PCA Spotlight: Extending the life of your original IMS Bearing 

I owned a 2001 996 that I sold with 150K. I changed the oil every 6-7K, and drove about 12 K per year, usually 25-50 miles at a time. I did not have an IMS issue.

This guy had some good tips - thanks. The more I can learn about my 996, the more confident and happier I am with it.

Knock on wood, my 2003 Boxster S now has 127K miles on it with the original IMSB. I change the oil myself, check the filter every time and have not had metal particles in the filter, have found some brownish colored thin bits in the filter at times. I also bought one of Jake's magnetic drain plugs, always looks good too. I have always used Mobil 1 0W-40 oil and started to add Liqui Moly MoS2 Anti Friction Engine Treatment with every oil change about 2 years ago. I change the oil between 3,000 and 4,000 miles, but I never let it go to 5,000 miles before I change the oil. My Boxster S is my daily driver, even in the winter if the snow isn't very deep. Yes I have different tires for Summer and Winter. I've also done many mods to my Boxster S. Here is the list of performance mods. 987 Air Box, K&N Air Filter, 76mm Intake Pipe, 996 76mm TB, 997 Distribution T, Secondary Cat Delete Pipes, NHP 200 Cell Exhaust Headers and Borla Muffler. She runs like a champ, I love this car.

Another great Video, keep them coming. Looks like I need to increase my oil changes. I currently drive my 997 a couple times a week on 40-60 minutes drives. Apparently once a year oil changes are not adequate. I also liked the explanation on why one shouldn't let their car set and idle to warm up the engine. Thanks again.

This a great, fact based, educational series. Looking forward to the next one.

I like this guy, preventative maintainance is key to all Porsche engines both airl cooled and the newer water cooled. One other thing I don't see a lot of guys on here mention is changing your coolant once every 1-2 years regardless of mileage. It's a bit more involved time wise but not expensive. I recommend Porsche coolant or EVANs life time coolant. For oil Porsche recommended Mobil 1 from the factory but the oil isn't quite as heat resistant as Redline oil. ALL the guys who race these cars run Redline for it's superior heat resistance. I recommend 15w50.

Agreed the message is simple. Change the oil frequently. However I like to understand why and I picked up a lot of background info here.

Thanks for the education. I have a 99 996 with 12k miles and the second owner bought it with 1200 miles and never replaced anything on it. I’ve had the vehicle stored for a year now and I haven’t done any service to it (guilty I am for neglecting it) When the temperature gets better here in NYC. Good job on the video.

Couple of years ago I bought a 2006 Cayman S with 65K miles and it still has the original IMS bearing. Since purchase I have followed the recommended guidelines. But I also do a couple of extra items. I used 5/50 Mobil 1 because I drive with a certain amount of vigor, I get a Blackstone analysis with each change and just for insurance, I have an extended drive train warranty. I hope I never have a problem but like all drivers who know the Porsche's (especially the Cayman's) there are some things you will put up with just to have one of the best driving machines available.

years ago my sister asked me how to keep her engine running for the long time. I said change your oil at 2.5k to 3.5k miles, use good oil, not fast change chain places. I changed the rocker cover seals, at 297k miles, engine has some wear but does not burn oil and camshafts looks great. No sludge. No noise on engine.

Stunningly awesome vid on this topic.

changing thr oil before it becomes acidic (6 months or 10000 kilometers, whichever comes first!) and revving a little higher before shifting gears (as soon as the oil is at operating temperature of course!) to reduce load on the bearing are usually the ways to go and also the reasons why cars which are raced and frequently used on trackevents way less likely to be victim of ims bearing failure. i do most services and partreplacements on my 2003 boxster 2.7 myself, since otherwise i couldn't afford owning and running the car. thank you for your informative videos. great content, keep up the good work.

Great video! Thank you👍

Thank you. Waiting on the next video.

