My IMS Solution DIY installation thread...

Greetings. A few members requested that I post pics and updates related to my IMS Solution install on my recently acquired 2003 C4S. BIG DISCLAIMER - READ THIS FIRST: This is my DIY install. I am not a mechanic. Throughout this process I have made a few silly mistakes that required me to go back and re-do things from time to time. This is not a reflection of the product at all but rather my unfamiliarity with it and the Porsche 996 in general. I happen to enjoy the process of learning to take things apart and put them back together - even if I make some mistakes along the way, but it is not for everyone. If you want an IMS Solution - I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND ONE - and if you aren't 100% comfortable working on your car - I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND having it professionally installed. Thus far my experience with the product, the tools and the people behind them has been absolutely first class . In total this project took me just under 1 month. I made a few silly mistakes that added to the total time, and had to wait for parts to ship on several occasions. A shop, with a lift, and all parts on hand, that has done this before, could probably knock it out in a day or two. Me, laying on my back, with 15" of clearance from floor to underbody, never having worked on a 996 before, took a month - and it was pretty intense. All together I put in the IMS Solution, replaced clutch/pressure plate/release bearing/flywheel and clutch slave cylinder, drained and replaced fluid in transaxle and front differential, replaced both front diff output shaft seals, replaced 1 output shaft seal on the rear and (obviously) did an oil change. Post-project cost summary (my best guesses, not exact) - I already had a low profile floor jack, work light, one set of jack stands, air compressor, various sockets/wrenches/pliers: Mandatory (in my opinion): 1,860.45 IMS Solution (after tax and shipping) 525 LN Engineering IMS Pro Toolkit and Supplemental 100 New synthetic oil Other costs (if you don't have them already): 130 Harbor Freight Transmission Jack and 4 jack stands 25 HF Creeper (it sucked and I stopped using it half way through the project as the wheels didn't roll well) 100 Misc tools (various extensions, hex bits, torx bits, swivel heads, socket adapters) 25 3/8 drive air ratchet 30 Craftsman torque wrench (you can rent these free at AutoZone) 30 Spline grease, sealant, gasket maker, loc-tite, etc 17 c-clip pliers Other parts (optional depending on condition) 550 Clutch, pressure plate and release bearing 850 Dual mass flywheel 160 Clutch slave cylinder 27 Brake fluid 50 Motive pressure brake bleeder In addition, I replaced one output shaft seal in the transaxle and both output shaft seals on the front differential and replaced the fluid in both: 125 Seals 14 Seal puller 200 5 quarts of Porsche transmission fluid 30 Drain plugs and crush washers ----------------------------- 4,848.45 What follows is a summary. I'll try not to repeat information already readily available in the great Pelican articles related to transmission removal - but rather add my supplemental commentary and general status updates. For reference, here is a fantastic guide to dropping your transmission: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...on_Removal.htm To begin with, I read that article along with the instructions included with the IMS Solution - multiple times. Then, I re-read. Knowing about things like the 10mm trisquare bolt ahead of time are a lifesaver. I ordered online and made a few trips to the store to get what I believe are all of the supplemental tools that I'll need including additional jack stands and transmission jack. In addition, I had to order two toolkits from LN Engineering - the pro toolkit and supplemental toolkit. They are back-ordered for the IMS Solution but I found them in stock from ECS Tuning and had one at my door in about 36 hours. To kick things off there is a pre-install checklist from LN related to engine health. I don't have all of the specialized tools necessary but I went through it and completed it the best that I could. I just finished a 900 mile drive and consider the engine to be strong and running very well. Removed oil filler cap while running to check for stall (it kept running). Drained oil and removed lower sump cover to check for debris (very small amount of clear/brown plastic - see pic) from what I've read people generally consider this to be normal. I also discovered that someone had installed a magnetic oil drain plug previously. No check engine lights or rough idle to speak of. The oil filter was also completely clear. Before you begin it recommends disconnecting the battery. I rolled down each window a few inches and popped frunk and engine compartment prior to disconnecting battery. Jacking the car up was a PITA, but primary because it was the first time I'd done it, and I was be extra cautious. I've found some instructions online but figured I'll include my process for good measure. To start with, there are only 5 jacking points that I used to get it up on jack stands. The 4 specially designated jacking points located just inside the wheels on either side of the car - and the rear (heavy duty) aluminum cross member just in front of the engine. Break the rear lugs loose first - also put the car in gear / e-brake / use blocks behind wheels / etc. Be safe, slow and careful. To start with I jacked one of the rear jacking points until the front of the car lifted high enough for a jack stand. Carefully lowered onto the jack stand and repeated the process on the other side with a slightly higher stand setting. Then, back to the first side, and back and forth until I had the car at a height I was satisfied with. Once the front of the car was in the air, my low profile jack could not reach the cross member without colliding with the bottom of the engine. To resolve this, I cut up a 2x8' into squares and stacked 2 under each rear tire (using the rear jacking points to raise). Now I could get the jack in from directly behind the car and raise (very slowly) the rear of the car up - while frequently checking the front jack stands to make sure they were staying in place. Set the rear jack stands to the same setting as the front and carefully lower down - the car should be sitting nice and level now. Afterwards I removed the underbody plastic and took a look at what I was going to be dealing with. That concluded day 1. Day 2: I had my dad come over to keep me company and stand guard in case the car happened to fall on me - at least someone would be there to call for help or try to jack it up. Then I removed the rear wheels (these things are WIDE!!!) and placed them under each edge of the car as an added measure of safety. I re-installed the lower sump plate with oil proof liquid gasket. The Pelican article mentions an aluminum cross member (not the one you used as a jacking point) but never specifically says to remove it .. you have to remove it. Two bolts, super easy. Overall things moved slowly. I had particular trouble getting the shift linkage popped off (eventually used two screw drivers, one on each side to lever them off) and then the shift cables out of the bracket. Adding a little oil where they were being held helped and then it came down to leverage. Having various socket extensions, wrenches and ratchets definitely helps. The bolts on the CV joints were fairly straight forward and didn't really give me any trouble. The slave cylinder bolts weren't terrible, the bottom one was definitely the trickiest. Transmission bell housing bolts were hit/miss. Some were cake others were a royal pain. They're all different so make a template ahead of time to mark their position so you get them in the right holes when it goes back in. The top bolt - 12 o'clock position - was completely out of sight and the biggest pain of them all. I don't think its possible without a swivel connector and extension. I ended up getting it with a 1/2" drive ratchet, 6 or so inch extension, swivel, 16mm socket. I basically hugged the tranny (one around going up around each side) and used the metal lug nut wrench from the spare tire kit to lay between the extension and transmission so I had something to lever against. That's it for Day 2. The next step is to begin loosening the actual transmission mounts and I wanted to wait until I was fresh for that step. Since this is AWD and the article is for 2WD models, I need to unhook the driveshaft that runs to the front of the car. From what I can tell - the front transmission mount/bracket needs to be removed in order to access the bolts to do this. Cheers Charlie

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BTW, you've probably seen those already but just in case since you only quoted the Pelican article. There are 3 documents here you will need to read if you have not http://theimssolution.com/

Great writeup, Charlie! looking forward to the rest of "the series."

