20 captured repliesPartial discussion capture · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHFirst time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Leading reported evidence
Lubricate ball bearing based ims bearing - i'd question
Suggestion or failed attempt
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Suggestion
As far as the higher revs better lubricating a ball bearing based IMS bearing - I'd question that.
First time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
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Leading evidence: 'Lubricate ball bearing based ims bearing - i'd question' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Lubricate ball bearing based ims bearing - i'd question' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
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Suggestion
I believe that higher engine speeds helped lubricate the bearing better after the seal fails.
First time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Run dry
Suggestion or failed attempt
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suggestion
At higher RPMs oil is slung out of the bearing and the bearing was shown to be running dry.
First time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Use ball bearings) made sense
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Discussions that contain suggestions
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Suggestion
The permanent nature of the design (it doesn't use ball bearings) made sense to me, plus at higher RPMs there would be increased oil pressure which would better lubricate that type of bearing.
First time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Use ball bearings) made sense
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Reported fixes
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Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
The permanent nature of the design (it doesn't use ball bearings) made sense to me, plus at higher RPMs there would be increased oil pressure which would better lubricate that type of bearing.
First time I heard of this theory... IMS - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners
Coverage and how to read this overview
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
20 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
986Forum: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T100758Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
In the video below, a comment from user 'Stubahn' claims that IMS failures can be attributed to a certain driving technique from owners who upshift a gear/ or mutliple gears to higher gears when the rpms are too low, thus putting undue pressure on the IMS and eventually that this type of bad driving habit causes the IMS to fail. So it's the driver's fault now.
Video of 996 engine failure while on track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSCPDYuUYL4
"Zee, zhat's vhat ve bin zaying all along!"
Actually, that theory is just the simple inverse of the theory you should drive it hard whereas trying to not drive it hard is actually harder on the engine = Driver's Fault
It was a bad idea to put an anti-friction bearing in an IC engine.
I believe that higher engine speeds helped lubricate the bearing better after the seal fails. This is why I think that tip cars had more failures but I'm only going on what the local Indy says on that one.
And Stubahm's expertise in this area is what?
If I had a buck for all the theories and fixes that have been advanced, I'd go buy that beautiful 718 I saw yesterday.
Lol... in his comments, he claims that Porsche even sent out a TSB to dealers and certified indys telling them to retrofit certain reinforced bolts to protect the engine from those small percentage of drivers with such bad driving habits that would cause their engines to fail due to upshifting in lower RPMS when they shouldn't. You see!...it's the driver's fault!!
LOL, I'll stick with my own theory that things break when they want to be upgraded.
If you replace a part with OEM stock, its just going to have the same problem and fail again.
We have seen many talented innovators on this forum produce upgraded parts that do better than stock in any number of areas.
I suppose carrying this theory to the extreme, we might have upgraded a 986 to the point where it will last forever
We have already seen some with 300,00 miles. Thats 12 times around the earth, or the distance to the moon and half way back.
A theory in conflict with another theory? Yes that will never end.
At least it was based on this Indy's experience of dealing with failed IMS bearings.
JFP - some people I know are known to have more than one! LOL
356Guy - I've read that tips have a lower incidence of IMS bearing failure. As far as the higher revs better lubricating a ball bearing based IMS bearing - I'd question that. I remember seeing a Pedro video where he spun an IMS bearing up in oil. At higher RPMs oil is slung out of the bearing and the bearing was shown to be running dry. I won't base a theory on one test, but it sure had me thinking.
I ended up going with Jake Raby's IMS Solution. The permanent nature of the design (it doesn't use ball bearings) made sense to me, plus at higher RPMs there would be increased oil pressure which would better lubricate that type of bearing.
Yeah I saw that demo. I worked in the rotating equipment business for 20 years. Most of the equipment had splash lube bearings which worked very well. Others ran in an oil mist. The bearing needs very little oil. Too much isn't good either. Small amounts of moisture in the oil is a killer too. LN's bearings are open on the exposed side right? They seem to run fine even though the engine was not designed for a splash lube bearing.
ps I'm going to talk myself out of buying a Boxster at this rate
Whoohoo - the solution. The only way to save your life.
Well, i'm an expert in cooking water to make a hot beverage - for example bad tasting coffee. And what i can tell you is that cooking water is hot. On everything else i can't say anything.
The only hint i have is to think about "theories" yourself.
Regards, Markus
