IMS bearing

[Nellyans]

LN will not sell just the bearing on its own...I asked only in kit form

[edc]

Unless you are a competent DIY-er then the comparison costs aren't really worth looking at. Unless you are in the trade or have a very strong relationship with a Porsche indy or a confident and competent mechanic then nobody will fit a bag of components for you. It's hard enough to have a garage fit your own self sourced parts already unless you have some kind of relationship established with them. 

[mikefocke]

The LN kits come with matching bearing, other improved parts, a well tested and documented set of instructions and a kit of tools necessary to do the job. By "comes with" I don't mean the tools are included in the price but rather as something you can buy that is known to work. Seen too many sad stories of people who try to follow other directions of the "it is on the web, it must be true" variety and find that something subtle was left out or explained poorly or just misinterpreted. The LN directions have been through multiple revisions based on feedback.

Not saying you can't do a successful IMS swap without all that support. But you are doing the swap to reduce risk ....

Whatever you do, do the pre-installation qualification procedure LN suggests. Look at the filter and pan and only then drop the trans and order your bearing or bearing kit.

[james_ly]

I wouldn't worry about the IMS bearing, my 3.2 is on 137k miles, single row bearing so it shows with regular oil changes higher mileages are possible.

[Nellyans]

19 hours ago, edc said:

Unless you are a competent DIY-er then the comparison costs aren't really worth looking at. Unless you are in the trade or have a very strong relationship with a Porsche indy or a confident and competent mechanic then nobody will fit a bag of components for you. It's hard enough to have a garage fit your own self sourced parts already unless you have some kind of relationship established with them. 

If I had a ramp I would have done myself as it’s just spanner Work locking cams off etc I work in R&D my role is engine build and I also strip and document engine conditions from cold climate and altitude testing.Like I have mentioned I’m lucky my brother in law has his own VAG automotive garage.All done now pleased with outcome.

[Nellyans]

9 hours ago, james_ly said:

I wouldn't worry about the IMS bearing, my 3.2 is on 137k miles, single row bearing so it shows with regular oil changes higher mileages are possible.

I totally agree with you mine also was a single row.I changed my oil every 1000 mile expensive I know but mine never let go and when I removed as I said at 80k was fully intact

[niceone]

Would a 987 2006 be a strong ims bearing 

[mikefocke]

A 2006 would have the best (third generation, large single row) IMS bearing.

[headless]

Mine's a 2006, I bought it for that reason, but apparently it was the changeover year, so you may or may not have the better bearing, I'm gonna take the gamble cos it's supposed to be about between 1% and 6% failure rate, it's one of those things that's been blown out of proportion, I'll take those odds!!!!

[niceone]

OMG  im in a ponder now

[Southy]

26 minutes ago, niceone said:

OMG  im in a ponder now

I've been on this forum for three years now, I've known of two engines let go, one was an IMS - @mrbikerdood 986 2.7 and Jason986s which wasn't the IMS

Considering all the cars we have on here with different mileages, I thinks that speaks for itself.

Buy the car you like, put the key in it start and and enjoy it 

 

[edc]

Here's what an IMS bearing from a 10 year old 115k mile car looks like

 

[spyderman8]

I’ve been involved in Boxster racing now since 2011 and in that time I’ve only actually seen one IMS fail, but there have been others. We generally race MkI and II 986s and obviously they lead a pretty tough life once converted from road cars. Left in storage for weeks, sometime months, then dragged out to receive a sound thrashing. It’s amazing we don’t get more fail.

[EXY]

2 hours ago, spyderman8 said:

I’ve been involved in Boxster racing now since 2011 and in that time I’ve only actually seen one IMS fail, but there have been others. We generally race MkI and II 986s and obviously they lead a pretty tough life once converted from road cars. Left in storage for weeks, sometime months, then dragged out to receive a sound thrashing. It’s amazing we don’t get more fail.

Wasn't it this very fact that lent credence to the 'higher revs' being better for the engine theory?

[spyderman8]

35 minutes ago, EXY said:

Wasn't it this very fact that lent credence to the 'higher revs' being better for the engine theory?

That's certainly one school of thought. I don't know of anyone - either BRSCC or PCGB - who has bothered with an expensive third party bearing replacement, but some do have partnerships with Hartech and have spent considerable sums on their engines.

[maz23]

On 02/10/2017 at 6:02 PM, K.I.T.T. said:

What's this race bearing? Never heard of it.

Allegedly, stock (OE, OEM or aftermarket) replacement dual row IMS bearings are NLA which can make things tricky.

My dual row IMSB was in good fettle after 116k and was left alone. They look at the condition by removing a seal and looking at the ball bearings. The seal was simply replaced.

If a clutch change is imminent and you have a single row IMSB, it may be worth investing in an aftermarket upgrade if you want reassurance. 

Having said that, your engine may fail from something else. Look at what happened to Jason's 3.2.

I'm of the train of thought that the IMSB issue is somewhat blown out of proportion. Then again, I wouldn't purchase a car that I knew was guaranteed to have a single row bearing. I'd look at early cars or a 987.2 / 997.2. That's me though...

One company's Theory is the intermediate shaft when it gets hot expands and pushes the air within Outwood through the bearing & seal .then when cold it creates a vacuum pulling a very small amount of oil back into the tube through the bearing & Seal ,because this oil can't get back out and can't be filtered or replaced with fresh oil as such , after a period of time it  turns rancid then turns to acid. Apparently more on cars that are sitting for awhile and don't get used as often.. So when the tube expands  it pushes small amounts of this oil back through the bearing and seal  multiple times till the oil has washed the Grease out the bearing and this is when they fail just because the bearings sits partially submerged in oil doesn't mean it's getting lubricated as when spinning at speed the  oil is forced away from the bearings, but it doesn't happen on all cars ? This is where they're saying the oil feed bearing kit works as the outer seal is removed and oil is injected into the bearing ...