What tools are needed for a home IMS bearing job...

[Yuta]

I've been thinking of doing it for a long time. I changed clutch on my 944 and my truck... I think with some efforts, I can do it myself..... Now I wanna know what kind of special tools are needed.

1, when pull the bearing out, what kind of bearing puller is needed? Just a regular one? I have two pullers, one small, the other bigger.. not sure if they are going to fit the job... Anyone who can tell me the size of the bearing? like OD & ID...

2, What tool to install the bearing? Need to buy a special tool? Where to get them? Or is there a solution to use a common tools?

3, If I am going to do the job, I am going to buy the pelicanparts kit instead of the LN kit...just because the previous one costs so much less... and I dont think i am willing to pay 600bucks just for a bearin kit.....Anyone tried the pelicanparts IMS bearing kit yet? Can you share some info with me ??

4, Are there any other special tools are needed????

Thank you guys... im goning to do it when it gets warmer.... I dont hve a garage...

[tonythetarga]

Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Intermediate Shaft Bearing Replacement and Upgrade (IMS) - 986 Boxster (1997-04) - 987 Boxster (2005-06)

read this tech article.. There are a lot of these in the Tech Article section.

[mikefocke]

I'm going to do major surgery on my car's engine that could cost the engine if I do it wrong and I have no real experience inside an engine. I'm going to buy by price without considering the relative merits of alternative parts. I'm making these decisions obviously before doing any homework.

Good luck. Gonna try do it yourself heart surgery next?

I've had excellent results dividing maintenance into things I can do, things I ought to pay a mechanic to do and things I ought to pay lots more for a Porsche expert to do. The IMS falls in the latter category to me.

[Steve986]

Mike,

I have no skin in this game (heck, I even agree with you and generally appreciate your posts), but geez, Mike, you sound a little snippy here. If this forum is about anything it's about folks doing their own work... and that includes an IMS job. If this guys has the balls to do this himself let's answer the guy's questions and give him a hand. He appears to understand how difficult it's going to be (if not he'll find out).

I must say, sometimes this forum sounds like a high school clique.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Steve986

Mike,

I have no skin in this game (heck, I even agree with you and generally appreciate your posts), but geez, Mike, you sound a little snippy here. If this forum is about anything it's about folks doing their own work... and that includes an IMS job. If this guys has the balls to do this himself let's answer the guy's questions and give him a hand. He appears to understand how difficult it's going to be (if not he'll find out).

I must say, sometimes this forum sounds like a high school clique.

OK, some perspective here; while I can fully appreciate the OP’s situation on how to get started, I also more than recognize where Mike is coming from. Running a specialty shop, we have seen more than our share of DIY IMS upgrades that have gone horribly wrong, either because the owner lacked the correct tools, knowledge, or the ability to follow directions.

When you get involved in doing one of these, you a literally holding the heart of a $20K lump in your hands. Use the correct tools, follow the directions, and you will have no problems. Short cut either of those and the probability of either a disaster or a rather large shop bill becomes a very rapidly increasing reality on the horizon.

I would suggest that the OP visits several sites (LN Engineering, FlatSix, RennTech, etc.) and read the DIY postings on the subject, develop a list of what was used for the project . There are many things required to do one of these, some are common shop tools, and others are specific to the job. At the end of the day, he may find that is would cost more to acquire what is needed (The project specific tools are a couple hundred bucks, the general shop tools needed would run several times that) than to farm the project out to someone that already has them. On that basis, he can then make an informed decision on how he wants to proceed.

[thom4782]

Agree in general with Mike and JFP. If you want more insight, the video at the following URL will give you a sense of the tools and retrofit procedure: Porsche 911 Carrera (996) 1999-2005 - Intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing DIY, how to replace - YouTube

[Steve986]

Maybe I'm being a little touchy, here, but I don't appreciate condescension just because a guy asks for a little advice. That's all I'm saying. I mean, this is a DIY forum, is it not?