Day 3 : the transmission is out. Beginning to fully appreciate the amount of work involved. So far I would definitely not classify this project as easy. It is definitely straight forward, at least on paper, but given space constraints when working under the car it is not for the faint of heart. I'm also very glad I decided to stop last night and tackle actually splitting the tranny from the engine when I was fresh. A quick note is that the article calls out bolt sizes, which is extremely helpful - however some of the sizes mentioned in the article don't match up with my particular car. Specifically, the bolts for the transmission bracket turned out to be 15mm for me (not 16mm). The nuts for the upper bracket are on studs and required a deep well 15mm sock (or wrench, but they're pretty tight so use a socket and larger ratchet if you can). I used a 24" breaker bar, 10 or so inch extension and swivel head on the 15mm deep well to break these loose - there are coolant hoses that get in the way but they can flex enough to get to what you need. The procedure went much like described in the Pelican article with a few key exceptions related to the AWD system. The first is that I could not fully remove the upper transmission bracket. I believe this is because the AWD transmission is a bit longer, and there just wasn't space even with the front tilted down. It turned out it wasn't necessary to remove it completely so as long as you remove the bolts and its loose you're good. The second difference was un-bolting the drive shaft from the transmission. This is actually much easier than I thought it was - and I spent quite a bit of wasted time because I didn't realize how they were coupled. First, you should remove the lower transmission mounting bracket - this gives access to the bolts holding the drive shaft to transmission. There are 6 bolts, three going in front rear to front and 3 from front to rear. The 3 from rear to front at hex head bolts and my hex head socket was too long to work with them. The good news is - you don't have to remove them! There is a rubber dampener/coupler between the two parts so you need only remove bolts from one side or the other - then you can pry them apart and you're good to go. The bolts running in from front to rear were standard 6 point heads and MUCH easier to access and break loose. Once the drive shaft is disconnected it does get in the way a bit - but if you're careful and patient you can maneuver and lower the transmission without removing it from the front differential. Once the transmission was out I zip tied the drive shaft up and out of the way. Which, brings us to getting the transmission out... I didn't put the car up high enough - and I knew this but I was paranoid about it falling off jack stands or being unstable trying to go too high. So, there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell the transmission was going to fit out on the transmission jack. The solution? With help, we lifted/rolled the transmission off the jack and onto a doubled up piece of cardboard. In order to get it out, it had to come out on its side because it is more narrow than tall - and I basically slid it out on the cardboard from the back corner of the car. Once out from under the car, we just picked it up and put it back on the transmission jack. The transmission itself only weighs 120lb or so, so with two people it isn't too bad if you can get a good angle to lift. Once the transmission is pulled, the front of the engine has nothing to support it - and it doesn't stick out far enough forward to rest on the heavy cross member. As stated in the Pelican article you need to use a floor jack initially while decoupling the tranny and then place jack stands under it as a more permanent solution. This is where I made a small error that cost me some time. The jack took up most of the space below the engine and didn't leave me a place for the jack stands. I don't have another floor jack, so it took a little planning to figure out what to do next. Ultimately, I used the crank jack from the tire kit and some blocks of wood to take the weight off the main jack temporarily. Then, I slide a 2x8 that was roughly 24" long between the oil sump plate and my main jack. This gave me ample room to place a jack stand at either end of the 2x8 without them being in the way of my floor jack. Once the stands were in place, lowered the main jack out of the way and engine is supported. Removing the pressure plate was actually quite a bit more difficult than I expected. My initial thought was that they would simply fall of when I removed the last of the six bolts, but that wasn't the case. I tried hitting the plate with a rubber mallet, prying, re-installing the bolts and loosening again, nothing worked. Eventually I pried it off with considerable force using the back end of a breaker bar - but it wasn't easy. A safety note, and I didn't think of or realize this at the time, I believe the clutch dust is toxic and shouldn't be inhaled. Apparently spraying some water on the pressure plate and clutch prior to really starting to work will keep the dust from going airborne and getting in your lungs. The clutch itself is in surprisingly good shape for 94,000 miles and the pressure plate bolts all came out relatively easily (I've read online these can be a nightmare) making me think it may have been replaced at some point (I didn't get any service records with the car). The pressure plate is still on the car (coming off tomorrow) but the spring/return action seems to be working perfectly. No pitting, glazing from what I can tell but there is a definite worn ring the same and width of the clutch disc. Once I get the pressure plate off the car I'll post some pictures - but right now I'm struggling with the decision whether to replace, re-use or resurface. I called a local machine shop and they said they can resurface dual mass flywheels - but I've read contradicting reports as to whether that is actually possible. Given the effort involved in this the last thing I want to do is to repeat it due to vibrations from an incorrectly resurfaced flywheel. One last thing - I may have damaged or broken my slave cylinder yesterday when I removed it. The boot and rod/plunger were attached to the transmission when I pulled it out from under the car. I just noticed this and haven't looked at the cylinder itself (still in the car - but no fluid leaking so thats a good sign). I'm not sure if that piece just pulls out and can easily be re-inserted or if I snapped it off. If its broken, it is because when I was removing it I was actually pulling it away from the transmission housing towards the driver side of the car - this is wrong - it should be pulled towards the FRONT of the car. I mistakenly assumed it came out sideways because that was the direction the bolts came out. Its in a tough spot to see, so be sure not to make that mistake. EDIT: The slave cylinder was fine - I just pulled the boot off when removing it. (spoiler alert) Later, I destroyed it by mis-aligning it when reinstalling though. On a side note, I noticed a small spot of oil on my garage floor when I first brought the car home and parked it overnight. It is about 5/8 of the way towards the front, on the driver's side. I suspected the front differential because I don't think oil is circulated from the engine anywhere that far up? Unless, is there an oil cooler in the front of the car? Although the diff is dirty I don't see anything obvious. My plan is to remove it as well, and drain/measure the fluid. If its full I'm thinking maybe its not worth worrying about - but if its low/empty I may have to invoke the drivetrain warranty that I purchased with the car. Cheers Charlie

Very nice write up Charlie, keep us posted.

You're a brave man wish I had the tools and the expertise. Great write-up. Will Raby Engine Development warranty the IMS Solution if self-installed?

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My company shares no part of the IMS Solution warranty, or etc. Its my inventions, but hasn't been my product since it hit the open market in 2011. We do not distribute, or sell any IMS Solution kits, or components. The same goes for any parts, we are developers, and builders of engines, and have nothing else to sell except our reconstructed engines. That said, there's never been a single IMS Solution warranty claim, to my knowledge; but, only units installed by trained, Certified IMS Solution Installers are covered by a warranty. The best warranty is the one you never need. Thats always my goal. Kudos to the OP, this is NOT an easy task without a lift. If you need any help, email me at [email removed]

Charlie, Great write up and extraordinary attention to detail, but please stay safe. My father in law is a mechanic and has owned a shop for more than 25 years. He could share many heartbreaking stories of people getting seriously hurt or killed trying to handle major engine projects in their garages with just jack stands. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer or anything, just want to encourage you to keep it real and safe. And thank you sharing with the RL family.

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Safety is paramount, not just from the car falling from the jacks, but also the weight of the transaxle once detached. Dealing with that is the biggest challenge by far. Wrestling it back into place, and aligning things is also not easy. Also, pay attention to where the bolts go upon reassembly. If a long bolt goes in a position where a short bolt belongs, it can break through the chain housing of the engine, and create a big time failure. I have seen this one more and more the last few years. Here's a cheat sheet for your reference.

Not to hijack this thread, but since Mr., Raby is here, i have a related question. the installation procedure calls for the use of two sets of LNE tools. The "IMS Pro tool kit" (which I used in the past and I understand its necessity) http://lnengineering.com/products/fe...-retrofit.html And the "M96 MY06-08 Upgrade + IMS Solution Supplemental Tool Kit" http://lnengineering.com/products/im...-tool-kit.html On every single installation instruction I have seen, out of that kit, only the �cup installation tool� is needed. So what is the rest of the parts for (which some of them are already included in the Pro Kit), and is it possible to get only the "cup installation� tool. I marked it in this pic just so we are all o the same page. Thanks in advance, and keep on the good work Charlie.

Nice work, go careful and stay safe! Interested to see a pic of the slave cylinder and the part that you're concerned is broken... maybe in relation/orientation to the mounting surface you described it coming off of... trying to visualize.

Thanks Jake - I appreciate the advice. I used a cardboard template to mark where each bolt came from - but having the actual dimensions to reference will definitely come in handy just in case I mix something up or am unsure. Also - the documentation and packaging of both the kit and the toolkit are outstanding, nice job putting it together! It seems like the actual install of the bearing will be the easiest part of this entire process. Meirschwartz - I believe that the additional parts in the toolkit are used in the installation of another LN bearing product that the kit was originally designed for. It just so happens a few of them are needed for the Solution install as well. On a side note. I just finished removing the flywheel. Initially I was going to have it resurfaced as a local machine shop that said they do dual mass flywheels all the time. However, saving 600-700 by resurfacing seems a lot less appealing after going through the process of removing the transmission so I've opted to buy a new flywheel because I will be very happy if I never have to do this again. A note on removing the flywheel - a flywheel lock is not necessary if you have the IMS pro toolkit as it includes a crank shaft locking tool. With the engine TDC and locking tool inserted, I was able to break the flywheel bolts loose without much trouble. They use a T55 torx bit. I could use some help regarding RMS / IMS oil leak. I've attached a picture of the block and it looks like something IS leaking, but it isn't obvious (to me) if its coming from the RMS or being flung off something towards it. My (limited) experience with rear main seals has been that if they aren't leaking to just leave them alone - especially if you don't have the right tool to install correctly, it may just create a problem that didn't exist before. Hope someone can help give some advice on this - is it stupid not to replace the RMS? Does it look like this one is leaking? Thanks Charlie

Hi Charlie Looks like the leak is coming from the IMS cover, so it will be gone once the installation is done. The RMS looks like it was updated, and so are the case bolts. anyway, if you decide to replace it, i will let you use my tool, but only if you promise to lend me the IMS tool that i'm missing

first of all, excellent write-up, and congrats for taking the plunge. I R&Rd my X5 e53 transmission last year, and let the tranny roll off the tranny jack onto my arm....ouch!! so be as careful as possible

Hi Charlie: Awesome DIY - thanks for sharing this! I have an '04 4S, the image of yours which is still running the original IMS bearing @ 94k. I'd like to DIY the IMS Solution too. Where did you buy the kit? I checked the relevant site and it seems to be available only to professional installers?

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I'm not sure it is the original IMSB but for the time being that is my assumption. Once I pull it (maybe tomorrow or Saturday) I'll post pics and someone with more knowledge can verify. I ordered it from ECS Tuning. They're based in Ohio so shipping didn't take long at all. I got the two special tool kits direct from LN engineering. LN also sells the solution kit - but at the time they were back ordered 4-6 weeks. Cheers Charlie

Not to disrespect ECS, but you can get it much cheaper from parts geek. If the price will stay the same or Go down, I might do this project in the upcoming winter. http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...pdate_kit.html

The units will be available with all other IMS Retrofit products in a few days at www.rndeuroparts.com The products are technically supported by my company, The Knowledge Gruppe. I don't think you'll find them anywhere else online any cheaper. RND Euro Parts was formed to be a DIY outlet for these, and other parts. I'm glad to exclusively offer their technical support, and all technical articles, along with future DIY videos, and more. On the topic of tool kits: More is needed than the IMS Solution driver tool. The cam locks, and other tools that are necessary are found in the tool kits that were mentioned earlier in this thread. Remember, none of these products were developed for DIY installs, and because of that the tool kits are offered in a manner thats more favorable to shops. All of those reasons and gripes are the reason why we don't sell parts here at Flat 6. DIY efforts warrant an altered tool set, but I am out of that inner loop, so we'll have to see what happens.

