Just installed IMS Solution DIY

It's winter maintenance time in Canada! So I bought my car last winter with little service history so decided since she performed well this past summer she deserved some well deserved maintenance. I purchased the IMS Solution and Pro/Supplemental tool kits from a Rennlister that bought everything only to discover afterwards that his car had the engine replaced and he now has the larger non replaceable bearing. So I thought I would add a couple of notes here about my install to help others. Kudos to Charles at LN who answered a few questions for me very promptly when I needed some clarification. I would put this job "up there" in the difficulty range for a do it yourselfer; if your are pretty confident in your abilities and have lots of tools and experience you will be OK (I owned a couple 928's so I can do anything, lol). Also, as a data point, my 2002 with 75,000 miles had a pretty tight single row bearing, with no grease inside it, just a light film of oil. 1. If you are doing this job, in the car, on a 996, I would highly recommend the faultless tools. The Pro kit is great for pulling the bearing, but the solution bearing is a very tight fit on install, and the cross member is right in the way of swinging the plastic hammer. I ended up using some of the other drivers in the kit as extensions, but that makes it a bit awkward to hold while driving with a hammer. Just pressing it in would be much better. 2. When cutting the notch in the bellhousing, I had to grind a bit of the casting that the case bolt threads into to get clearance for the oil line. This is normal I was told. I found a dremel with a course sanding wheel made this easy to do, and safe from damaging anything. 3. The kit comes with an o-ring, but the instructions and video don't mention it. There is a pre-installed o-ring inside the IMS flange to seal the stud, this additional o-ring slips onto the shaft and goes behind the nut just for a secondary measure. 4. The instructions show torquing the IMS center bolt without counter holding it. I found this to be impossible in my case as the shaft kept wanting to turn. The nut is a special 12 pt and requires a 7/16 12 pt thin wall socket that is supplied in the tool kit. In order to torque properly, I took a 12 pt 7/16 wrench, ground it down to make it thin wall and welded a nut onto it. This allowed me to counter hold the shaft with a large flat blade screwdriver while I torqued it. If you decide to make one of these, make sure you have the torque wrench at a 90 deg angle to the 7/16 wrench, this way you can use the prescribed torque values. Onto the next project!

Congratulations! I'm impressed that you did this with the engine in the car. I wondered about the O-ring. I ended up concluding that it was intended as a spare for the one on the bearing shaft. I find no sign of any leak thus far (sure hope I don't develop one). Directions should certainly mention this O-ring. I pondered the question of how to torque the "triple-square" nut while holding the shaft with a screwdriver. Fortunately, I was able to hand-tighten things to the point where no further screwdriver help was needed and the included socket could be used alone. One trick for better "hammer access" is to use a chunk of wood between hammer and bearing insertion tool. In anticipation of various 996 projects, a while back I bought one of these torque adapters - which has proven to be a very useful tool.

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I was seriously looking at those, but then by luck I was able to score the "Mack Daddy" of torque wrenches from a mechanic!

im also debating between the ims pro bearing or just going for the solution...my problem is im gonna have to take it to a shop cause i dont have access to a lift.. it doable in the floor but i dont have the time or enough tools to feel brave enough for a diy.. somebody should do a step by step on how to install the solution...

IMSS step by step http://theimssolution.com/wp-content...nual-05-16.pdf

The instruction linked by Ahsai are very good. Here's what I would add (from memory, having done this to my 2004 996 C2 2 weeks ago): Supplies needed: Lint-free rags Green cam-end covers - qty 2 (removing the old covers destroys them) Cam chain tensioner aluminum seal rings - qty 3 Tools needed (in addition to normal screwdrivers, metric sockets & wrenches, etc.): 1. IMS Pro toolkit + IMS Supplemental toolkit 2. 32mm socket 3. 14mm hex driver 4. Snap ring pliers 5. Torque wrench 6. Power tool for cutting the oil line notch 7. External Torx sockets 8. 9/16" wrench Notes: #1 - pretty much essential (Unless you are absurdly clever, I don't think you can reasonably expect success without these.) #2 - for 2 cam chain tensioners at the transmission end of the engine #3 - for 1 cam chain tensioner at the "belt" end of the engine #4 - for the internal snap ring (You'll be much happier if these are top quality.) #6 - Dremel, "whiz wheel", die grinder, or similar (Much preferable to hand saws and files.) #8 - for the flare fittings on the oil feed line (9/16" = 14.3mm, which means that no metric wrench will work.) Doing a neat job of cutting the notch is the tricky step. It would be helpful to make a cover for the bearing opening so you can do cycles of "Cut - Check - Cut some more" without getting aluminum chips inside your engine (with patience & care, you could use the old bearing cover for this, though it takes some time and trouble to insert and remove it). Note that this is based on experience with a 2004 engine with the single-row bearing. I expect things are slightly different with earlier engines.

Due to deviations with engine block castings, this step will remain a variable. Mr. Raby has developed a tool for locating, and machining the notch. L am unsure if any distributors will pick it up. It is currently at the Patent process.

cant you just take the old cover.put it on top of the new one mark it..then put it on engine and u have a mark were u have to cut

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No, the old cover does not incorporate an oil port.

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i mean as far as a mock up...so u can line up the hole

Tried the Mothers Mag and Aluminum wheel stuff and it did not work. The exhaust tips on my 2002 Cab are dull and need help. Will try the White Diamond polish next! Bill