Appreciate sharing your experience and personal point of view. On my side I can only reflect on my experience driving my very original '98 986 as a daily driver for just over a decade. The cars is now retired as I'm now an empty nester and on pensioen. It is still immaculate. We belonged to the local Porsche Club and all of us, me and three kids tracked the car flat out (often till break fluid boils) just once or twice a year. I loved giving them that track experience and they enjoyed it every bit. All my kids could use my car whenever it was available.as their hearts desires. We drove it often at top speed especially to or three times per year on cross country runs. The car now has 225000km. I service it myself, using only fully synthetic oil and that at about ~12 to 14000km intervals (instead of the recommended 20k). I have NO problem regarding any IMS issues. Due to the American paranoia via YT, I took it some two years ago to my local South African Porsche dealership. The mechanic confirmed NO problems. He also commented that despite having ,more than a decade years of experience at Porsche, he could count such like issues on one hand. If one is just a little bit mechanically minded, these cars are easy and fairly cheap to maintain thanks to the assistance from E bay, YT and enthusiast platforms. My Boxster is bullit proof, however if you are dependant on professionals, any assistance will be costly and come at a premium. Just interesting. Love from Africa.

The engine oil carries contaminants, with prolonged use. I do agree that when the engine starts (from cold), that there are products of incomplete combustion, such as 'sooty' deposits that get washed down the piston bores, past the piston rings, and then mix with the engine oil, and (although microscopic) these sooty deposits are carbon. The Oil Filter does its' utmost to remove these micro-particles, but we all know that (when the engine oil is changed) it is always black. Acids are also present and other stuff. Remember also that many contaminants can bypass the Air Filter, only to lodge in the engine oil too! So here is what I would do if I had to change the IMS Bearing. I have done this many times before. You take a brand-new sealed Bearing (I would use steel seals because there is no degradation to steel seals from the engine oil). Carefully prise out the steel seal at one side only. You will instantly be alarmed - and shocked at just how little grease is contained inside! Worse than this, many bearings are factory-lubricated with a medium grease, and I do not believe that a medium grease could survive the high temperatures of an internal combustion engine, under those harsh conditions. It is highly likely that the IMS Bearing is also subjected to temps around 130C (for water cooled engines, including any friction build-up). So- take your new bearing and thoroughly wash out all of the original grease with aerosol degreaser. Wash a second time in WD 40. Make absolutely sure that everything is clean and dry inside the bearing. NOW - go out and buy some ROCOL HIGH TEMP GREASE. Press this into a new bearing with a clean finger, and ensure that the high-temp grease takes up approx. 40-50% of the volume of the inner raceway. Replace the steel seal by gently pressing the rim of the seal - back into its' groove. The high temp grease will not migrate from the ball bearing, which means that any contaminated engine oil will not easily enter the bearing. I have had great success by 'modifying' new bearings in this way, and it would not be wrong to say that the life of the bearing can be tripled when used in the right application. Hardest part of all, is the removal of the steel seal on the new bearing- without bending it! I wish Bearing Manufacturers would also place one or two spare seals in the sealed package - along with the new bearing! I enjoyed watching your vid, from start to finish. I've just been put off Porsche Boxsters for life by reading this. I will stick with my '71 Beetle. Greetings from Australia.

Nice job!

Good and helpful information about regular oil change and maintenance especially for this kind of engine. (If you don't mind a little advice, you might consider using additional lighting, also remove the screens from the windows to get rid of the distracting Moire patterns.) Thanks for fixing the music.

Good video!

Great video again. Informative. I gotta ask, are those "windows" behind them green screen?

Im changing my oil every 15 minutes now... geez

That was a pretty long video to just say, "change your oil ever 6 mo/5,000 mi and try to keep the revs around 3,000".

Can the use of over-lubricant Mecacyl type prevent the ims failure?

If you're keeping the car, just change the bearing and carry on with your life.