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I don't think that's the same kit. http://theimssolution.com/retrofit-vs-solution/

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Thats a standard IMS Retrofit kit. Its more than 1,000.00 less than the IMS Solution. Typically the cheapest place you can buy these components from, is also the place where no one associated with the company has done the job. Thats not the case with RND Euro Parts purchases. With The Knowledge Gruppe supplying all technical support, help is one email away.

Actually, at the bottom of the page at PG they have the IMS Solution listed for 1,328.73. That's quite a bit less than I paid, but its also listed as out of stock (makes me feel a bit better). It seems finding these in stock is the trick. I called some of the big distributers and while they may have them, they won't sell direct. ECS was the first place I came across to have them and I ordered immediately. Keep in mind, I literally had just bought my C4S and have stopped driving it until I addressed this (otherwise I'd over-run my 1,000 mile warranty). Minutes seem like hours at the moment. That being said, I just ordered a ton of parts - clutch kit (pressure plate, TO bearing, clutch disc and bolts) from SunCoast (shipped within an hour of ordering) LUK dual mass flywheel, alignment tool, spline grease, pilot bearing, cam plug, rear main seal, oil drain plug washer, flywheel bolts, 5 quarts (3 for transaxle, 2 for front diff) of porsche manual transmission fluid (WOW that stuff is expensive) - from Pelican. It looks like the porsche pilot bearing is out of stock at Pelican and it may delay my entire order until sometime in the first week of August :| I had to stop myself, because the costs are really starting to add up and I've determined trying to replace everything I maybe could or should replace is turning into a fools errand. From the look of it, the previous owner had done a good job of keeping the car maintained and I suspect I am replacing parts that have already been replaced. Since I don't actually need daily reliable transportation, I'm putting a stop to this madness and going to replace the parts above and then put it back together and drive it for a bit before I go broke rebuilding the entire car piece by piece.

Just to wrap up your RMS question and this is the RMS porsche installation tool. the black part on the left is the original insert, and the one in the center is the updated one.

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like i mentioned in my previous post. i understand the need for the pro tool kit, that includes cam locking tool, pulley lock pin, bearing extractor tool, bearing installation tool, and the other emergency "if the bearing brake" tool if i have all that, the only thing i'm missing is the tool i marked in the picture, to install the cup on the shaft. just out of curiosity, i'm wondering what are the other tools for. i personally think that with the tools you designed and the simplicity of the solution itself (combined with excellent instructions), the installation is pretty easy. i rather do 5 times IMSB installation then one rear wheel bearing replacement.

just thought to throw here some pics to show why in some cases the bolts must be replaced. this is a pic taken of my 99 Boxster base with 165K miles. that's how it looks when you leak fro the RMS, case bolts and IMSB cover. this is a pic of the encapsulated bolts. in that case i also replaced the bolts and seal for the IMSB cover, and gave it a good clean before the new flywheel and clutch went in

Alright, I took a few days off because I still have to 'work' periodically. So, this is day 4 of focus on the project. I started things off by cleaning around the IMSB cover and face of the engine case. My goal was to get as much of the dirt and grime away as possible to avoid getting anything inside the engine or on surfaces that seal when I pull the IMSB out. While doing this I made a point to avoid getting any acetone on the RMS - although I'm not sure that it would hurt anything. I should also note that this was probably the hottest day of the year (saw the thermometer read 97 at one point). So, it made working under a car in a cramped space all the more enjoyable. This is where I deviated from the IMS Solution instruction sequence slightly. Instead of pulling the cam plug and locking the cam in place, I opted to first mark and drill the hole for the oil feed line. My initial thinking was there was no sense in opening up part of the engine prior to making a mess with aluminum flakes everywhere - however the cam plug in question is at the rear of the car and nowhere near the work area so it doesn't really matter one way or another. I used a center punch to mark the spot and used the recommended 1/8" drill bit for the first hole. Afterwards jumping to 3/8" seems like too much of an increase and I had trouble getting the bit to stay centered, so I used a few more bits between the sizes and everything went great. Working in this space wasn't as terrible as you'd imagine - it turns out that when sitting directly on the floor I could sit up more or less inside the transmission tunnel so I didn't have to stay propped up on an elbow in a weird position. Once the hole was drilled I quickly realized there was no way to manipulate a saw to cut the slots in the space due to the large cross member and tight space. Instead, I used the center punch on the side of the block's (rim?) horizontally and then drilled straight through into the hole that I already made (see pic, it will make more sense). Once I had a slot to work with I began filing... and filing... and after what seemed like forever began to realize my file was dull. This marked the first interruption to go buy a tool/part (new set of files). Once all of the filing was done I used towels to clean off all of the aluminum dust and scraps and then followed that up with spraying compressed air to get it all off the block and out of the work area. After making the hole the recommended 20mm wide and testing the fit with the hose fitting I moved onto the next step. Locking the cam. So, based on the directions you pull the lower cam cover/plug on the right head (when facing flywheel) which is at the back of the car. It is in a really tight space surrounded by exhaust and water pump hoses. What took about 15 seconds in the instruction video with the engine pulled, took several hours for me. But, I can save you a ton of time with what I learned. First, the IMS pro toolkit includes the cam lock tool but does not include a bolt for it. My understanding is that each head is identical so I went to the front of the opposite head and there is a bolt on that side holding a ground wire. Great (but not really, continue reading)! I removed that bolt and began the tricky process of getting it started with the cam tool on it. This can be a trick because the space is too narrow to really get your hand into. My solution was to use a long flat head screwdriver and a ratcheting wrench (13mm). A trick for wrenches and sockets to hold bolts is to put a small piece of paper towel over the head of the bolt and then put the wrench on it, now it will hold in place and not fall out so easily. With paper towel in place, and cam lock tool on the bolt, I slowly raised it up through the tiny opening into the position - using the long screw driver to help maneuver and apply pressure from the back. Surprisingly I got it started after a few quick tries and was rather pleased with myself. That's when things started going wrong - after threading it in a bit it became really hard to turn. Puzzled I started wondering if I'd cross-threaded the bolt or maybe the hole is in fact different than the one on the opposite head. I removed the bolt and verified the hole goes all the way through, so even though this bolt is much longer than it needed to be, it shouldn't be an issue. Repeated the process above and continued to have the same problem. After a few easy turns the bolt just got harder and harder to turn. At this point I'm really scratching my head and losing patience. I did a quick search and found a forum post where Jake states the bolt needed is a 8mm x 1.25mm. I wasted about an hour and a half trying to make this bolt work for the purpose and it would just not do it. Finally I gave up, rinsed off again and set out to Lowes to buy a bolt. Once I arrived I was able to confirm that the bolt I was using was in fact 8mm x 1.25mm. But, like I said, it was quite long so my thinking now is I will buy a shorter one and it won't be as much of a problem. I bought a few lengths but I believe the one that ended up working for me was 14mm long. I am still not quite sure why I was having so much trouble but I suspect its 1 of 3 things: 1) I cross-threaded it due to the difficult spot it was in 2) the wrench was hitting something else and applying pressure to one side which made is less effective and difficult to turn or 3) there was gunk/grime in the hole and it was plugging up the threads. Either way, the shorter bolt did the trick - although it was still hard to turn, I was able to get it tightened down and the cam lock firmly in place. Long story short - save yourself hours of frustration and buy a few 8x1.25mm bolts in various lengths ahead of time rather than trying to scavenge one from another part of the car. So, that was it for the day - not nearly as much progress as I wanted to make, but that's just how it goes sometimes. I think tomorrow I'll finally have the old IMSB out and possibly even the new one in. Cheers Charlie

I had exactly the same difficulty accessing that cam plug. This is no doubt one of the reasons most drop the engine to do this work. I will give you a tip that helped me. Wait until you are all done to reinstall that plug. Then support the engine and remove the air pump and the motor mount on that side so you can get a tool (punch or similar) through there to help pop the plug back in.

