Poll:IMS related engine failure

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by StarFox

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

What was the condition of the old bearing? How many miles? Driving style? Oil change history?

[fivepointnine]

Originally Posted by 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.

how much debris did you see in your filter?

[philintl]

Hi Guys:

Just sold my 1997 Boxster with 254,500 miles on it. Yes that's right 254,500. The car never had any engine, transmission or clutch problems whatsoever and ran as strong as it did when I purschased it in July 2005 with 52,052 miles on it. I put over 202,000 miles on it and only replaced two water pumps and one fuel pump. The water pumps seem to last about 120,000 miles. The fuel pump was replaced at 225,000 miles. The car still had the original engine, transmission and clutch with no work done on these components whatsoever. My car was built in Stuttgart. I strongly endorse 1997 Boxsters. I am surprised to hear that they are subject to intermediate shaft bearing failure as I had heard that only the second series Boxsters from 2000 onwards suffered from these problems whereas the 2.5 liters had sleeving issues namely the 1998 models built in Finland. I am strongly considering purchasing another 1997. What can anyone tell me about 1997 shaft bearing failures. Thanks.

[Overdrive]

Philintl, I don't think it's really specific to any model years. For all we know the quality and tolerances of the parts of the Boxster that came down the assembly line right after yours blew its engine in 6 months. But that's part of the problem, too...we will never really know how serious the problem is or was from year to year in the first two Boxster generations.

As for the slipped sleeves, porous blocks, and those other issues that happened to early cars, I believe that was only on early 1997 models. It's not an exact science by any means, but I'd say look for a car that was built in late 1997 that would still be a 97 model (around August/97), or get a very late 97 build which is most likely an early 98.

Do you happen to know what the build date was on the placard on your car's driver's side door jamb? It would be very interesting to find out that yours was a very late 96 or early 97 build and survived as well as it did.

[Icanfixit]

2001 Boxster tiptronic 90,000 miles no problem with IMS bearing. Engine still doesn't leak. Nothing leaks on this car. No spots on garage floor, ever.

[Orville104]

I recently purchased an '03 with 52K. The engine failed at 14k and was totally replaced by Porsche under warranty with a new engine. My question is this...were IMS upgrades/improvements made on the new engines that Porsche installed under warranty?

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by Orville104

I recently purchased an '03 with 52K. The engine failed at 14k and was totally replaced by Porsche under warranty with a new engine. My question is this...were IMS upgrades/improvements made on the new engines that Porsche installed under warranty?

What was the failure?

[heliguy]

Add me to the poll...2003 Boxster S, 88k miles, no oil leaks, clutch is tight, never a hint of as problem.

[Orville104]

I was only told that the engine froze/ failed. No further exolanation was given and unfortunately, I did not ask....I am assuming it was the IMS.

[jdiba]

Did you purchase it from a Porsche dealership ? If so, they could help. If not, would providing Porsche
the VIN # be of any help ? I'm guessing here....

[Brockmeister]

My car is at the shop as we speak. It's a '99 with 72k on the clock. I decided to do the clutch, rms,ims fix because it has been vibrating a little more lately. Good thing I did.
Turns out, the clutch was on it's last legs. It had worn through the rivets and the flywheel was scored. There was also play in the twisting of the flywheel. Flywheel was toast.
The RMS seal was still good with no leaking.
the IMS was on it;s last legs as well. It was loose and had only a few miles left on it. had I kept driving it until the clutch wore down to nothing, I would have had been making payments on one very expensive lawn ornament.
I hasd planned to use the tax money to do this and I'm glad that I made the right decision!
13yo car w/72k ? IDK, but I'm glad this forum exists, or else I would be out even more bucks.:dance:

[spdylw986]

Replaced mine last week. IMS, RMS, Clutch, Flywheel. IMS was in great shape.

2002 with 32,000 miles

[failedims]

Originally Posted by Orville104

I recently purchased an '03 with 52K. The engine failed at 14k and was totally replaced by Porsche under warranty with a new engine. My question is this...were IMS upgrades/improvements made on the new engines that Porsche installed under warranty?

How did you get the car repaired? was it under warranty or you talked to Porsche?
I have a '03 Boxster with a failed ims on it. just 66k miles. i brought it to service and they asked for 10k$ just for disassembly- assembly.

Thanks.

