porsches996

HI Folks...,

I finally bite the bullet...

2 weeks ago i realized that my RMS was leaking... no drop on the ground yet but why take the chance and i said while i'm there why not replacing the cluch and IMSB.

I found a new Sachs cluch kit in EBAY for $225.00 and i bougt the original RMS seal at the dealer.

A mechanic friend of mine did the job and all together it costed me around $1900.00.

I took some pics of the bearing and believe when my mechanic showed me the bearing my first reaction was........wow is this the bearing i tought it was a lot bigger then that.

The bearing was still like new

porsche951

Funny what a huge percentage of Rennlisters that replace their IMSB say that the bearing was perfect. I'm at 73k miles, my clutch is still fine so I'll continue to do hyper frequent (3,000 miles) oil changes and examine my oil filter but the IMSB is staying original till I need a clutch or find traces of metal in my filter or attached to my magnetic drain plug.

phlporsche

I am another with a perfectly good IMS replaced. My new to me 02 C2 has a little seepage at the rms and my mechanic recommended just doing the ims, rms and AOS all together. My car has 36k and driven gently by its 70 yo prior owner. I guess I gave into the hype but I sleep better now. Went with the LN Pro. The mint condition stock ims is now sitting as a paper weight on my desk.

fullthrottle52

I just purchased a 1999 Carerra with 28,000 miles. Took it to my mechanic and he STRONGLY recommend I get the IMSB replaced NOW. It is doing in on Tuesday. Just doing IMSB and RMS. Should not need a clutch. Mechanic said it sat to much and the age is the factor. I will now be able to drive it without the thought being in my head. It will be frustrating if the bearing is perfect, but it is the nature of the beast. Porsche should be ashamed for what it has created.

alpine003

Well being you have a '99, you have to now worry about cylinder ovaling and D-chunking. also if you drive it in the winter, watch out for cylinder scoring as well. If Porsche should be ashamed for creating it, why did you buy it?

gnat

Its the people that bought/buy the cars and then don't drive them that should be ashamed if you ask me. Which you didn't, but i said it anyway.

A 99 with only 28k? Disgraceful.

Gonzo911

If it wasn't for the IMS, we would have very little to talk about.

nickdee62

I pulled my IMSB out yesterday. 77,000 miles on it and it is like new. I feel pretty stupid for buying into the IMS hype...

RMS was leaking so I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

alpine003

FWIW, my RMS has been leaking slightly for the past year. I still sleep easy though.

I'll get to it when I change out my clutch. I just have to wipe up that area of the floor from time to time...

porsches996

Yesterday i went to say hello to my mechanic and say thanks for the job he has done to my car and surprise...there were 2 Porsche (a 996 and a boxster) with blown engine.
The one from the 996 has only bent one valve (costly but easy to save) but the other one from the boxster was shot....that is probably why i decided to replaced the IMSB......$1,500.00 insted of $20,000.00 for a new engine.....

Flat6 Innovations

Don't feel stupid, and is not hype. Ask anyone who has experienced it.

That said, the bearings that are "perfect" are the only bearings that should be retrofitted. Why? Because any bearing that has begun to fail will generate foreign object debris that has a great potential to take out the new bearing, or the rest of the engine. The people that had a "perfect bearing" are often disappointed, because they wanted to see the bearing falling apart to justify the expense. This isn't smart, because if that old bearing was falling apart, collateral damage has already impacted the engine and many other measures then become necessary. People don't know, what they don't know- they have to experience it, and believe me, thats not fun.

If you drive it long enough to show symptoms of bearing failure, the chances of a positive experience are greatly diminished. Here we'll only retrofit healthy engines; in fact we spend more than half the first day of the retrofit process qualifying the engine for the retrofit. Thats how we've installed 425 retrofits (including the very first one) and haven't ever had a post- process failure.

D6lc

I suggest then that it could be justly argued that you did 425 replacements that were not needed, if the bearings that came out were in good condition

Flat6 Innovations

Don't even try that angle. Answer my phones for a week and you'll know all that you need to know. We are at 5 failure reports for this week so far, about average.

Cuda911

Personally, I consider replacing any wear-type item as PM, whether or not that part shows any sign of failure.

For example, I replaced my water pump before it failed, since every single older car I have owned eventually has experienced a water pump failure.

In my opinion, people shouldn't feel foolish if they replace a bearing and find the old one to be in good condition. Maybe the old one will eventually fail, maybe not. Either way, it's a good PM move, IMHO.

[By the way, my old one, at 100K miles, "looked" to be good as new. Wish I had saved it to take a look at the bearings inside the housing.]:
.

alpine003

If everyone subscribed to that logic, everyone here would be poor.

So at 5 failures per week on the avg, Can anyone guess how much time would be needed to thin the 996 herd level to a point where it may become a collectors item?