Ims bearing failure?
 

Is there a warning sound of impending IMS Bearing failure?

Maybe but by then it may be too late.
Meanwhile open up & inspect the filter and drop the pan. Use a magnet on any ferrous particles. Post photos. Tell us exactly what model you have.

Sure...
 

...it's like the double click sound the WWII depth charges made, one second before they blew up your U-Boat.

Sort of a "click-click BOOM" type of deal.

It's like the last episode of the Sopranos...You never hear the shot that kills you.

So, the answer is no, there are no warning sounds. By the time the engine sounds bad (typically it sounds like nuts and bolts rattling around in a coffee can), its past the warning point and the engine is already self-destructing.

Once it sounds bad and the damage has begun, metal particles have already circulated into every friction surface in the engine and started to cause significant damage. The only next step is to tear it down.

Now, the percentage of IMSB failures is very low so you need to keep the risk in perspective, but once the engine sounds bad, its done.

My car ran perfect
http://i1045.photobucket.com/albums/...psca42642e.jpg

IMS BEARING failure
 

When I drove the car to the mechanic today....it sounded more like a loose heat shield...but did not make the noise the whole time....is it possible that a BEARING is failing on a pulley or a failure of the water pump?

You could have one of many things happening.
A loose exhaust heat shield is easy to find, tap away at the pipes from underneath with a rubber mallet.
You could have a bad water pump, as you mentioned, or a crapping out idler pulley.
You'll have to pull off the serpentine belt to check.
Good luck with your search.

If you really think it is or might be your IMS bearing. STOP DRIVING IT NOW, until you can confirm it one way or the other. Required qualifier attached; IMHO.

Car is at the mechanic....will know tomorrow

Water pump, tensioner bearing and other things up front. Let's hope it is one of them and not the IMS.

Hey guys, how do I know if my boxster ims is fixed? No one in my country has heard of ims failure apparently.

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Without service records that corroborate that fact, there is no other way.

Hi,


If let's say I ask the mechanic to strip open and take a look at the ims? Possible to identify one that has potential to fail from one that is 'cured'?

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IMS Bearing Failure
 

I understood that "cured" is not the correct term...this bearing is an ongoing maintenance issue.

You would be talking about $2K in labor to "take a look" and even them may not be able to tell what is there without extracting it first.

While "cured" is a relative term, ceramic hybrid bearings can run for 75K miles, and the IMS Solution is a permanent fix.

This shop does
 

This shop has been trained by Jake Raby of flat 6,
Certified Installers – IMS Solution

http://www.flatsixonline.com/
Gregory Soh
Flatsix Pte Ltd
176 Sin Ming Drive
#02-16 Sin Ming Autocare
Singapore 575721
Tel: 65521170
Fax: 64557370

Could you kindly explain which ones of the ims solutions is considered a permanent fix?

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I can't answer that question (which ones of the ims solutions is considered a permanent fix?) but I would be more concerned if the car has very few miles and has gone very long periods of time when it was not driven.
Think about the extensive testing Porsche does, and yet the one thing they could not do (in the time frame) was to test an engine that sat for years without use. It is my personal opinion and guess that a high percent of failures is from cars that go long periods without being driven, but I have no numbers so please no flames. It is only my humble opinion.

So this whole fear cloud that hangs over these cars related to the IMSB recently took me by the short hairs.
Drove a couple hundred miles the day before, no issues, no noises. Started it the next day and bad bearing noise - Wholly S!$% it's happening to me!!!
Hold on, hold on, Calm down, get a grip. Listened and it was coming from the front of engine. Took the front engine cover off and very apparent it was in the drive belt system. Removed the belt and all quite. Finally narrowed it down to the Tensioner pulley bearing
So take a breath. Fortunately there are so many other parts that can fail on these cars that you don't have to jump straight to the IMSB