Pedros Techno DOF IMS fix?

[thom4782]

IIRC, 3rd generation IMS bearings, i.e., the large single row ones that Porsche began installing in 2006, almost never fail. So why do anything?

[moresquirt]

Originally Posted by thom4782

IIRC, 3rd generation IMS bearings, i.e., the large single row ones that Porsche began installing in 2006, almost never fail. So why do anything?

Almost!!
I am keeping this car for a long time,granted there have not been alot of posts that i can find with problems BUT even Porsche states in its law suit that it is a problem part even the new 06 thru 08 units which have the larger bearing which is great but not the main reason behind why thease bearing are having issues.Listen to Pedros very informative video on the subject and then lets talk turkey.

[thom4782]

If you want to talk turkey, ask the DOF folks to put an actual number on the table of how many service hours or miles one can expect DOF to add to the lifetime of unsealed IMS bearings, especially new ceramic ones. I'm sure the Boxster community would like to know.

[mikefocke]

The concern with any new part is how it will hold up over time. Porsche tried 2 times to correct IMS issues and each time they only knew they failed and just how badly they failed after several years and many millions of owner driven miles. You figure they had test mules but the problems just didn't show up on their test engines.

Even the LN 3rd generation IMS replacement shaft/bearing for the '05.5-'08s has very few examples in use (less than 20 last time I asked) and it had been available for several years.

Decide if you want to be an early adopter or wait till several hundred have several years of user experience before you say "it is tested enough and I haven't seen any bad reports". And maybe wait till the installer has done a dozen?

You are trying to reduce risk...what approach is the least risky?

[Daniel R]

There are people on this forum who are far more mechanically-minded than myself, so I shall reserve all comments on the technical aspect of this dilemma.

I do have considerable experience in assessing risk and reward however. When it comes to insuring an event where the risk is unknown (ie. limited or inaccurate data of failure rates in this case) the only consideration is if it will be a lights-out event or if the cost is manageable. Then one decides if they should self-insure or take out a policy. The trouble in this particular case is none of these "policies" are guaranteed to pay off, sort of like taking home insurance from some guy in the Cayman Islands. Dicey at the best of times and one never knows if it is money well spent or they have been had by a charlatan until it is time to claim on the policy.

In short, if you cannot afford to deal with a blown motor, a few hundred dollars to possibly reduce this risk is PROBABLY money well spent. If you have the attitude of blowing a motor is a blessing in disguise as it will finally give you a reason to go for that 3.6 litre swap then I would be leaving the IMS bearing alone.

[moresquirt]

DOFstory - YouTube

[Alfieg23]

My mechanical experience is limited to periodic maintenance so I respect all those who offer solutions to the dreaded IMS failures. Personally, I have been dealing with Pedro since I purchased my Boxster over a year ago. I have the utmost confidence in Pedro's knowledge and truly believe he would not recommend anything he does not believe in 110%, including using the product or service on his own car which has over 200,000 miles clocked. As such, earlier this week, I had the DOF installed on my car at TuneRS Motorsports here in South Florida. I am very happy with my decision and am confident that I will not have any IMS issues going forward.

[mikefocke]

Daniel, well said.

My attitude was I'll replace it with an engine that has all 20+ failure points addressed because I can afford the down time, the emotional cost and the expense. Risk excites me and failure is familiar in my former profession. So I'd be willing to try lots of new solutions thought to be better in the same engine considering that most of those fixes have been out in the real world for several years on dozens of cars. Not for everyone.

What most of the folks are searching for (those that doesn't fit my profile) is what is the best means of eliminating risk? How to best balance the expense versus probable risk? New with great sounding theory versus well tried? Now or can I wait 10k miles? Oh, and while you have the transmission out, what else do you do that makes sense? How much is all this going to cost me? And how much new risk am I taking on (installer error, ultimately failed theory, random part failure) when I do what I decide to do?

Of course once you have the IMS solved (you think) some other random failure could bite you. Been known to happen.

The installer is enormously important. My wife just had a knee replaced. She searched 6 months to find the one Doctor that all patients with failed knee implants went to for correction. Took 20 minutes less than estimated. Successful. Experience matters inside the engine too whether designing a fix or just installing one.

[Jake Raby]

Ask 10 people and get 10 different answers. Some of us have IMS Retrofit components applied in numbers greater than ten thousand. Others do not.

[mikefocke]

I like your analysis. My thinkingis that you can reduce the Cayman Island factor by choosing an approach that has a track record established by thousands of experiences. Which means, you either live with the OEM odds that Porsche has admitted to (based on 100k plus experiences) or the LN bearing (based on 10k plus experiences). You might possibly do better in the long run with one of the oiled approaches but the statistics aren't there yet (not enough installs, not enough miles) so the odds of doing better really can't be known.

And choose an experienced installer no matter which kit you choose.