Wayne, I think he said he had all three tensioners removed. Unless he put them back in before trying to reinstall the IMS plate. SmileWavy
There should be enough slack at this point to be able to grab the plate with your hands and pull it over enough to get a bolt started. I'm doing one right now too on an 02 996.

Maybe if you could use a channel lock type pliers to pull it in the direction you need to go.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1335999257.jpg
This is the factory tool for centering the flange. It won't work on the LN Eng. bearing though. (different threads)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1335999422.jpg

Yup. Removed all three tensioners. They are still out, cleaned up and in their baggies waiting for me to figure this out.

Ok, Dan. Heading down to grab the channel locks . . .

Dan, you are a God. Took 2 seconds (ok, maybe 5) and centered the flange with the channel locks providing some persuasion.

Now, I just need to drive that RMS in straight . . .

This forum is awesome.

Woooo Hoooo! Congratulations! I'm sure you were gentle when you did it. I forgot to ad that one word. A little persuasion like you said was all that was needed.
As far as the RMS goes, it has a set distance that it goes in. Not sure off the top of my head what that is. I am going to replace the one on the car I am working on tomorrow. I'll post back with the correct depth. We have the factory tool, so not much guess work there. ;)

Cool. I've never had any issues just using a little bit of force to get it in place...

-Wayne

Thanks for the support. Bala - you were right - the "cannon" was a bust. RMS went in crooked. Lucky I bought two seals so I could take multiple runs at it. I'm thinking about getting the proper tool and making sure I don't have to do this twice.

I'm replacing the tensioners because I get a nasty valve-type noise for a couple of seconds on a cold start and it bugs me. If they fix the problem, it was worth it. I bought this car for the whole experience, and getting rid of the IMS worries, the startup noise, and a nagging coolant leak will go a long way toward putting a smile on my face when I jump in the driver's seat.

Logical? No way. But this wasn't a logical purchase.

Oh, and I really enjoy the wrench-turning as well . . . .

Wanna switch jobs? :D

I'd "think twice" about buying the correct tooling; the three component tool cost nearly $500, and the tool only works on the M96/97. It can be done with the $3 PVC connector, you just need to be careful and watch what you are doing.

Here is the measurement depth for installing the new RMS. 13MM
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336064907.jpg

Dan: Nope don't want to switch jobs. I find that my hobbies lose their appeal quickly when I do them for someone else. I deal with software all day, and it's a great switch to work with my hands on physical stuff. We build the software that controls unmanned fighter jets for the DoD . . .

JFP: Yup, you're right. I definitely don't want to buy this tooling. My operations guy happens to own a bunch of machine tools and offered to make something like the Cheetah tool: http://www.cheetahonline.com/technical-articles/rms-seal-replacement-on-m-96-porsche-engine/

Gonna try that, since it looks like a pretty elegant solution. Not sure how I'd get the seal precisely set at Dan's 13mm depth with just the PVC coupling as a driver . . .

No worries about the job switch. your's sound interesting though. :D
I had a whole bunch more pics that I took today to upload but Pelican has been down all day. They are all on my work camera and today is my Friday. I'm done for the week so to speak. I'm surprised you can see the RMS depth photo. (I can't at this time) Pelican is still down here.
I am planning on doing a whole new thread on IMS and RMS replacement but don't want to steal from this thread.

The entire “trick” to using a 3 ½ inch ID PVC coupler is getting the seal in straight, and that the coupler has a ridge inside of it to set the pipe insertion depth. You use this ridge by getting a couple of Allen head cap screws (you may need washers depending upon what the cap screw head diameter is) that will sit on that internal ridge when they are screwed into the crank flange. Using three of four cap screws, you use a cross pattern process to tighten the caps screws by hand to gently and correctly pull the seal into position. Not as elegant, or as quick, as the OEM tool; but definitely one Hell of a lot cheaper for a tool you may only use once or twice in your life, and it works.

JFP - Success! (I think). I used your method this afternoon and got the RMS in very, very accurately with a minimum of fuss.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336166439.jpg

I reused my old flywheel bolts as part of the "JFP Tooling". Four bolts fit very nicely inside the PVC coupling, grabbing it by the internal ridge intended for the PVC pipe to bed against. Turns out the thread pitch for flywheel bolts is is 1 mm per rotation, making it incredibly easy to get the RMS at whatever depth you need. After sliding the RMS off its mounting ring and onto the crankshaft end, I rested the coupling on the RMS and started each bolt with a half a turn to get the theads engaged. I counted turns as I spun the bolts in equally until the RMS was flush with the block. I took the whole thing off and checked the depth from the crankshaft face: 9.9mm in my case. I put the arrangement back on and turned the bolts three more turns each (1/2 a turn at time to keep things even). Popped the JFP Tooling off, checked the depth, and had a consistent 13 plus or minus .1 mm depth. Wow. I counted turns coming out at the intermediate step, so that I could quickly get back to the same depth for the final push.

Beautiful stuff.

Total cost for the JFP RMS Custom Tool: $3.24

where did you get the tube with the ridge?

The PVC connector is a Lowes/Home Depot item.

Glad I could be of help, and you are $500-$3.24=$496.76 ahead of the game........