Day 5 turned out to be the least productive yet. I started things off by purchasing a 32mm socket in order to remove the cam chain tensioners but never got that far. The instructions say to mark each tensioner so that they don't get mixed up when re-installing. The first two were cake, both towards the bottom of the engine in plain site. The third, well this is where things get interesting. I am beginning to think dropping the entire engine/tranny may actually be less work in the long run vs. trying to do this with the engine in the car. Regardless, I'm committed at this point. The third tensioner is under the AC compressor at the top rear right side (passenger) of the engine. The AC compressor on this vehicle is without a doubt the most difficult compressor I've ever removed and potentially the hardest single part I've removed. I seriously doubt that Porsche considered this to be removed while in the vehicle, it is as close to impossible as it could be without actually being impossible. After doing some googling I found someone that actually purchased a bore scope just to see there third bolt holding it on. Important note - do not disconnect any of the hoses to the AC compressor! If you do this, you need to have your system evacuated and recharged. Just unbolt the compressor and get it out of the way as best you can while still hooked up. So, here is a summary of how its done. It is hard, the skin on the top of my right hand is worn raw and I have a huge blister on the side of my thumb. I did not have a short 13mm 1/4" drive socket at the beginning of this and that made it quite a bit more difficult. Before starting get one, and 1/4" swivel connector and various length extensions. You'll have a much easier time. The first step is to remove the ambient air temp. sensor. It is located on the intake manifold. It is held by a rubber grommet in a special slot between the intake runners. I first removed the sensor by carefully pulling it straight up, then removed the grommet by sliding it out towards the right side of the car. Remove the belt by putting a wrench on the belt tensioner and turning it clock-wise. Next, there are two fairly easy to access 13mm bolts at the front of the AC compressor. Once you have these loose (the lower one is difficult to fully remove until you have the compressor loose but the sooner you get it out of the way the better) you're ready for the nightmare bolt. It is in the center, at the back of the compressor, directly below the 90 degree metal elbow that the AC hose is hooked to. This means there isn't much space directly above the bolt, hence using a 1/4" short socket and swivel - this will fit. I used a 3/8" drive, which is thicker and it was just barely possible and much more difficult. Eventually the bolt comes up far enough to where your socket/swivel hit the 90 degree elbow and I had to stop using the wrench and turn the bolt out by hand. When I say by hand, I mean the very edge of my thumb while contorted just to be able to touch the head of the bolt. Try shifting the AC compressor around to relieve tension against the bolt so you can actually turn it. Once the bolt is loose you can't actually take it out because it hits that 90 elbow, so you kind of have to hold it up out of the way while you work the compressor straight out towards you. Be very careful because there is a thin wire running from the front of the compressor back and into a wiring harness. Once I had the compressor out, I discovered the remains of some kind of nest. Lots of little seeds and twigs on the cylinder head. I vacuumed all of that out with my Dyson. The third timing chain tensioner is now visible - it has a hex key hole and there is another bracket you must remove to access it. In my other reading I discovered a very useful thread that illustrates the difference between TDC and 180 degrees off TDC. It turns out the slot in the end of the cam shaft is not centered, it is offset to one side. TDC has the slot more to the left (drivers side) of the car, while 180 off will have the slot more to the right of the vehicle. It is very, very, very hard to tell (I wasn't able to ) just by looking due to the strange angle and things in the way. The first time I was able to get the cam tool in the slot and tight but it just didn't seem right. After I found out about the offset, I loosed and pulled back the cam tool - then turned the crank 1 full rotation, re-locked, and tried the cam tool again. It fit noticeably better, so I re-tightened the bolt. I think for this particular job it probably would have been ok either way, but I'm glad I double checked and feel better that its seated correctly now. So, that's it for the time being. I didn't get nearly as much done as I hoped, but thats just the nature of this type of project. The instructions with the IMS Solution include a great quote that says something to the effect of you can rush failure but you can't rush success. Just keep repeating that to yourself while you're trying to get that third AC compressor bolt out and it will help keep you sane. SPECIAL EDIT NOTE: When re-installing the ambient air temperature sensor be VERY careful not to push the rubber grommet down without supporting it from below. I made this mistake when trying to re-insert the temp sensor and the grommet fell down on top of the head. I wasn't even about to remove the AC compressor again to get it so I ordered a new one. I tried shooting compressed air in there hoping it would fly out, no luck. Later that week I remembered I have a little flexible grabber tool so I did some blind probing and by some miracle got it on like the third try! When the sensor is in the grommet, it makes the entire thing too wide/ridgid to fit back in its slot. The best way to get it re-installed is to install the grommet, put a bit of grease on the sensor (remove the plug/wire from the sensor so you can push on the top) then carefully push the sensor down into the grommet while supporting the grommet so it doesn't fall. Also be absolutely careful you don't drop the sensor! More to come tomorrow. Cheers Charlie

That's a quote from a Royal *******!

Awesome job, appreciate the post as I plan on doing this also. Wish there was a tool rental or PCA check out for the various specialized tool required!

This is awesome - I'm actually going to be Doug the same job this week. Engine is already out of the car so the job should be much easier. Definitely had trouble finding an IMS Solution that was in stock, ended up ordering fro Pelican which was selling it for more than MSRP, but whatever. Bought my tools from RND Europarts though!!

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The LN Catalog will be up on RND soon, from what I hear. The tool fiasco is a pain to deal with.. Over the years we've tried to rent them and etc, but people just aren't honest enough anymore. Told being returned rusty, and missing pieces, then when you ding someone's card for the cost of the tool kit (AFTER they were given the chance to pay for the damaged pieces only) they do a chargeback on the entire transaction. That was just one instance, we won't even go into the people modifying the tools, welding on them, or sending back empty tool cases, blaming the theft on UPS, or anyone else. It it was 1986, rather than 2016, we'd probably not be ********, and the tools would be easily rentable. That said, I thought about donating a used IMSB tool set to Rennlist and let you guys deal with sending them from place to place for work to be done. Start a thread to track the tools, and a pic of the tools when they arrived, and left each member's hands. I would not supply replacements for lost/ broken/ screwed up/ stolen tools, but it may be easy for some forum member to manage the tools and call out the guilty party in front of the forum. The risk of embarrassment, and humiliation might be the only way to keep people honest. Once I gave the tools up, I'd be 100% done with the process! Thoughts?

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Great idea on the tool use age. I'd also like to see a minimum of posts or membership details to keep things honest. The tool cost is keeping me from doing a diy. I want the solution but not the single use tools.

Heck, I'm an enterprising young man. I have all the tools. Contact me if you want to rent them

I started a 996 tool loan thread a year or two ago and it went pretty much nowhere. Maybe a more specific thread for a set of IMSB tools would fare better, but overall the effort was a fail. I have loaned out my AirLift a few times. but that was mostly via PM from locals.

My plan was just to sell both tool kits when I'm done. It looks like they used ones sell for roughly $50 less than new. So my thought is I essentially am paying $100 in depreciation to 'rent' them more or less. Jake, that would certainly be generous of you. I could see the honors system working if its posted publicly. Of course it just takes 1 bad apple to ruin it for everyone else. Cheers Charlie

Might be worth a try again. Hard to say if it'll work or not.

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Myself as well I tried to start a borrow thread and offered to pay a deposit on the whole thing as well. Basically zero response. I would love to install the solution in my c4s for piece of mind alone. I have my own shop / hoist etc but I just can't justify the tool cost. I guess I didn't think of re selling the tools after use however I guess that is a good point. Heck I would even pay a $250 rental fee just to use Jake's faultless tools to do it myself without having to buy the whole set. Once we get this stuff to Canada it gets insanely expensive!

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Jake- I could do a tool rental program. I have been doing it for a long time for Audi A8 timing belt tools. My website is audipages.com and myself and a few others dove into the timing belt replacement on the 32 valve motor many, many years ago. I bought the tools and have been renting them ever since. I actually had two sets, but in all the times I rented them, I didn't get one set back, but I did keep the deposit. If you are interested, I would do it the same way I do it now. Here is my page: http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...oolrental.html I would make a nice box for them, a webpage for them, and a link in my sig file. Plus I will use them for my own car!

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That looks like it'll work. You can purchase the tools from www.rndeuroparts.com and start your rental business. The cheapest prices you'll find on the tools are on this site.

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I thought you were going to give them to the forum.....I could then do a rental that was zero cost except for shipping, take a deposit, and then it is returned when the tools are returned.

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Just ship to the US border (Niagara Falls for me) and pick up from there or use a carrier that ships over. If you are near TO I use Cross Border Pickups. Did this recently with Jason from Warehouse 33 and saved a fortune in shipping. Great thread by the way charlieaf92, really looking forward to the big "Bearing Reveal" moment.