Yes, you should change your oil more often, I agree with that. Change it more often than the factory said too. The ims bearing is a sealed bearing and filled for life at the factory with grease so it wasn't meant to be oiled. The oil may be to keep it cool but not to oil it. The bearings just fail over time. Like new front wheel bearings heat and miles of wear they fail, it's pretty easy to tell if they fail but hard to tell when a bearing in the engine fails. Changing oil more often may help some but like all lube for life bearings it will fail sometime.

5% of the cars suffer, a lot of scar mongering from the people that carry out the repaires

Great Video. I have a 2006 CaymenS and do my own oil changes every 5k miles like Jake suggested. I am thinking for my next oil change to use Mobil1 10w60 as i believe it may reduce oil burn off. I have always used 5w40, whats your thoughts? Mick Northern Ireland

so your saying that a ims bearing that is just starting to go bad will actually give you a warning right

Scary, but well worth watching...... UK Boxster owner...... Better get that oil changed!

To me it sounds like chipping of 3000 USD from the current asking price if the IMS bearing isn't replaced yet, and there is documentation to prove it, or walk away from the car. When shopping around I have asked the sellers if the IMS is new or not...and amazingly I had answers like " You aren't buying a new car, so what do you expect for the money?" Also MB SLK 280/350 is affected by a similar problem, which is the balance shaft...which also drives the timing chains...It's even more difficult to repair...So after all...BMW Z4 seems to be the car to have....If we are looking at german sports cars between 2000-2008

Very good info to keep

I do partial oil change 7ltr with A40 Porsche certified oil Castrol cheapest use same brand every 3000km.

Very sporting of Porsche to design and build engines with this potential problem. It's kind of like driving a ticking time bomb...a very special experience.

so if you look at a used 911 it’s a big chance that the person could have just changed the oil and hides the fact that they was metal in the oil i’m a little nervous

I saw a video of IMS failure and this guy ran a oil line sandwiched between oil filter to a bracket that holds the IMS bearing so the bearing gets oil all the time.

It appears i should just get rid of mine...I have grown weary of throwing money at every turn. Makes my BMW'S and my Cessna look cheap to keep.

I have a 1995 993. I use to drive it as a daily driver and have about 230K miles on it. But I about 4 years ago I got another job and haven't driven it since then. Should I change the oil first before starting it up again?

Just thinking of buying my first Porsche and it'll most likely be a 996. My question is, how is it Porsche hasn't addressed the IMS bearing problem under warranty

Is the risk of Boxster S 2000 with 14k miles , more or less ??? If anyone can tell me . Thanks

6 months or 5 k miles is not that often. The problem i have is buying a used 996 with one oil change a year.. or less

Looks like garage queens are the ones experiencing this failure.

Contradiction: He states " we don't have lubrication problems - we have load bearing problems" but the failure occurs when the bearing seal leaks and allows the bearing lube to migrate out of the bearing. As long as the lube stays in the bearing there is no failure. Also by the time you see warning signs of bearing failure - its all over but the crying.

Pricy Porsche with G.M. alternator bearing in I.M.S.... what is going on??? A.A.

So wait..... when the weather is cold (not that it gets very cold in perth) I should jump in the car and drive, rather than letting the car warm up first?

I’m just going to hook up an oil tanker to my car and change my IMS every time the tanker has to go for a refill. Then I’ll just get bore scoring!

Always trust a guy who makes a living out of fear of IMS failure and who talk about is ‘’waiting list’’ for replacement... Just sayin

"If it runs long enough than it's gonna break", so...why does the IMS bearing failure afects only 5 to 10% of these cars?

I would say it is related to the acidic level of the oil in that particular part of the engine which does not get recirculated. Either way a stupid error by Porsche.

My IMS bearing and I are as thick as thieves.

