An engine’s front and back are traversed by a geared shaft called the Porsche IMS, or intermediate shaft. By means of the crankshaft’s mechanical revolution, it indirectly drives the camshafts on either side of the engine. The issue was not with the shaft itself. Since the 911 has existed, the shaft design has been used, and it has been successful as a component of the flat-six engines for which the Porsche is famous. However, the sealed cartridge-style ball bearings that support the IMS were the source of the IMS issue that existed previous until 2009.
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How to Determine If Your Porsche’s IMS Bearing Is Failing
IMS bearing failure is a problem that affects Porsche vehicles quite frequently. The intermediate shaft, which runs the length of the engine, is supported by the IMS bearing (also known as the intermediate shaft bearing). In most Porsches, the issue is not the actual intermediate shaft. The infamous engine issues that beset this antique automobile brand are caused by the IMS bearing.
The IMS bearing in your Porsche could break down from regular wear and tear. However, mechanical errors account for the majority of this feature’s failures. Due to their older designs, the Porsche models 986, 987, 996, and 997 are more vulnerable to IMS bearing failure.
Lack of lubrication causes the bearing to repeatedly overheat, which eventually leads to IMS bearing failure. The only real defense against this is to get your automobile serviced on a regular basis by qualified mechanics and to get an oil change every two years.
IMS bearing failure may not be completely preventable, but any mechanic with expertise in Porsches will be able to spot any little details that might point to this system malfunctioning. To avoid a complete failure, they will give you advice and make improvements while conducting inspections.
Which Porsche models are susceptible to IMS bearing failure?
All Boxster, Cayman, and 911 vehicles from MY1997 to MY2008, with the exception of Turbo, GT2, and GT3 variants, are susceptible to IMS bearing failure.
But over time, the types of bearings utilized changed, and some of them were more likely to fail than others. According to statistics, the Boxster 986 and 911 models built between model years 2000 and 2005 are the most likely to experience IMS bearing failure, whereas the odds are extremely low for a Boxster 987 or Cayman built after a stronger bearing was introduced in late 2005.
In terms of mileage, there is no clear trend in the failures; some owners were unfortunate enough to encounter IMS issues at less than 20,000 miles, while others assumed they were safe only to have the bearing fail at 130,000 miles. In summary, you should be aware of potential issues if you now own or intend to purchase one of the versions with the weaker bearing that were in use from 2000 until late 2005.
The base engine (3.6) bears the designation “M96,” and depending on your engine number, you may have the smaller IMS or the revised bigger bearing:
Engine (3.6) number M96/05 69507476 has the larger updated IMS bearing, while Engine (3.6) number M96/05 69507475 has the smaller IMS bearing.
The “S” Engine (3.8) is designated “M97” and features a choice of a smaller or bigger upgraded IMS bearing:
Engine (3.8) numbers beginning with M97/01 68509791 have the larger updated IMS bearing, whereas Engine (3.8) numbers up to M97/01 68509790 have the previous IMS bearing.
What model year Porsche has an IMS issue?
The intermediate shaft bearing, commonly known as an IMS bearing, has a significant failure rate in the Porsche 911 and Porsche Boxster from model years 1997 to 2005. Its build and design cause the bearing to prematurely fail, which causes a catastrophic engine failure.
Whether the 2008 Cayman has IMS problems.
The IMS issue only affects vehicles manufactured in 2008 and earlier. Since the 2009 and subsequent engines lack an IMS, they are free of the IMS issue.
How much does a Porsche 911’s IMS bearing cost to replace?
Thousands of independent technicians advocate IMS Retrofit ceramic hybrid ball bearing as the best preventive treatment because it is the only long-term fix for IMS bearing issues in M96/M97 engines. IMS Retrofit replacement bearings typically cost more than $4,000 in labor and materials, but they can be installed at the same time as the clutch. Compared to the price of rebuilding or replacing the entire engine, this is a relatively low expenditure. The cost of this repair should be weighed against the minimal likelihood that an IMS breakdown will occur in an older Porsche. You might decide it is worth the risk if you carefully evaluate the possibility of a future failure and compare it to the cost of an IMS Retrofit bearing. This preventative procedure, however, may very well be a worthwhile outlay to avoid future harm and larger spending in the future if you are worried about the health and well-being of your Porsche.
What Porsches are equipped with the M96 engine?
The 986 Boxster models from 1997 to 2004 and the 996 Carrera versions from 1999 to 2004 both used the M96 engine series on a formal basis. It should be noted that the M96 engine was used in various 2006 versions as well as the 997-1 Carrera and 987-1 Boxster in 2005.
What are the initial three IMS?
- In order to improve availability, better handle extremely huge data volumes, and, with IMS V9, online rearrangement to provide continuous availability, IMS V7 introduced HALDBs, an extension of IMS full function databases. Prior to IMS V9, third-party tools were the only ones that offered online restructuring. In excess of 40 terabytes of data can be kept in a HALDB.
DL/I databases can be built on either VSAM or OSAM, with various limitations depending on how the database is organized, however fast path DEDBs can only be built on VSAM. IMS still restricts a VSAM dataset to 4 GB, despite the fact that the maximum size of a z/OS VSAM dataset climbed to 128 TB a few years ago (and OSAM to 8 GB). IMS clients will just use many datasets for big volumes of data due to this “problem.” The “logical” view of the database in IMS is referred to as the database “organization,” and VSAM and OSAM are typically referred to as the access methods (HDAM, HIDAM, HISAM, etc.) The data are connected internally using 4-byte pointers or addresses. RBAs are the pointers used in database datasets (DBDSs) (relative byte addresses).
IMS DB is a common name for the database-related IMS capabilities as a whole. Over nearly four decades, IMS DB has expanded and changed to serve a wide range of business requirements. IMS provides N-way inter-IMS database exchange with the aid of z/OS hardware—the Coupling Facility. Multiple IMS systems are used to manage common databases in many huge configurations, allowing for scalable growth and system redundancy in the case of hardware or software problems.
Has the 2007 Boxster got an IMS problem?
They have to get their engine removed right away so the IMS bearing can be replaced. A number of
Failure of these models during routine maintenance on units 987 and 997
models. The grease seal ought to be taken out prior to replacing the clutch or flywheel.
off the bigger, non-serviceable IMS bearing to improve lubrication with engine oil. Keep in mind the
During normal operation, the intermediate shaft is bathed in engine oil, which supplies more than enough oil to cool and lubricate the IMS.
bearing. You can replace the triple lip seal while removing the grease seal from the IMS bearing.
can remove the seal from its groove using a dental pick or a similar tool. Simply remember not to
As soon as you take it out, drop it in the engine. This little YouTube video demonstrates
how to take a ball bearing’s oil seal off
engine damage and timing. The Cayman Register provides a tutorial that walks you through each process of resealing your
The early dual row’s load capacity is equal to that of the larger non-serviceable IMS bearing used in MY06-08 Boxster, Cayman, and 911 engines.
bearing. Since the later MY06-08 IMS bearings and earlier multi row bearings have double the
Once the grease seal has been removed, engine oil will be used to lubricate the bearing.
The 106-08.30 MY06-08 IMS RetrofitTM, when fitted as part of your M96 or M97 engine rebuild, makes
The original, single row bearing is replaced with a ceramic hybrid, dual row bearing in the IMS bearing, making it maintainable in the future without requiring engine disassembly.
bearing. Similar to that, the 106-08.60 IMS Solution offers the only real long-term solution to the IMS issue.
engine. In addition to the IMS Pro Tool Kit, installation requires the IMS Supplemental Toolkit, which comes with six additional tools to help with the MY06-08 IMS installation.