New update. I had a few hours to spend working on the car last night and was determined to get this bearing out. I started things off by removing the timing chain tensioners. Quick question - does the tensioner on the left cylinder head (horizontal by oil filter) have a metal washer/oring? I did not see one on the tensioner when I removed it and it is very difficult to tell if its stuck to the block due to the angle. I'm hesitant to do much prying/scraping there because I don't want to mar the surface. Removing the left side tensioner by the oil filter required removing a bolt holding a metal hose that ran across in front of where I needed to get the wrench/extension in. After that I removed the center nut and the ISMB flange bolts. I noticed that the bolts were not standard hex heads, but I was able to remove them with a 6pt socket without issue. Prying it off was pretty easy using two screw drivers as suggested. Now - to pull the bearing! Well, here is a lesson I learned the hard way. Sometimes you can get by with cheap tools if you're just going to use them once or twice. Not the case when it comes to lock ring pliers. I had picked up a $5 set at Harbor Freight in anticipation of removing this snap ring and they are complete garbage. I proceeded to spend the next 30-45 minutes under the car cursing myself trying to get this retaining clip out with sub-par tools all the while working to prevent it from falling into the engine case if/when it did finally come out. I finally did get it out, and then watched the instructional video and had to laugh at how easy it was for the demonstrator. I also believe the oil on the ring contributed to the difficulty. Needless to say, I'm going to SEARS later today to buy a proper pair of pliers for the task of re-installing the ring. Now - to pull the bearing! The IMS Pro toolkit worked flawlessly. It was a nice change of pace to have a quality, precision tool. Once the bearing was removed oil gushed out everywhere! It warns about this in the guide, but I wasn't expecting quite so much because I'd removed the entire lower sump plate a week ago. Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The bearing... I am not sure if this is a factory bearing or replacement - any input would be appreciated. From a condition standpoint I would say its very good. There is a very, very small amount of play when I wiggle the end of the threaded stud - but I'm wondering if the process of pulling it could have contributed to this. I also would not be shocked if this is not the original (94,000 mile) bearing as Meir has pointed out my crank case bolts and RMS are updated. The damage to the seal was from my screwdriver while trying to remove the snap ring. EDIT: After playing with the bearing over the last few weeks, I can noticed a bit of a rough spot when turning it in my fingers. I'm not a bearing expert, but I'm just happy it is out of the car and no longer a concern. After some additional reading it seems that removing the seals and directing the bearing will be necessary to determine the condition. Any tips on removing the center stud and proceeding would be appreciated. Cheers Charlie

Great work so far! Yes, all the tensioners should have a crush ring. I actually have a couple spares, if you need one.

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Thank you! I just checked and found the ring stuck to the side of the case. I popped it off with a screwdriver so all is good now. Cheers Charlie

Charlie, Snap ring /Circlip pliers set - suggest you consider Lang. They make them for other brands like Channelock and CMan Pro. Lang Tools (3495) 12-Piece Fixed Tip Combination Internal/External Snap Ring Pliers Set If you get them from Amazon you get a good warranty The forged tips on some other brands are very hard but brittle ! Not good. In theory the replaceable tip pliers are a good idea - until you loose a few tips.

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Within 15 minutes of my posting of that offer I had 3 emails from members that were bitching that they had to buy the tools, and how this wasn't "fair" to them. One guy even asked me to credit him the cost of his tools. Hell, I don't even sell the tools and have no way to sell them, hence the reason I was going to GIVE them to the forum. I develop things, then hand them off for others to deal with all the hassles associated with them. Looks like today we can't even give something away without people bitching!

It's a mystery as to what brand of bearing Porsche used. Jake is probably the only one that can answer whether that is original or not. A NSK 6204 DU 17 Deep Groove ball bearing from Amazon is $11.85! Go figure.... You should be able to pry the seal off the bearing with a small screwdriver or a knife. If you do both sides that will let in a lot of light so you can inspect the ***** and races.

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The problem with rental of this type of tools is these are precision tools that one thou can make a difference between working and not working. When people rent something, they tend to be not very careful about it. Ever heard of people asking how to baby a rental car? So people can unknowingly damage the tools. Also there's normal wear and tear by repeated use as well so it's hard to guarantee the quality of the rental tools. All it takes is one careless handling. Kinda like trying to rent out a snapon digital torque wrench. IMHO, to avoid frustration and blame despite a noble intention is just to buy the tools and sell it afterwards if you want to recoup the cost.

Jake, I for one appreciate the offer to the group and understand the position you are in. Cheers, Glenn

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Post their names for public flogging! We'll take care of those buggers!

nothing

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Has anyone got any good photos/measurements of the IMS bearings? Both the single and double? I'm a Certified Bearing Specialist with 25 years experience and I'm really curious as to what they are. I've not dug into my 99 and I don't really plan to based on what I've read over the past while. I can't imagine it's a standard 6204 bearing is it? That's a run-of-the-mill bearing used in well, everything, especially if they originally used a double-row bearing in there... which is I am going to assume something like (using the same ISO numbering for size) a 3204 or 5204. It is very counter-intuitive going to a single row conrad bearing from one of those.

Yup - same as in a GM alternator and some lawn mowers.

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Well that ruins it for me...I'm selling my car! No wait... Anyway, I was going by Charlie's pic of the bearing he pulled out and just Googled the brand and number NSK 6204 DU 17.

You can find chinese versions for $3 on Ebay if you search by the generic/ISO part number but ......... Rennlist is replete with sad tales of money-saving IMSB tactics. One guy boasted here about using an upgraded version and then sold the car to another Forum member.Kaboom in more ways than one ! Amazing how people think Google makes them a bearing expert. All the research just convinced me to buy a kit from a trustworthy and competent source.YEMV. for fun and part number Interchange check this out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6204-2RS-C3-...gAAOSwyQtV3gsr When you consider the huge amount of fuss/lawsuits/hysteria about the Porsche IMSB fiasco and then you find you can buy them in lots of 10 for $15 on Ebay - you wonder what Porsche Accountants were thinking.

That's what really makes me skeptical it's a standard 6204. Are you sure it's not something like a 62204 or W6204? It might have the seals of a 6204 since it's the same ISO ID/OD but it's a different bearing. What's the internal clearance? C3? C4? Standard? Has anyone done a write up of the OEM bearings? I would love to do a deep-dive read about some background on it so I can form an educated opinion of it and some of the solutions others have come up with.

Just use "Search" here. The primary causes of failure seem unlikely to be the tolerance/clearance/grade issues of C3/C4/C5 or ABEC equivalents. That would have been an easy fix.You could argue that the tighter clerances of the higher grades are less tolerant of FOM or that ZZ would be better than 2RS,or use 1RS. All that has been beaten to death. Over years of discussing this we have a long list of suspects that may be cause/consequence or sometimes absent in some cases of failure. Some are design issues(lubrication vs load). some manufacturing (misalignment). heat degradation of seals, contamination, infrequent oil changes, lack of use.There are thousands of posts on the subject and piles of other comments on the Internet. Then there is the collateral damage caused during the bearing failure episode. All that matters to most of us is confidently identifying a long term,economical repair - before the collateral damage occurs. We have that. So some of us have just moved on to refining the bearing replacement process and proposing PM for the IMSB. There is a huge opportunity to be our Bearing Hero if you can find a generic source for the 6 speed gearbox pinion shaft bearings. That seems to have defeated everyone - so far.

Somewhere in the bowels of Stuttgart, there's prolly a long, detailed document written by Hanz and Franz about the most likely root causes of IMS bearing failure. The most promising theory I've heard has to do with low mileage, or infrequent use cars leading to a failure/breakdown of the oil and products of cumbustion into an acidic or oxidized ionic compound that starts to etch the metal of the races, or *****, or both. However, it's supposed to be a 'sealed' bearing with grease inside, so that would indicate some type of seal failure first, leading to ingress of the lubricating oil. Frequent use, getting the car up to full op temp, and short oil drain cycles seems to be the best effort to avoid IMS bearing failure. This presumes that the oil will infiltrate the bearing, and that the use cycle will have a beneficial effect of minimizing the products of combustion that precipitate into the crankcase. I would guess, that document I mentioned was high on the list of discovery items when Porsche was forced into the class action settlement which did almost nothing for the owners, but enriched several lawyers quite handsomely. Maybe some day, far in the future a disgruntled source will pull a Deep Throat and send that doc to Wiki-Leaks, or Jalopnic. Until then, the vendors are offering up various solutions to minimize the failure mode. That's my opinion, YMMV, don't try this at home, contents have settled, objects in mirror, and may cause **** leakage.

the guy on the pelican forum did a TON of research on the bearing. from memory, its not just a standard bearing, not that it appears to even matter

Schnell und docmirror, you guys have saved a lot of hrs of reading for spud72. He should be thankful!

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[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlist.com-vbulletin/500x375/beari_210fa0eb3b0069a419b45d90537297d6e01df241.jpg

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...you had me at "cumbustion."

An interesting off-shoot to follow: Back in the 50s, the good folks at Paxton engineering came up with a supercharger that was of the aviation design using a free impeller in a scroll housing, driven by a speed multiplier. The Paxton centrifugal auto unit had a dual row pulley, driving a set of planetary ball-fork spiders that were caged to a sandwich outer race, and the inner small race drove the shaft of the impeller. The whole thing started life being lubed by a 80wt trans product. Not long after it was installed on some Studebaker Golden Hawks, they began to notice spalling of the inner race which drove the impeller. It would set up a small whine/howl which was engine speed dependent as the metal was shed from the inner race. One of the pioneers of tribology figured out the failure mode was actually the inability of the inner race to skid on the rotating drive ***** when the throttle was closed, thus causing a pressure bubble in the intake and back through the scroll housing, putting strain on the impeller blades. A fascinating root cause analysis. So, the inner race shaft was designed for a slightly higher Rockwell number, and they changed to a type of auto trans fluid(I don't know which one). This new polished inner race, and the new type of lower EP fluid worked to solve the spall/scuff problem and extended the service life of the supercharger up over 35k miles, which was considered high art for the day.

"the inner race shaft was designed for a slightly higher Rockwell number" Interesting but do you mean Rockwell hardness or Ra finish? It sounds as if you mean Ra.

