IMS Bearing Check At Service
- Thread starter mojo
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Macan360
New member
Thanks for the reply, My unit was fitted by an approver Tracker instaler not an OPC. As far as I can tell Porsche won't know its fitted anyway unless I tell them. The tracker is passive until triggered by movement or the tracker control centre activates it on request from myself. Cayman 295
Welcome to the Cayman owners group, my car is also first registered in October 06 and according to build lists is Model Year 07 these are all supposed to have the later design of IMS bearing. A Tracker was fitted before I bought it and is covered by warranty. Not sure if they can tell the later Tracker is installed but it probably had one fitted originally or at least the preparation for it and your installer may have used this, mine was installed before I got it and I'm surprised to hear an OPC car was not registered as having one, having said that, most insurers don't allow a real discount for having one fitted and in use. As for Porsche and the warranty if they find it at best they will say to remove it, at worst they will void the warranty. It seems wrong that if you fit something not OEM they do say they will not cover warranty on the car whereas it really ought not to be on the non-OEM item or if it causes another fault. I'm sure you will enjoy the CS they're great cars.[
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Macan360
New member
Just bought my first Porsche an October 2006 Cayman S 1 owner car with 15000 miles on the clock in Graphite Grey with Sand interior. Purchased from official Porsche dealer.
Haveing carried out some costing and research before purchase I bought with confidence. However haveing purchased and hearing about the constant concerns over IMs bearing problems I emailed the dealer asking the following questions.
What engine does my car have fitted to it is a M96 or M97 type?
Answer:- M97
Does the version fitted to my car suffer with the dreaded IMS bearing and timing chain problem?
Answer:- The Majority of these leaks have been cured by now with modified parts. You should have no trouble with this.
Is there anything I can do to spot an impending failure?
Answer:- Not really no, this can only be checked on a ramp as covered by under trays.
Also stereo sometimes comes up with the word stop which is difficult to clear.
Answer:- This could be a internal fault with the radio, this would need to be booked into the workshop for further diagnosis.
I note on this forum the cd player issue is known problem
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I have three remaining question, is the ims bearing checked at service if not it an easy thing to do?
Does anybody have a list of the items checked by porsche before Warranty is valid?
In the GT Porsche Magazine for April it says a Porsche with a tracker fitted other that the Porsche version would not get Porsche approval for warranty. I have had a tracker 25hr monitor fitted since purchase would this make my warranty invalid. Can't really ask Porsche now can I
Any information greatly appreciated
Cayman 295
Haveing carried out some costing and research before purchase I bought with confidence. However haveing purchased and hearing about the constant concerns over IMs bearing problems I emailed the dealer asking the following questions.
What engine does my car have fitted to it is a M96 or M97 type?
Answer:- M97
Does the version fitted to my car suffer with the dreaded IMS bearing and timing chain problem?
Answer:- The Majority of these leaks have been cured by now with modified parts. You should have no trouble with this.
Is there anything I can do to spot an impending failure?
Answer:- Not really no, this can only be checked on a ramp as covered by under trays.
Also stereo sometimes comes up with the word stop which is difficult to clear.
Answer:- This could be a internal fault with the radio, this would need to be booked into the workshop for further diagnosis.
I note on this forum the cd player issue is known problem
***********************************
I have three remaining question, is the ims bearing checked at service if not it an easy thing to do?
Does anybody have a list of the items checked by porsche before Warranty is valid?
In the GT Porsche Magazine for April it says a Porsche with a tracker fitted other that the Porsche version would not get Porsche approval for warranty. I have had a tracker 25hr monitor fitted since purchase would this make my warranty invalid. Can't really ask Porsche now can I
Any information greatly appreciated
Cayman 295
Macan360
New member
Thanks Buddy Do you worry about the IMS problem, It seems to stick in my head for some reason, Before I had the tracker Monitor fitted i told the salesman I was going to do it as the official Porsche version at £1200 seemed a rip off to me. He made no comment about voiding any warranty.
Actually, it is a (very) minor concern, but only very minor as it is relatively rare and our cars have the last version of it with the improved bearing. Gen2 Caymans had the IMS designed out. Effectively it is the mechanical timing shaft to go 2:1 from the crank and from the IMS to the valvegear it is 1:1 as normal but in Gen2 this is achieved by other means, as I have a Gen 1 I've not really investigated how it was done but it must be covered by some mechanical means in the engine. The salesman should have warned you when you mentioned it, but the Porsche item is about £210/year to maintain through Cobra and many drop it once the values drop below the level the insurers insist on it being activated. Mine is the Cobra Tracker Monitor system which is a menace if I leave the fob at home! As they call me!!
I wouldn't worry about the IMS bearing in the Cayman. As has been said, it is the final and largest version. Before I bought mine, I spoke to Hartech about it, and at that time they hadn't seen a IMS bearing failure on a Cayman S. I don't want to frighten you, but cylinder scoring is a much more common problem on the S. The most important thing to do to avoid this is to warm the car up very carefully, avoiding any labouring and high revs. Also, fitting a low temperature thermostat helps, but Porsche won't do this if you have a warranty. By the way Kevan, I'm fairly sure the Gen1 9x7's are the same as the 9x6, where the crankshaft to intermediate shaft ratio is 24:36 and the intermediate shaft to camshaft is 21:28 giving the overall reduction of 1:2 between crankshaft and camshaft. Cam to cam is 1:1 (21T:21T). Sometimes Porsche warranty beggars belief. There was a case a year or two ago of a guy with a 996 he bought new from an OPC. Before his car was built, another became available, and the OPC offered it to him for earlier delivery. The car wasn't equipped with Park Assistant, as was on the spec of his ordered car. The OPC said "no problem" and had an aftermarket system fittted for him. A few years later, when he came to renew the warranty, the OPC refused, as it had aftermarket parking sensors!!