[JFP in PA]

I’ve known Mike for a long time; he does not have a malicious bone in his body. Hell, the man is retired, and instead of working on his golf handicap, he shows up here trying to offer some guidance based upon solid years of experience. A former moderator on one of the major Porsche forums, he also has a website of his own with encyclopedic information about Porsches that is extremely useful for the DIY’ers. And he has also seen more than one if these driveway projects come to tears.

Trying to assess if someone is fully prepared and equipped to undertake a project is very difficult at best. Just about any answer you throw out is going to offend someone, even though it was made with the best of intentions. And as this particular instance involves some substantial risk if you get it wrong, his “heart surgery” comment was not far off the mark. This is not a project for everyone to consider undertaking, no matter how well equipped they are, or how much automotive background they have. If you are not experienced with these engine’s, or do not have absolutely everything you need to do it lined up, perhaps you should reconsider and do more research on the subject.

This is something that even the so-called “factory trained technician’s” can completely screw up in a shop with multiples of everything needed to do the job; so it is realistic to express some level of caution, which is not intended to demean the individual asking the question as you have no background on how prepared they are to deal with what needs to be accomplished.

[Steve986]

As far as i can tell the guy just asked about tools. Next thing you know he's being told he's not up to the job. Sounds kinda' snippy if you ask me..

Done.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Steve986

As far as i can tell the guy just asked about tools. Next thing you know he's being told he's not up to the job. Sounds kinda' snippy if you ask me..

Done.

Hey guys, keep it civil, you don't want to make the moderator actually do some work....

Snippy, perhaps a little. Or trying to get the point across firmly. I've been wrenching my own porsche for 20+years, and did my own IMS. Most nerve wracking job I did.

OP: If you are going to try it, tread carefully, read all you can, and listen to the experts. I bought the LN tools from Pelican, used the LN bearing, and made my own tool for installing the rear seal. Spent dozens of hours doing research. I probably wouldn't do it again, and I certainly wouldn't do it if I didn't have the tools, a lift, and a garage to work in. My engine was out of the car at the time.

[Yuta]

hey guys....it is just a boxster....it is just an IMS bearing... u chnge it when you replace your clutch...what is the big deal of it....
I just want to know what kind of special tools are needed and where to get them..
I am not a mechnic for living...but I had changed the cluch on my truck. I had changed the clutch on my Porsche 944,, I have read Wayne's book.....I personally don't think it is that difficult.....welll maybe im too naive...I will let you guys know if I mess up....cool?

[Steve986]

Found this installation guide a while back (I think someone posted it here, can't remember) The Porsche Boxster 986 Enthusiast Guide: Intermediate Shaft (IMS) Bearing Info and Fixes

But you'd better not try this yourself. This is not a job for mere mortals, just sayin'. Something bad might happen, then where will you be?

[Rot 911]

It's definitely doable, but also be honest about your abilities before you start the task. There are many places for things to go wrong if you don't correctly follow the directions. This is not just a "change the clutch" task, it takes a long time to do. Just go slow, follow all of the directions.

[Meirschwartz]

hi Yuta.
i just completed the task this weekend (but the mission is not complete).
replaced IMSB and new clutch along some other parts on the way (RMS AOS coolant tank, engine mount...)
the only special tools you will need, are for locking the cams, extracting to old bearing and installing the new one. all comes in the LN tool kit.
the main risk with doing this job is loosing timing between the cams and crank.
so you need to pay a lot of attention to the "locking" procedure.
i took JFP advice, and followed the LN instructions to the word, and double checked my self on every step.
prior to attempting this task, i read as much as i can about the process, for more then a year now.
the whole process of locking, extracting and installing the new bearing, took me 45 minutes, including checking my self 5 times for timing skip.
the bearing came out pretty easy, and the new one went in just the same.
with that said, many had issues with extracting or installing the bearing.
i read a lot of posts when the IMS was not centered, and the bearing did not go in.
was i lucky?
ill found out next weekend when ill start the car for the first time.