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Sorry, this was from memory at least 3 decades ago. I'm certain the Rockwell hardness was upped, but I'm presuming the Ra finish was also improved to allow for more skidding, but please don't quote me. I recall rebuilding one that was howling with the new inner shaft, and shimming the impeller out to the scroll housing to improve pressure, but I just bought the inner race shaft and kept it clean, clean, clean. I put it on an Avanti which was supposed to be limited to 12PSI, but I was able to get it up to about 14 or better. Sadly, that spun a rod bearing, which required a whole new set of checks to solve.

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hahahaha... nice one Woody!

In reference to the serial number on the bearing seal - I found this video and he does a nice job of explaining things. Apparently those seals are from a completely different bearing and Porsche used them in this bearing. Inspection of the Porsche IMS Bearing after 97K miles - YouTube

We've seen this guy before. He is a noob who would do well to read more on Rennlist. Many points he makes are partially true but lack the details he could glean from reading more Rennlist Posts. I'll leave it to others to pick apart his theories and statements. Bottom line is go to a trusted, experienced and competent source for your IMSB advice - probably not this guy but certainly Rennlist YEMV

I'm not even going to waste my time watching that because, if they can't spell "mileage" correctly on the intro page, what's the point?

Amazing. I guess he also hasn't figured out that the IMS assembly does;t see "high speeds" like the crankshaft does. It's funny how people start copycatting bad ideas, and thoughts, just like the good ones.

Watch @15:00 and 16:10 Sounds familiar? What's the Best IMS Kit for Porsche (996 or 986) - YouTube

The KrazyK of the Boxster world??

The power of Rennlist is that your proposals need to be robust enough to withstand rigorous ,intelligent and very well qualified debate The weakness of You Tube is that you can pontificate without effective rebuttal. If he had debated here first and then made a video of the collective wisdom shared, it would have been a useful piece. Is he a Member here or just a Lurker? Perhaps we should invite him to come out of the shadows and discuss his theories before he makes yet another video?

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Yeah, I did... I guess he simply "forgot" about the IMS Solution product, with its plain bearing. They always do, because they know that there's no comparison between it and anything else. It's clear this guy is a Follower of someone who develops intake products using a shop vac set on "blow" instead of "suck". It's funny how he discounted all the aspects of the Alan Retrofit kit, but then chose a cheap ceramic hybrid bearing anyway! He gives the LN tool kit an unfair review, because that tool kit is made to be used over and over again in a shop format. I've been using my first set of tools since 2007 and after over 600 retrofit procedures they still are not worn out! That included the very first commercially retrofitted engine in the world. Like most, this guy is a reader, and a follower. He sits behind a screen and thinks that he is superman because he can read a bunch of web postings and form an "expert opinion". That's the kind of guy that pisses me off.

I hate how people also dismiss the value of intellectual property and R&D time. While I wasn't there, I would imagine you all didn't wake up one morning and crank these Tools out without a lot of testing and broken engines/parts. The price of ANYTHING is based on far more than basic material cost...

Yea, the IMS Solution was glaringly omitted. Probably not the price range he was considering. It still blows my mind why people are so confident about running their own experiments Boxster engines are pretty cheap so maybe that's why. To his credits though, he posts a lot of DIY videos and you can see his home-made IMS tool here @ 6:42s Porsche IMS Fix 7: How to Remove the IMS Bearing on a 986 or 996 - YouTube Not a fair comparison like you said.

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Can't agree more. I'm in the R&D business myself so I definitely value and respect innovations.

Most internet reviews are flawed for the most part on anything these days. You don't need to be an expert to review anything these days or have logged x amount of time and have x amount of experience. It's like a newbie giving a review of the 996 here that's only previously owned econobox's like an Accord and having him say the 996 handles like rails and is fast as $hit. The dangerous part though is we have too many sheeps in this world that follow these people.

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Oh, god, no, not that guy again. He's the one whose voice and cadence makes me want to kill myself. When he's lauding the DOF, he also mentions the wonderful option of "sourcing your own bearing" for retrofit and ultimately congratulates himself for doing just that. That ALWAYS works out well... An 18 minute video to present two minutes' worth of content masquerading as "research" when the guy makes up information for any details he doesn't actually know...the cylindrical ball bearing, for example, is eliminated because it is "dicey" to use a different type of bearing, and the oil pump is "weakened" although - obviously - no data is offered to validate this claim. I detest sh*t like this. At least Pedro uses Mega Maid (er, I mean a shop vac) switched from suck to blow and some foam chips instead of unsubstantiated conjecture. I also liked the part about the Solution being too new-and-untested to include - never mind that as far as I know there are no statistics about any of the other products he "evaluated." So instead of using this untested solution, he rolled his own. Because that, of course, is much more reliable. To his credit, he uses just as much fact and logic as the anti-vaxxers. Maybe that's why he skipped over the Solution - it probably causes the autism real bad. "Certainly Porsche didn't think that [splash lubrication] was enough, because they sealed the bearing to hold oil into the bearing." Yes, this definitely convinces me that this dude is an unimpeachable source of information. TL;DR: Assclown who giggles about how clever he is at 14:00.

As I'm watching his videos, all I can think is "thank goodness I bought the right tools and got the real IMS Solution".

Figured it was time to post an updated and get things back on topic. I've been a little slow to progress lately as I wait for some parts to be delivered. I got a decent amount of work done this weekend though and have everything I need parts-wise with a few exceptions. Installing the IMS Solution - thanks to the great video and instructions that came with the product, went relatively smoothly. In fact, this was the easiest part of the job thus far. For anyone questioning the value/investment of buying the proper toolkits from LN Engineering, don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Even if you manage to get everything installed correctly with home made solutions, the amount of extra time frustration and headache still put you in the negative - and that is your BEST case scenario. Not to mention these tools are quality and can easily be sold (I believe) after you complete the job for close to what you paid for them. I installed the little cap in the end of the IMS shaft using the tool that sets it to the appropriate depth - everything went perfect. Next up was the bushing/bearing itself. I applied the lube provided and bolted it to the installation tool. It took some patience and some pounding to get the bearing fully inserted. Due to the confined space under the car it was difficult to get leverage and a full swing in with the rubber mallet. Once the bearing was in I added the protective shim and snap ring (the snap ring install was an absolutely BREEZE with my new craftsman ring pliers - do not go cheap on these or you'll regret it). Next I installed the oil fitting to the flange, lubricated and put it in place. I quickly realized that I did not take enough material off the left side of the crank case for the oil fitting to fully clear. This sucks because now the engine block is open/exposed - not the best time to be filing. To help prevent contaminants from getting where they shouldn't, I taped over the IMS opening and proceeded to file + I remembered I have a cordless dremel tool with cutting discs so that helped make quick work of it. I found that I had to remove more material than shown in the video and instructions - even some lower down - required for the oil line head to be able to spin on (see pic). After taking off more material I got my Dyson and vacuumed then wiped everything down the best I could before removing the tape and continuing. Due to my space constraints I used the flange bolts to pull the flange fully flush with the crank case. The instructions say to lightly tap with a mallet but I opted to use the bolts by slowly going around and tightening them a little bit at a time. It worked great. Next up was the oil filter adapter. This is a very cool and nicely machined piece. I put it on and found that my crank case oil threading is improperly indexed. The hole for the oil feed line pointed directly at the block. No worries, the kit came with a shim just for this purpose! Unfortunately I guess mine is a really odd duck because while the shim rotated everything in the right direction, it still wasn't far enough to finish the install. I emailed LN Engineering and receive a reply back almost immediately (on a Sunday!) stating this is uncommon but happens, they included instructions to measure what angle the assembly needs to be rotated and they are shipping out a shim for me Monday (awesome). So, with that piece of the project on hold, I cleaned up the timing chain tensioners, submerged them in clean oil and pumped them and set to reinstall them. Things seem to go back together much faster. With those installed I removed the cam lock and installed a new plug on the hole. Next up I installed the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. The flywheel bolts have a torque spec and then get turned an extra 120 degrees. I marked each bolt (after torquing) at 6pm with white nail polish, that made it much easier to measure the correct angle since I was using a non-ratcheting breaker bar to tighten them. That being said, I may have made a stupid mistake that requires pulling the flywheel and clutch off again. When I retorqued the flange bolts, I did not re-check the center nut. EDIT: I removed the flywheel and the center nut was torqued properly. Just an example of not double checking and then needing to go back to be sure - to avoid worrying about it for the rest of my life.

Here are the pics. The first pic shows the flange as far as I was able to push it on by hand. Subsequent pics of are flange fully seated and flush with bolts tightened and oil fitting installed. I tried to get a shot showing where I had to remove material to make room for the oil feed line to screw onto the fitting. Final pic is of the brand new pressure plate / clutch / flywheel that are unfortunately coming back off tomorrow. Better to backtrack now and make sure everything is right vs. find out the hard way when its all back together.