I see, Low engine RPM sometimes sees more wear at the expense of fuel economy because of design. Makes sense to me. Why not design it for low load Rpm instead and that would solve all ailments? Wait. I forgot about performance factors. Its a balancing act isn't it? Yea no its just poor design. Oiling bearings is not that hard to do. Engine oil in todays engine is limited by filtration in my opinion. one should never see suspended matter in oil pans. Settled stuff yea but how many time does the oil in the sump get filtered per minute?

Listening to this for the first time. If this is a sealed bearing, it is grease lubricated. The engine oil is not a factor. Can someone confirm that this is grease lubricated?

This guy talks like he is an instructor in the National Guard...Situational Awareness, LOL.

Best drain the oil and just look at your investment. Don’t ever dream of driving it.

Less than 10% of owners had any IMS issues. That's still a lot, but hey, people make it sound like it's the opposite and 90% of people have had the issue.

Its easier to just drop the $$ and retrofit the bearing to one that won’t self destruct, then you don’t have to worry!!

I dont' want to buy a M96 or M97 engine Porsche after watched this video.

my 2006 CS 987.1 had only 34k miles. in 16 years that's < 2,000 mi per year during prev ownership. I've put on 2k miles in 2 months already. how can someone NOT drive these cars!? it's someone who spent too much bloody money on one and is afraid to lose its value. well the new ones lose half of their value almost immediately so just drive it for crying out loud... it's better for the car anyway

Liqui Moly, no other oil compares.

Jeepers cripes....let me save you 15 minutes of your life.....change your oil every 500 miles.......boy can that guy labour a point....

What is this guy about? Don't drive 50 mph in 6th? What if you have an automatic? Newer PDK versions would keep it in 7th at that speed or even lower. The limit is 70 and you need to drive 120 to keep it at 3000 rpm, or drive in 2nd all the time. Change the oil often blah, blah you've discovered hot water

Oooh, so even if you follow all these recommendations, you still risk having an IMS failure 🤔 Fantastic! 🤦

“… it’s a Porsche, not a Honda or Toyota….”. Wtf!

"Not a Honda or a Toyota". You can say that again. They wouldn't have made anything quite as crap as an M96/97. 😂

Im sorry but the oil has nothing to do with the failure of the IMS bearing. Its the actual way the bearing is situated in the engine. It is hidden under the crank shaft and it just does not get enough oil fed to it to do its job. They already tried the sealed bearing that actually has oil in it but even that failed because of high temperatures and the speed of rotation this has to endure. This is such an important part of the engine Not once in this video have i heard this guy mention what the intermediate shaft does and how important it is for engine timing and cam shaft reliability. Not once has he mentioned the failings that are of Porsche to blame. They messed up with the whole build of the Horizontally apposed engine in a 6 cylinder unit. The forces of this Naturally exasperated engine is huge and they put a puny bearing with no direct oil feed on the most important part of the engine and fuck it up. This guy is full of shit. There is no excuse for it. It has to be changed at least at 50k miles before it has a chance to fail. Changing the engine oil will do nothing for the IMS bearing. The only way to stop this for good is to feed the bearing with oil direct. This way it has a constant feed of oil. Go hear to look at the kit. www.design911.co.uk/p/ims-single-row-bearing-direct-oil-feed--dof--intermediate-shaft-retrofit-kit-for-boxster-986---996/ Otherwise just keep changing it out every 30k miles. There is no other fix. Remember its not all Porsches You can have the exact same vehicle exact same miles full service history oil change ect and one will have IMS bearing failure one wont. Preventative measures are always better than repairing and cost. The IMS bearing can fail without stripping or putting bits in the oil. It can fail just by the bearing being loose from the ball bearings in the bearing failing. Porsche should have had their own bearing made that was able to feed itself with oil. After all its an rotational engine part and responsible for keeping the Intermediate shaft in place to allow for the cam timing to be precise driven by a chain. The chain is lubricated direct from the oil so why not the Bearing also. This video is so frustrating to watch and to think this guy is teaching people and coming on youtube talking bollocks!