help The intermediate shaft cover

advantagedent · advantagedent's Garage

my retard buddy forgot to lock the ims and took of the cover and the shaft moved
he also did not release the tensions , this is a single bearing
and now its over to the one side a fair bit what do we do
this was not me

JFP in PA · 08-21-2011, 01:38 PM

Let me guess: The engine is not at TDC and is also not locked (pinned), nor are the cams locked down with the proper holding tools? What year is the car?

JUST-IN · 08-21-2011, 02:16 PM

im the retard, and my car is a 2001 S

JFP in PA · 08-21-2011, 02:25 PM

OK, your engine should be a five chain motor, which tends to be less prone to jumping time than the later three chain version.

Is the engine at TDC and pinned? Are you using the cam holding fixtures?

JUST-IN · 08-21-2011, 02:28 PM

no i thought i could just pull the cover off to see the bearing and may-be pull the seal if it was ok. Big mistake huh?

JFP in PA · 08-21-2011, 02:40 PM

In a word, yes.

The problem is that there is no way to get the IMS re-centered with the engine in its current state, and extreme caution is needed to prevent worsening an already bad situation. For instance, under no circumstances can the engine be rotated in its current state.

To have any hope of re-centering the IMS, you are going to need to release the tension on the chains, which will significantly increase the probability of the engine jumping time, if it has not done so already. That will require releasing the tensioners.

I have only seen this situation twice in my entire career, neither time worked out particularly well, both ended up with the engine being pulled and retimed on a stand, and even then one had other associated damage that had to be repaired.

JUST-IN · 08-21-2011, 02:49 PM

What are your thoughts if i put the coveback on most of the way, and push it back over with a small hydrolic ram and then push the cover back in. Then pull all the cam covers and see if all the timing lines up?

JFP in PA · 03:18 PM

That is a definite recipe for disaster. DON”T DO IT! The force of the ram could either break one of the chains, or bend something up top. Bad idea. You could also end up cracking the case, making the engine a boat anchor……..

JUST-IN · 08-21-2011, 03:24 PM

Thanks, Im a stupid body man not a mechenic ill try loosening the tensioners tomorrow and go from there, Thanks again for the advice.

JFP in PA · 08-21-2011, 03:28 PM

Go to LN's website and read up on the correct way to change out an IMS bearing, this site also has pretty good info on it. There are no shortcuts that do not lead to problems......

advantagedent · advantagedent's Garage

****y

advantagedent · advantagedent's Garage

help

JMatta · 08-24-2011, 12:17 PM

Flucked...

JUST-IN · 08-30-2011, 04:58 PM

Got the IMS shaft back into place by taking out the tensioners, came back easy. BUT the chain did jump and now I'm work on realigning the cams.

JFP in PA · 08-30-2011, 05:54 PM

I figured that would be the case, but it is good to hear that you are making progress. While you have gone to all this already, are you going to replace the IMS bearing as part of the process?

JUST-IN · 08-30-2011, 06:14 PM

Yes i am, just got it in yesterday , i bought the one from LM with the tool kit,a new RMS, Clutch disc (it was so close to the rivits) but flywheel, pressure plate is ok.
This all started because i traded wheels with my buddy, but they need spacers for the rear.So I order them ,he sold the car 3 days latter and said if you want the wheels come put your car on blocks, till your spacers come in(he needed my factory wheels for the car he sold)
Then bugged the crap out of me to check the IMS bearing,since its on blocks for the week, so i did and it just went south from there!!!!

JUST-IN · 08-30-2011, 06:21 PM

So next question, With the engine NOW at TDC and locked, and bank 2 timing is ok.We found that with the tensioners out and the cover off the IMS shaft there was enough slack in the chain to let the chain jump again (with help) back . Im trying to do my reseach on how to get the cams timed?Any imput?

JFP in PA · 08-31-2011, 03:27 PM

Sorry I’ve taken so long to get back to you, but I’ve been out of the shop at zoning board hearings, which are worse than watching paint dry……

OK, you have it at TDC, and you think the chains are back where they belong. The OEM manual “cam allocation procedure” (Porsche speak for setting the cam timing) is an overly complicated fourteen page affair that assumes you have totally disassembled the engine, so it really does not apply to your case.

I would start by pulling the two green cam plugs on both ends of the engine, so that you can see the slots in the ends of the cams:

Assuming you have the cam holding tools provided by LN, you should be able to see if they fit into the slots in the ends of the cams:

If the cam retaining tool does drop into the slots without any force, you are probably as close to being in time as you going to get without really getting complicated:

Be sure to replace the green plugs with new ones, do not reuse the old ones or put any sealer on the new ones.

vulcan300 · 09-05-2011, 07:52 PM

Sorry to thread jack but I also have a question related to the IMS shaft cover. I followed the correct procedure, locking out the 1-3 camshaft and then removed the IMS tensioner followed by the 1-3 tensioner before pulling the IMS cover. The shaft moved about .25" up and to the left (driver's side). IS this anything to be concerned about? Should I undo the 4-6 tensioner to make reinstallation easier, or should I just use a little gentle persuasion to guide the cover into place when I reinstall it? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

Ehh, I'm not so sure that if you do this, you're in deep poo. You can loosen the tensioners and then move the shaft with your hand and put the cover back on. Then, recheck the timing. On the 5-chain motors, the timing is not likely to jump. If the timing looks good, then rotate the motor with a wrench, taking care to pull the plugs and make sure there is no resistance as valves open and close (they might be tapping the pistons if you're not careful). If all seems okay, rotate the motor back to TDC and check the timing again. If the timing is visually okay, then you should be all right.

-Wayne