his engine blew. I wouldn't consider my Boxster a "garage queen" but with 13 years and only 58k it hasn't had that much usage which definitely puts it in the low usage IMS bearing failure category.