IMS Guardian

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by jb92563

I'm a little sceptical that the IMS Guardian will give enough, or any advance notice of an IMS failure.

Seems that the Guardian needs to have metal bridging the two magnetic contacts
to trip the alarm but in my reading of all the reported failures the bearing disintegrated rapidly with little or no other audible symptoms.

Perhaps if enough small shards of the bearing cage came off over time, some pieces might bridge the contacts and stick to the magnets in theory.

Bigger pieces and bearing balls might settle elsewhere and never make it past the Guardian to get captured by its magnets.

I suppose an acumulation of finer particles might form a bridge as captured by the magnets over time if the failure is a slow progressive deterioration.

Seems like you might only be getting a marginal improved chance of catching a failure in progress.

I think the guardian may produce a false sense of security rather than a reliable method of IMS failure avoidance.

I think the money is better spent simply replacing the bearing since it might only cost you another $700 to actually remedy the problem entirely.

I expect when that Guardian does Alert, I would think you best stop immediately and get a tow to your garage (say $200 or more). Then a diagnosis, $200+, so now we are talking only $300 more to make a schduled garage appointment rather than driving till it nearly fails and being stuck out somewhere.

Its just my opinion of course but I have not seen statistics showing how many Guardians out there total, how many grenaded engines that had a Guardian but could not Alert in time to avoid the failure, and how many have Alerted and saved an engine.

Are there numbers to back up the performance of the Guardian?

If you had ever seen an M96 that was "caught" just as the IMS was near death, but had not totally failed yet, you would be appalled by the amounts of ferrous debris found in the sump and oil filter. These things start grinding themselves to death long before the timing jumps, so there is more than enough metal to trip the sensor.

You might want to refer your question on "numbers" to Jake at Flat Six, they are the ones that "get the call" when these things go into alert, so he would be the one to best address that.

[thstone]

This was the source of engine failure in my friend's spec boxster. This can happen at ANY time - you can check the oil pickup today and have this happen next month. No telling when the sealant is going to come off.

[ohioboxster]

I went a different route. I'm sporting an Anti-IMS Voodoo T-shirt, seems to be working very well so far.

[MikenOH]

Originally Posted by ohioboxster

I went a different route. I'm sporting an Anti-IMS Voodoo T-shirt, seems to be working very well so far.

Matt:
That shirt only works for GT3 and 996/997 TT owners . BTW, don't forget about nelsons in Mid-july.

[mikefocke]

Also there is a low cost version of the guardian coming out in a few months.


The Guardian doesn't protect your engine from failure, just gives you a much better chance of only having to do the IMS and oil pan cleaning because you detected the failure early so you probably won't have to pay the big $ for an engine rebuild.

With the Guardian, you can still have an IMS bearing failure...it doesn't reduce the chance a bit.

[jaykay]

Chip detectors have been widely used in aerospace applications where advanced warning of an impending failure is a matter of life or death; you can't just pull over.

Since their use was maintained, I would think there has been sufficient lead time to failure experience for the concept....saving man and machine.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Chip detectors have been widely used in aerospace applications where advanced warning of an impending failure is a matter of life or death; you can't just pull over.

Since there use was maintained, I would think there has been sufficient lead time to failure experience for the concept....saving man and machine.

Absolutely agree. If this were a method that somehow just detected impending failure of the IMS alone, I would agree with the above post that just putting in the ceramic/hardened replacement bearing makes more financial sense, and I argued this point before Jake expained the operation of the device.

However, now that we understand that it's a steel debris detection device, which can warn of any number of potential engine health issues, I'm totally on board. In fact, this should be a device on EVERY car. Flat-6 should work on wider marketing, IMO, it could be his retirement ticket.

[Jake Raby]

Flat-6 should work on wider marketing, IMO, it could be his retirement ticket.

Done. The IMSG Jr. is actually the Porsche version of the "Engine Guardian" that is being marketed for many other cars and fleet vehicles. The application is not just engines, but also gearboxes and rear gear applications.

The universal version literally plugs directly into the dash, requires no wiring other than a single wire to the MCD sensor and can go into anything. Our "Jr." set up hasn't taken so long to design just for the Porsche application, a lot of that time was spent making the system fit anything and everything with nothing more than an application specific drain plug being necessary.

[davedeck]

Shouldn't there be a class action suit against Porsche on this IMS failure or report to NHSTA? If they got excited about Lexus floormats, can yyou imagine what would happen on this? LOL

[mikefocke]

MCD Sensor? What is MCD?

[Jake Raby]

Magnetic Chip Detector- MCD is the acronym for the term that is most used in the aviation world for these sensors.

[mikefocke]

Thanks Jake ... added MCD to the acronyms list I maintain here.

[jb92563]

Jake, can you help with statistics on the Guardian?

How many sold
How many engine saves
How many that could not save the engine in time.

Trying to decide whether I should put one in or wait for a 60K service in another
10K miles and just do the LN Bearing.

[firstporsche]

Love your acronyms list!
Thanks for it.

[rdass623]

i am not familiar with the guardian system, but having been an aviation mechanic (helicopter) for 8 years, I know the effectiveness of a chip detector. it is mandatory on all the gearboxes and engines I worked on in the army. it saves lives and the equipment. also there was an extensive oil testing program for the detection of non ferrous metals. the fact there is an available chip detector, is a great preventative measure to avoid catastrophic engine failure. anyone who has a link to the various systems available, please post it. I am new to the Porsche community, but have been known to play with my toys, and push systems to failure once or twice before.

thanx,
ron

[BFeller]

Here is the link:

IMS Guardian

I ordered mine within days of getting of a Boxster. Waiting on delivery and then doing the install myself.