[zzlion]

Looking at buying a 2003 Boxster S with 16k miles. Would any one care to expand on this IMS issue I'm reading about? How does one check on this prior to purchase and is this a preventable issue?

[2003S]

Originally Posted by zzlion

Looking at buying a 2003 Boxster S with 16k miles. Would any one care to expand on this IMS issue I'm reading about? How does one check on this prior to purchase and is this a preventable issue?

Pedro has a very nice write up on the issue:
Kaboom!

Don't let it scare you away; a small number of the cars ever have the problem, and there are now aftermarket solutions to detect it before it destroys your engine, and superior bearings with which you can replace the stock one.

[mikefocke]

The best source of information is the web site at LNengineering.

Any rotating bearing wears. Some IMS bearings have gone 255k miles, some 10k.

Will a Pre-Purchase Inspection detect a failing bearing? Depends on who is doing it. Someone with the right software (late revision of Durametric..maybe PST2, PIWIS) can detect camshaft deviation which is a common early warning sign. One of those cases where a great PPI is worth every bit of what you'll pay, a lousy one worth very little. Ask if they do a camshaft deviation test, if they don't, go elsewhere.

Can it be prevented? Reduce probability by using a good oil, changing it much more frequently than Porsche calls for, drive it every day and keep the revs up. To prevent it, the best known commonly available approach is to replace the bearing with one that uses a different lubrication technique and a better bearing (when you do the clutch, do the RMS and the IMS). There are detection kits available (flat6engineering) but if the buzzer goes off, you still have to replace the bearing.

Your 2003 probably has the least desirable bearing of the 3 Porsche used.

The good news is that, even with all the above, the probability of failure in any one car is very low.

Owned 2, loved 'em both. As close to zero problems over 6 years as any of the 40 cars I've ever owned.

[zzlion]

to mikefocke and 2003S thanks for the feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

[SoK]

My cars been fantastic in the nearly 2 years I've owned it. I'm extremely pleased with the reliability so far for a car this age. All I've done is standard maintainance and recharged the AC.

When I bought it in 2010, I did have the dealer replace the RMS and all the other seals/gaskets throughout the motor and transmission. While doing this, they inspected all the engine components and gave it a clean bill of health.

I hope I don't have any IMS issues, but it's a daily driver (work/weekends, rain/shine), I change the oil every 5k with Mobile 1 and stretch it's legs a couple times a month. I think I'll be fine. I plan on replacing the t-stat, AOS and waterpump this coming spring as preventative maintainance. After that, I'm confident I won't have to do ANYTHING to the car until 100k (I'm at 58k now).

It's been an excellent experience so far and I'm glad I didn't let the horror stories on this site scare me away. I will buy another Porsche in the next 2 years (Cayenne S). Wish I had a S model now...

[firstporsche]

Here's another 2002 Boxster without a problem. 2nd owner, 60000+ miles.

When I took the car in for its 60K service, my mechanic (a Porsche & German car specialist) mentioned the IMS issue to me and suggested I consider a retrofit. So, I'm researching and investigating. Right now, the poll results look pretty good for '02

[temporarychicken]

I have just bought an early 2003 facelift Boxster s. The car was born with clear lights. I'm not sure of the build date but some of the plastic parts on the coolant bottle are date stamped with late 2002. The car is steptronic auto.

It has covered 112000 miles. I got it 3 weeks ago but I have done about 600 of these already at mostly 3000rpm due to a sudden spell of good weather in the UK.
The previous owner had the car in his possession for just over a year and only did just over 1 k that year. It must have therefore been on 110000 back in 2011.

The service history is good, but with no evidence that the gearbox has ever been off.

The car drives beautifully. Idle sounds clean and clear, with no oil drips underneath. I have a very sensitive ear for these sorts of things. I once had a triumph Stag which sheared the teeth of the jack shaft (same thing as IMS) on the M25 ands I can still remember the sound - these things leave you with a paranoia.

I feel my car is at risk from the IMS issue so even though the oil is only 2000 miles old I think I will put my own oil in this weekend and change the oil filter. Oil recommendations from UK owners will be most welcome.

This may seem excessive but it will enable me to perform a detailed scientific ferrous-contamination analysis on the filter cartridge, ie sitting it on some kitchen roll, letting it drain, holding it to the sun and checking for sparkly bits.

If it passes this rigorous test with no shining or sparkling, then my plan is to drive the carfor another 5k and then repeat the above.

Is this sane, or not?