Yes Richard it's about time that Porsche UK sorted out this warranty business, my son had a Boxster S on lease ( seemed a good idea at the time before values plummeted and he ended up with bubble payment higher than the value of the car plus some work it needed ) but he was refused a warranty renewal due to having a none Porsche battery. You've guessed already I know, the battery was in the car when he got it from Porsche. So by their own criteria not of saleable standard.[][8|]
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Perhaps Richard can confirm but I believe that on the Gen II engines the cams are driven directly from the front end of the crankshaft only, obviating the requirement for the IMS. The IMS arrangement allowed identical cylinder blocks and heads to be used for both right- and left-hand sides of the flat-6 unit, thereby reducing costs. The 996/986 engines use the original VarioCam system on the inlet cams. The IMS drives the exhaust cams (one chain per bank) and additional short chains link each exhaust cam to its inlet cam, with an electronically controlled double chain tensioner between the two sides of the chain providing the timing variation. The 997/987 Gen I engines use current the VarioCam Plus system which combines variable valve timing with 2-stage lift on the inlet cams. The timing is controlled by an electro-hydraulic rotary vane adjuster at the front of each inlet cam and I believe that the IMS drives the cams by a single chain for each bank. Jeff
That's correct. Darned long chains.......
Regarding your original question about the fitment of a non Porsche-approved tracker, I'm reminded of a recent conversation with a salesman at my OPC. He said they'd had a customer with a new 997 (Turbo or GT3, I can't recall) who, like you, had baulked at the cost of the Porsche tracker and had taken the independent route. He turned up one day with the display lit up like a Christmas tree and it took one of the Centre's Master Techs a whole day to sort out the problem for him (the tracker installer had tapped extensively into the wiring loom). He refused to pay and, after protracted negotiations, the OPC agreed not to charge him for the work. A salutary lesson for them and perhaps this might explain Porsche's reticence to warranty a car with a non Porsche-approved tracker. I know that it's too late now but you might have considered purchasing gap insurance in lieu of the tracker. If your vehicle is stolen and not recovered, the gap insurance reimburses you for the difference between your original purchase price and the insurer's valuation. Much cheaper than a tracker. Enjoy the Cayman - it's a great driver's car. Jeff
berty987
New member
The IMS and RMS are two different things. Typically the oil leak is from the RMS (Rear Main Seal) on the crankshaft , whereas the IMS is the bearing that supports the idler sprocket attached to the gear pump drive (at the other end) that can fail either on the carrier stub or the bearing. The IMS also has a bearing cover seal which can weep, but typically its a much smaller leak. The RMS requires the gearbox and clutch / flywheel to be removed to replace , as does the IMS seal. The IMS bearing and carrier cannot be replaced in situ in the M97 engine due to the crankcase profile that holds the bearing , so its an engine strip down. To be honest i wouldnt fuss over IMS or RMS issues on the M97 cayman , the oil leak you can live with and the IMS bearing and carrier is an incredibly small if non existent risk. Focus on the temp thermostat and keeping the cooling system in tip top condition , the scoring on cylinder 6 is an engine write off or significant engine rebuild.
If you mean an Intermediate Shaft Bearing check, then no. It isn't possible to check the bearing itself. If you mean the Intermediate Shaft seal, then it would be picked up in the visual inspection for underbody leaks, although they wouldn't be able to tell if it was the intermediate shaft seal or rear main oul seal. They both produce drips from the same area.
Macan360
New member
All When I bought into Porsche perseption of being a quality manufacture I never expected the potential problems of oil seal leaks, Ims bearing failure, RMS bearing failrure, scored bores, smoking at cold start to be problems. In 1998 I had a peugeot 406 timeing belt broke well out of warranty, peugeot paid the bill. In 2003 I had a Suburu Impreza and the engine failed on one cylinder out of warranty and Subaru paid bill in full. This is customer service. With Porsche all you here is Porsche makeing excuses not to payout on their warranty especially used car warranty over irrevalint things. Also not fixing known faults above on a goodwill ticket. It seems some lesser vehicle manufacturers know how to look after there customers better. Hopefully none of these failures will come my way. Concerned cayman Owner
The potential problems you have listed are relatively rare but as ever anyone having them effect their car feels as if it's not, all are well documented and if you want to read a very good analysis then check the Hartech website for BazHarts buyers guide. IMS is a rare bearing failure odd ones of the M97 are said to have had them fail but more common on the M96. RMS is a seal leak on the crankshaft and not a critical failure unless you don't keep a check on the oil level. But usually just a trail of oil below the seal in the bell housing. Scored bores seems to have two main causes, people labouring engines giving them high loads at low revs never a good idea in anything so keep the revs above 2K when pulling off especially when hot and warm up gently say keeping below 3K until into the mid range of temp. Smoking on cold start up just a little smoke is normal as things warm up especially if stood for some days, not uncommon on any horizontally opposed engines and I'd be surprised if the Subaru didn't do this to some amount. Not something to be concerned about unless it doesn't clear. Warranty is always a point that gets debated here and differs from dealership to dealership. Like all of us, we all hope none of the failures occur on our cars, main thing which causes problems with cars and warranties is the fitting of non-OEM parts.
Concerned cayman Owner [/quote] Dont be too concerned. I bought my first Porsche (Gen 1 March 2006 CS) in Aug 2011 from OPC Leicester. I read all sorts of things about bearings etc which frankly scared me to death ! I emailed the dealer and they said no worries, its covered under warranty if it goes. So now I dont worry at all ! I drive it like I stole it all the time once its warmed up as per Kev's tip. But then you should do that with any car; warm it up carefully I mean !!! Enjoy it and especially on dry tarmac ! Paul
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