Question on Boxster Intermediate Shaft Bearing

[vulcan300]

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the very thorough and informative article. I do have a few questions which I hope you can answer.

- In your article you say that the chain tensioners on the left and right should be only be loosened slightly. However you later day that they should be removed and the crush washers replaced. Is it OK to remove them completely taking all pressure off the chains? If they can be removed completely is there a particular point in the procedure where this can be done safely?
- Are the set screws used in place of the factory camshaft locks? If all four camshafts are locked in position using the appropriate tools with engine locked at TDC do I still need to isolate the movement of the intermediate shaft sprocket with set screws to keep it from floating?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.

Jeremy

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Intermediate Shaft Bearing Replacement and Upgrade (IMS) - 986 Boxster (1997-04) - 987 Boxster (2005-06)

[Wayne 962]

You should be able to remove one chain tensioner at a time when the engine is completely assembled, without having any issues with losing the timing.

The set screws are used to hold the intermediate shaft in place, which has nothing to do with the camshafts being held in place. You use the camshaft tools to lock the camshaft in place so the timing won't slip. If you have all of the camshafts locked in place, then the timing should not slip. However, I still like the set screws in this case because the tensioners will tend to move the intermediate shaft around, and you will have to realign it when you tighten down the new IMS bearing (which can be difficult to do).

- Wayne