Alright - we're getting towards the end of this project. Today the new shim arrived from LN Engineering (shipped overnight, at no cost to me, no questions asked - great service!). The shim worked perfectly and I now have the oil adapter and feed line hooked up. Since the creation of the IMS Solution install video it appears they switched from a feed line that the installer cuts/sizes to a pre-sized one. This one proved to be a little longer than I would have liked and the result is it kind of has to bow out in a horseshoe shape and part of it is touching the top of the rear sway bar. My only alternative was to have it stick down, below the sway bar - and that seems like a more risky alternative as it can get easily damaged and snagged. The hose is shrouded in stainless so I don't expect it to be an issue but definitely will be something I check from time to time. Next up I removed my pressure plate / clutch / flywheel again to double check the torque of the center nut. It was tight. So, basically I was worried for no reason but I feel much better knowing for certain. New bolts are on order so I'm in a holding pattern at the moment. I'm using that time to address a separate issue (front diff seal leaks) and pulled out the front differential tonight. It was quite a bit easier than the transmission pull and I plan to add some of the details to a separate thread. Cheers Charlie

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No IMS Solution kits have ever been sold with the user- assembled hose. That was added to the video because I was adamant about the user assembling the hose. This was simply because I would have lost my mind if someone blamed a hose for something negative that occurred with a kit. That's why I stepped away. That's why I always step away.

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Defenetly a smart move. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the solution for the firs time, was WOW! Jack out did him self, designing a solution that acutely remove the caus of the problem. The second thought was, what happens if the hose breaks? Every chain is strong as its weakest link. That hose is defenetly the weakest link in the chain. Although I'm sure the chance for it to fail is slim to none, I was wondering what is the point that the engine fails (if at all), when the oil feed is cut to the bearing? Scenario: I got the solution installed. The mechanic forgot to tighten the hose. 500 miles later, it disconnects. Oil pressure light comes on. How long from no oil to kabum? I know I know. I will loose some oil pressure befor, I will see a puddle on the grage floor long before the hose will completely disconnect and so on. But just for the sake of the argument. I'm sur you preformed that test during R&d, and wonder what was the result. Thanks in advance. And kudos to Charlie.

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Not something I'd lose any sleep over. The same could be said for an oil filter - if a shop forgets to tighten it and it comes off. The hose and fittings are all quality parts, and installed with sealant. It's hard to describe just how nicely made these parts are - it is quality to an extreme - what I'd imagine aerospace machining and components are like. Compared to the parts that come on the car standard these are several leagues above.

The rest of the engine would explode before the Solution would self destruct from no oil pressure. Jake has tested the coating on the plain bearing under the worst conditions including no oil. Its in a thread somewhere.

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I will share a video that will shut this argument of "no oil Pressure" down for the count. How about a video of an engine (under he car) running idle to 6,000 RPM with no oil hose even attached? How about oil dripping out of the solution flange oil port from inside the engine while running 6,000 RPM? I drove the car 20 miles and dynoed it for 3 hours straight with NO OIL supply.. Then pulled it apart... Yes it had wear, but he wear was only of the coating and was only visual, and not measurable. Been there, done that.. Just to shut up one argument from people that can't find anything else wrong with the IMS Solution. Ever worked on a turbine engine??? Know how many hoses are there feeding bearings on the engine? Yes, the IMS Solution hose is an Aerospace unit. It's rated for hundreds more PSI than the M96 engine is capable of producing. Yep... It wouldn't be the 996 forum on RL without a doubter and a hater... Where's the hater??? He just hasn't spoken up yet. He will.

Jake, Please ignore the negative types. Neither you nor anyone else will ever please them.They are sick people. The vast majority of Rennlisters support you, are grateful for your generosity in sharing knowledge and enjoy your posts. Don't let the very few nasty people spoil it for the rest of us, please. M96 dyno/torture test videos - great !! Who else would post such apocalyptic stuff on this engine?

Easier said than done when you truly care about what you create.

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Friggin amazing heh?!?!?

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Yes but it's kinda of like reading test results on a new product. If it's a company that you know is full of crap, you just completely discount the information and probably don't make it past the first sentence. If it's coming from Driven or LN, there is a chance you might read the whole thing twice. Same thing with RL. Just consider the source and filter appropriately. And have faith that the rest of us will do the same.

It's been a long time since the last update because I pulled the front differential to replace the output shaft seals. So, now that I'm done with that I am back at finishing up this piece of the project. All that remains is to put the transmission back into the car. That is what I spent 6-7 hours working on yesterday and it has been a giant pain in the ***. Getting it back under the car was the reverse of removing - we had to turn it on its side and slide it on some tripled up cardboard. Once underneath, we turned it back up and worked it onto the transmission jack. This was done by lifting the small end up onto the jack, then using some wooden blocks and a breaker bar as a level to left the bell housing end and sliding the jack towards the center. Once on the jack, very very carefully raise it up. I started out with the top mounting bracket resting on the top of the transmission since I wasn't able to remove that completely out of the way when I initially dropped it. This adds some complexity and you have to be very careful not to pinch/crush some of the black tubes running around in the transmission tunnel. Eventually it is high enough to clear the rear cross member and at that point you can slide it towards the rear of the car - this should make things easier with the bracket mentioned above. I was able to get the input shaft into the clutch without much trouble at all - just working it back and forth a bit while turning the output on the end of the transmission and then it locked together and slid in. GREAT! Until it was about 1/2" or so from the crank case. Then, it stopped - thud. I spent the next 5-6 hours trying to get it to go together. It was perfectly aligned from what I could tell - I was able to easily put bolts in and get them started just by finger turning them. But it would not budge forward. I'm convinced it was the input shaft hitting the pilot bearing and not going through it. Eventually I pulled the transmission away, lowered it and re-checked the clutch alignment. It was perfect - tool goes in and out with no resistance at all. However, I've read other people having issues with these plastic alignment tools - apparently they may not be precise enough (it is sure starting to seem that way). So at the moment, I'm back in the position I was in earlier. Transmission is aligned, shaft is through the clutch spline and I'm bumped up against the pilot bearing. My plan for today, now that I'm rested, is to first try to get it in normally, then attempt to put pressure on the release fork via the slave cylinder hole while I'm trying to push the transmission. I suspect the solution will be to get the transmission out of the way, loosen the pressure plate, and do some very precise aligning. To be honest, this has me a bit perplexed - I've used plastic clutch alignment tools on a few other occasions and I've never had this trouble. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated! As a last resort, I found a metal tool online that someone from the forum recommended. I can order that, but unfortunately it won't be here until next week. Cheers Charlie

I've not done a 996 clutch, so that's my disclaimer but I have done a lot of other cars, including a number of Porsches. The usual culprit with the clutch alignment tool is gravity droops the friction plate in the PP. So it's typical that the friction plate splines line up, and then the pilot shaft will strike the pilot bearing low. I confirmed this on a 914 using the plastic alignment tool when a buddy got frustrated and just banged it in. We pulled the trans and the pilot bearing and it was bent up on the bottom. Which confirms the issue with gravity on the friction plate. Ever since then, as I set up the pressure plate bolts with the friction plate I try to do it with the shaft vertical, and the tool inserted. This take gravity out of the mix. The other options is to release the pressure on the PP bolts, put the tool in, and gently lift the friction plate so the alignment tool is just a skosh tipped up to compensate for gravity. When installing, the shaft gets to the pilot bearing. At that point, you would wiggle the nose(front) of the trans mostly up and down to get it to insert while backing the trans out and in a bit. Mostly up and down will do it, not side to side. That's the best I can offer, but again I've never done a 996.

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Thanks Doc. I think you're right. I've tried wiggling and lifting with no luck. I noticed when installing that the clutch sagged a bit due to gravity. I lifted it up slightly when tightening the bolts to try to counteract this but it seems it still isn't perfect. I'm about to lower the transmission again to try to get enough room to visually see it while I'm aligning. If that doesn't work I'll be ordering a metal tool - I also found out there is a place 9 minutes from my house called Wright Motorsports, it looks like they build race cars so there is a chance I could get one from them. Cheers Charlie

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This sucks but unfortunately this is sometimes what you have to do. Been there and done that using several curse words along the way. Just be really attentive that you are using the clutch tool and also your eyes looking straight at it to align it and not just by the feel of the clutch tool, if that makes any sense. Also make sure the transmission is lined up straight when you mate it. I know with it being relatively heavy can make this a difficult process to align. If you feel like there is a lot of play at the end of your plastic clutch alignment tool, either get another one or wrap the end in a couple layers of tape. I've seen various tolerances on the many plastic clutch alignment tools I've worked with in the past. Good luck.

We use an input shaft section chopped off a 996 transaxle for alignment of the clutch. The plastic units sometimes fit too loosely, causing misalignment issues like you are experiencing. That said, this is where working on your back from a creeper under the car with a heavy transaxle being wrestled into place makes this a much less DIY job. The transaxle must be fitted at a precise angle to have the input shaft enter the pilot bearing. This is very difficult without a lift and a tranny jack that allows the unit to be supported and the angle changed easily. It can be done, and I have laid on my back to install many trannys in the past. Its a job that sucks and with the weight of the 996 gearbox, coupled to it's length, its not easy at all.This one aspect is what would keep most DIY IMSR procedures from being straight forward. Also, make sure you have the clutch disc in the proper direction, as that can be a big issue and make this even tougher, but its better to find that now than later.

Another trick is to put some liquid white out on the nose of the trans shaft and give it another try. When you back it out, see where the white out has been rubbed off. It may give you some idea of which way to move the friction disk.

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That works too, but often you won't see the target as well, if the tranny is shuffled around trying to align things. Some of the best alignment tools I have ever had I made from a wooden dowel, turned down to fit the pilot bearing and the ID of the clutch disc very tightly.

