Another IMS takes it's toll on 04 Box S

[harryrcb]

Here is another statistic for the IMS failure. This is an 04 Boxster S Trip with less than 35k on the odometer. The owner Hung Vo from Texas was filling up gas when he noticed a puddle of oil under the car. Unfortunately he drove it home which was not far. Miraculously he made it, that's when he called me about my engine. So we made a deal and shipped the car to my place and this is what I found. Motor still turns over (by hand) but you can feel the valves touching, barely. the oil filter and the bottom of the pan were just thick with metal shavings. Have not taken the bearing out yet, I will swap engines first and get poor Hung going again, then I will tear apart the engine and see how much damage there is. BTW the nut and what's left of the shaft is exactly where I found them when I pulled the transmission.

[Wayne 962]

Another one bites the dust. This is why my new kit has a new bolt that is thicker and doesn't have the groove cut for the o-ring in it. This engine might still be savable.

-Wayne

[harryrcb]

I think it is salvagable, no holes in the case, although there is and exessive amount of metal.

[turboflyer]

I guess this could happen over night, but I would venture to say some one is not looking at that oil filter very close or at all during the service. And talk about a spike in the oil analysis. I love the way that nut just lays lays there. Try and do that on purpose. Good luck with the rebuild. Hope its not to bad. With all this death and destruction being show it sure makes start up a quiet time now.

[randy_k]

Just curious and you in the know may know the answer. Why is it, in your opinion, that almost everyone of these failures that have been posted on every site I watch, Is usually under 50k miles?
The failures that I have seen above 100k. Is relatively small. Lack of oil changes, bad driving habits, etc... Or were they made in different plants? Some a good manufacturer and some not so much?
Randy

[Jim Chambers]

Wayne, is the bolt you mention part of the $519 LN single row kit listed? I am reaching the point of having my mechanic do the surgery on my '04 Tip with 23K miles. I'm beginning to lose sleep over this issue.

[randy_k]

Jim, Not Wayne, But I believe it is. The bolt he is referring to. Is the center bolt in the kit that comes out of the bearing itself. Pic below.
This kit, or Wayne's is on my definite to do list. Piece of mind and spending money, kinda go hand in hand. No matter what ya do.

If you go to there website. The groove cut for the O-Rings, seems to be the problem. Ln's is on the left
Randy

[harryrcb]

Originally Posted by Jim Chambers

Wayne, is the bolt you mention part of the $519 LN single row kit listed? I am reaching the point of having my mechanic do the surgery on my '04 Tip with 23K miles. I'm beginning to lose sleep over this issue.

Yes Jim that is part of the kit and so is the cover with a much better oil seal.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Jim Chambers

Wayne, is the bolt you mention part of the $519 LN single row kit listed? I am reaching the point of having my mechanic do the surgery on my '04 Tip with 23K miles. I'm beginning to lose sleep over this issue.

Yes, our kit will have the stronger bolt indeed. Very similar to the LN Engineering kit bolt, but the threads will be different so that it will be compatible with the o-ring design I developed.

-Wayne

[harryrcb]

Here are some more pics of the bearing. Nothing new here same old carnage
still have not taken the heads off yet but I know the valves were touching pistons
and unfortunately the bearing parts bounced off the seal lip which made the cover extremely hard to pull out and I have to asses how much damage that caused to the lip area, however I'm confident that I can fix that.

[Wayne 962]

Was this a bearing failure, or a stud failure?

-Wayne

[harryrcb]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

Was this a bearing failure, or a stud failure?

-Wayne

that is the question of the century which came first the chicken or the egg. The stud was broken but was it the broken stud that caused the failure of the bearing or the bearing failure that broke the stud?
In my opinion as I stated in other threads is that the fact that the bearing was intended to be lifetime sealed with no oil feeding system and oil gets in washes out the grease but the oil breaks down because it does not get changed out. Imagine running the engine without an oil change for 30,40 or 50 thousand miles. All the bearings would fail for that same reason. Not to mention the lateral and torque stress factor on that bearing. This is an engineering bobo.