Does Porsche sell the OEM IMS bearing?

[Jimb15psi]

Does Porsche (or Pelican) sell the OEM IMS bearing?

The dealerships would need them to rebuild engines, correct?

[David G]

The dealerships don't rebuild the engines. They just sell you factory re-manufactured ones. LN Engineering sells an upgraded IMS bearing for reasonable $ and I think they even rent out the tools if needed.

[Jimb15psi]

I think you will find that a few are starting to.
Yes, I'm aware of the L&N bearing.

[David G]

that is the rumor, but I have not heard of anyone having a dealer rebuild their engine yet. Have you, and any idea on cost?

[jwetering]

Raby reports that even dealerships are buying his upgraded bearing for rebuild work.

[David G]

Are they buying them to install the bearing or are they for full rebuilds? I would love to hear from someone that had their engine rebuilt from a dealer. That would mean the indy's will not be far behind and the costs should start dropping. Right now rebuilds seam to cost as much or more then a factory rebuild.

[very~worn~944]

That's the problem....a combination of labor and parts make the factory rebuild cheaper with a good core

[txhokie4life]

My local Porsche Dealership in Austin has told me they have done several IMSRs.
They have not talked about doing complete rebuilds.

I personally know that there are indies here doing rebuilds.

m

[NOTASIX]

A FEW dealerships have done rebuilds.. I have assisted a couple with performance builds.

We have supplied the IMSR to INDIVIDUALS that work at Porsche Dealerships to apply to cars, either on or off the radar... I haven't sold any directly to a dealership, because they say that it can't be done and the parts don't exist to support it.. Buying one would kinda disprove that :-)

We've been supporting Indy's with an engine rebuild program for two years, well before any dealers were doing the work. Our focus has changed from producing engines in house to training other shops to do the work. I hosted an M96 Rebuild School last week and have four more slotted for 2010.

Prices on these engines will NEVER be cheap, hell it takes three solid days just to clean all the components to prepare for assembly!

[David G]

I'm surprised at all the talk of IMS failures on the web, yet places like Consumer Reports still list the 996 as a good buy and the engine as reliable. Makes you wonder what the real numbers and issues are.

[KNS]

I was having a Tech inspection done on my 911SC today at a local Porsche indy (track day coming up). There was a 996 engine sitting on a stand in one corner and I had asked him about their reliability and some of the failure issues. He said his shop has seen many failures come in but that the good news is that with Jake Raby's improvements, there is some bright spots for these engines. In fact, he said that he has seen people looking to purchase the water cooled models and use Jake's updates (whether they have been performed on a prospective car or not) as a negotiating tool!

[David G]

I agree that it is a good thing to have people like LN looking into improvements. I keep toying with the idea of either selling mine or keeping. If I keep it, I would consider doing the upgrade as well with the next clutch job.

[Wayne 962]

The original bearing itself is not available off the shelf. You can buy the original dual-row bearing - it's a standard part. The single row one is not - you need a spacer if you wish to use it.

-Wayne