BTW i found out that the hardest part for me in this project was replacing the RMS.
requires a lot of patience that i don't have. try to get your hands on the RMS installation tool (very expensive to buy) if you can.
or do a lot of yoga before you attempt it.

[tomk]

Hi,
I am a newbie to Boxsters but like Yuta have done this sort of thing in terms of complexity on several other cars. I found that the various writeups to be very adequate in terms of letting me know what to do and to decide if I was up to the task. It sounds a bit daunting but many many others have gone before you without incident, I'm guessing this all depends on how confident you are after reading up on the various procedures.
I purchased the Pelican bearing rather than the LN kit and 5K miles later it seems fine ( I know this has service life limited value for your decision) but in my case my car has high miles and I bought it for short money with other problems so I decided not to get too much wrapped up in the project, but this is just my case and not yours. Like Meirscheartz says, getting the cams and crank locked will greatly diminish your risk of other things going wrong.
Good Luck and if I can offer any other information from my project feel free to ask.

[tomk]

Regarding the RMS and the above post, I purchased a PVC plumbing sleeve from the local hardware store ( high tech huh?) and used it to drive the RMS into place while checking for depth and uniformity with a digital caliper. I remember reading to reference the depth from the end of the crank and not the flange housing since the flange housing is too irregular. So far, 5k miles, no leaks. Hope this helps, and Good luck

[Meirschwartz]

Originally Posted by tomk

Regarding the RMS and the above post, I purchased a PVC plumbing sleeve from the local hardware store ( high tech huh?) and used it to drive the RMS into place while checking for depth and uniformity with a digital caliper. I remember reading to reference the depth from the end of the crank and not the flange housing since the flange housing is too irregular. So far, 5k miles, no leaks. Hope this helps, and Good luck

yes.
i did the same thing, just didn't expect it to go that hard.
so at first try, i pound it to hard, and you can guess the result.
this procedure defiantly calls for a lot of patience.

[Yuta]

Originally Posted by tomk

Regarding the RMS and the above post, I purchased a PVC plumbing sleeve from the local hardware store ( high tech huh?) and used it to drive the RMS into place while checking for depth and uniformity with a digital caliper. I remember reading to reference the depth from the end of the crank and not the flange housing since the flange housing is too irregular. So far, 5k miles, no leaks. Hope this helps, and Good luck

Thanks a lot tomk and Meirscheartz,

you are definitely right that locking crankshaft and cam is very important.. I read Wayne's book,,,Looks like locking the crank only requres a drill bit... but locking the cam need a special tool....which i guess would be pretty expensive.... Any other cheap way to do it?? And my car is 02 so it has 5 chains... it has less chance of skipping the timing chain compared with latter models... but i guess i still need to lock the cam...
I am not going to do it now ....probably its gonna be two month latter when it gets warmer outside...im just gathering informations..and minimize the chance of messing up...

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Yuta

Thanks a lot tomk and Meirscheartz,

you are definitely right that locking crankshaft and cam is very important.. I read Wayne's book,,,Looks like locking the crank only requres a drill bit... but locking the cam need a special tool....which i guess would be pretty expensive.... Any other cheap way to do it?? And my car is 02 so it has 5 chains... it has less chance of skipping the timing chain compared with latter models... but i guess i still need to lock the cam...
I am not going to do it now ....probably its gonna be two month latter when it gets warmer outside...im just gathering informations..and minimize the chance of messing up...

Locking the cams is critical. The tools are not that expensive, and there is a resale market for them. You probably can find a used set. Don't "cheap out" on this.

[tomk]

i bought the cam locking tools and as JFP says they are not that expensive. The engagement pins on the tool to the end of the cam shaft are not symmetrical, so you might need to move the crank another revolution to get the cam tool to engage. This is one of those things that once you see it you will see what I mean. Good Luck!