It's in! Torquing bolts now. Will post details later.

Alright - so the transmission is full seated and bolted to the transmission. It was a clutch alignment issue (crap plastic alignment tool). I ended up removing the transmission and climbing up between the two so that I could look directly into the clutch and see the pilot bearing. After loosening the pressure plate bolts enough to make minor adjustments I was able to use the alignment tool and get it as centered as possible by eye balling it. After that, re-torque the bolts and tried again. All in all it probably only took 20 minutes after that before it was fully seated. I wouldn't go so far as to say it slid in without effort, but compared to the effort we were putting behind it yesterday it was a breeze. That being said, I'm now struggling with the slave cylinder. I am beginning to think the best approach is to pull the transmission away from the block, install slave cylinder, and then use the bolts to pull them back together? I've been trying to compress the rod back into the cylinder as I'm installing it and I am not sure its physically possible due to the angles + knowing I then have to get the bolt started. Any advise on this one? Cheers Charlie

From the manual

Often times when the slave cylinders are allowed to fully extend, with fluid in them, they can't have the rod re- inserted successfully. We open the bleeder valve and pull a vacuum on it before removing the slave. This will keep this from occurring so badly. Your approach is about the only thing you can try now.

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Thanks Joe! I actually just found that as well. It looks like the lower bolt hole is easier to align and then you can lever against it to get the top one lined up. I just went out and checked and that does seem to be the case - I just need to find a punch or similar sized tool to use. Its quite difficult to get the lower bolt started first. Cheers Charlie

Well today was a failure all around. After struggling for hours using a punch the slave cylinder finally just went right into place with almost no resistance. I couldn't believe it. Well, the success was short lived. After getting things tightened in place I tried the clutch pedal - first with my hand after reading of problems others have had. It was stiff - too stiff to push with my hand. So, I got in the car and pressed with my foot - initially lots of resistance and then, boom, all the way to the floor. My suspicions were confirmed when brake/clutch fluid began leaking out between the transmission bell housing and the engine. I can now 100% relate to the expression others have used of 'inventing new swear words'. So, the slave cylinder is blown apart. I removed the transmission and collected the pieces and have reached out to the Porsche dealer to find out how quickly I can get a replacement. So - that being said, I am wondering if its possible to reassemble the slave cylinder or if it is just best to replace it? I've also completely removed it from the line and plan on installing it with the transmission dropped. Perhaps I was just mis-aligned when trying to put it in, but I honestly it seems just about impossible while the transmission is in the car. There also does not appear to be any way to verify the alignment with the fork while in the car. Cheers Charlie

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This is the most common issue related to installation of a used slave. Often the rod that actuates the slave loses its center with the internal piston during installation, due to side loading. When this happens the exact situation that you mention will occur, an extremely hard pedal, then immediate failure of the slave. I have only been able to save a couple of these when this occurs, and that's if I had a parts slave to rob some pieces from.

Jake, I'm going to be doing the same thing when I put my engine/transmission back in next week. Would the best way to do it be to remove the slave from the line, bleed out some pressure, install the slave, reconnect the line, and then bleed the system? Definitely want to avoid any issues. Thanks to the OP for sharing - as I'm following you in my project it's helpful to have some of the points you've mentioned.

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I pop the bleeder and remove some fluid before removing the slave, then remove the slave and use a mityvac to pull a little vacuum and retract the piston and rod.

Thanks Jake!!

ugh, that sucks. I remember trying to get it back on. I was so set to not loose any fluid and tried and tried to get it back on. finally I popped it open, left it open while I installed it and had fluid all over me.....but it worked. had to re bleed the entire system but it was probably due anyways.

How high do you need to lift the car to be able to get a transmission jack in and roll the transmission out/in?

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I just measured and mine is 15" from floor to the top of the jack stand holding the car. That is pretty close to the minimum - any higher and the job is easier. I was reluctant to go higher due to fear of losing stability.

I think with a set of liftbars I could safely lift it up to about 19". Do you think that would work? What transmission jack are you using (sorry if it was mentioned earlier in the thread.)

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I'm not qualified to answer that question. All I can say is use common sense and be careful. I put the rear wheels under each edge of the car as an added safety measure and always have someone home (and most of the time in the garage with me) while I'm working underneath the car. I've seen some members have their cars high enough to roll the entire jack out with the transmission on it. That would be ideal as long as you're able to safely get and keep the car in that position. I'm using the red transmission jack that harbor freight sells. It's ok and pretty inexpensive. I found raising it with the tranny on it takes some effort, especially from the lowest position. It gets easier as it goes up. I've been using an air impact gun to raise it. Im happy to answer any other questions - good luck!

Go easy with the impact - you talking about a Harbor Freight lift not an OTC or Gray! I have the HF .I have an M96 on it now. Suggest you carefully lubricate all the pivots ,pins and moving parts with engine oil until it drips off.With no load on it , raise and lower it -I use a speed handle.Then lubricate it again and repeat.Now it is ready.No need to force it.I just use a ratchet when it is under load . Have a plan in case something breaks ! Safety straps /lift straps nylon webbing even rope? The HF lift is great because it is mechanical ,not hydraulic so it seems less prone to failure?

I think we're close, really close! So I'm waiting on a Motive bleeder that I ordered (should arrive tomorrow). The new clutch slave cylinder arrived today so I installed that. The transmission was out (underneath the car) and I installed the slave cylinder there. It was MUCH MUCH MUCH easier (obviously) because I could see what I was doing + the new cylinder had no fluid in it. Once it was installed I put the release fork on with the throw out bearing and it all fit tighter nicely. I was able to 100% visually confirm that the slave cylinder was properly aligned. That being said, the cylinder does hold the release fork forward - it is still able to sit on the guide tube, but if you aren't careful it could fall forward and come off the tube. If this happens, you won't be able to install the transmission because the bearing will get pinched between the pressure plate and the guide tube. I didn't see any reason why the transmission couldn't be installed with the slave cylinder attached so I decided to give it a shot. And... it worked. Perfectly. There was no noticeable resistance holding the transmission off the engine and things went together smoothly. Honestly, if I were to do this project over I would just unhook the line and pull the transmission with the slave cylinder attached. The risk of mis-aligning the piston and blowing it to pieces - then having to take everything back out to fix it - just seems too high and from what I can see there is no way to visually (or by feel) confirm its aligned properly while the transmission is attached to the engine. The downside to this approach is that you have to bleed the system and you'll get brake fluid on yourself and the garage floor - but the upside is you won't do what I did and destroy your slave cylinder and have to pull the transmission out again (I am getting quite good at it though!) Now that I've removed and reinstalled the transmission several times, here are some tips. 1. Get the clutch aligned, perfectly. With it aligned, it is not a terribly awful job. With it mis-aligned it is a nightmare and impossible. I used an alignment tool and it didn't work - what ended up working was eye-balling it and using the alignment tool to help nudge it as needed. 2. Go slowly! It is a tight fit so you must raise the transmission with it more towards the front of the car until the bell housing can clear the rear cross-member. Once it can clear it, you can slide it back towards the engine to give yourself room up front. Keep in mind, as this is a C4S I think the transmission is a bit longer and required me to raise the transmission with the upper bracket already on top of it. This added to the complexity because there are some delicate hoses that the bracket can crush if you don't take your time and check regularly. 3. Raise the transmission to the appropriate height by referencing the block and the bolt holes and then push them together. As the transmission input shaft comes in contact with the clutch splines - rotate the output shaft (you'll need it in gear) to help things mate up properly. Once they do, it will slide together a little further and probably stop with about a 1/2" gap between the bell housing and the engine. 4. At this point, alignment is crucial. I found that using a light you can peer through the side of the rear passenger wheel well and see the two surfaces (bell housing on transmission and crank case). Eyeball them to see that they're parallel and spacing is even from top to bottom. Adjust your engine height using a jack as necessary to get them parallel while keeping the transmission at the correct height using your transmission jack. Once they look good, try wiggling the transmission and pushing - they should slide together without too much effort. Onto the front transmission mounts... So, on the C4S there are two sets of bolt holes in the underbody where the upper transmission bracket goes. I looked online and it appears that in the tutorial pictures there is only 1 set. I chalk this up to a slightly different transmission? Either way, the set of holes toward the REAR of the car are the correct ones. The holes towards the front are too close together and from what I can tell serve no purpose. There are two leather-ish guards that go on either side of the transmission, between the transmission and the bracket. Look at the discoloration and shape of them and you should be able to determine their orientation and what side is which. The shifter cables are quite a pain in the butt. The top one (white) wasn't too bad, but I am having a really hard time removing the old retaining clip for the lower (green) one. Going to tackle that tomorrow. One other thing, and I almost made a foolish mistake here. I decided to install the oil filter and go ahead and fill the engine with oil. Right before I poured the first quart in, I realized I hadn't replaced the drain plug o-ring and torqued it yet. Whew! With a project like this, start a checklist of important steps and their sequence so you don't end up forgetting something. That's it for now, tomorrow I need to finish the shifter linkage, reverse light plug, bleed the clutch, CV bolts, re-install lower plastic covers, check the oil one more time, reconnect battery, lower it down, and hopefully go for a drive! In this case, to the DMV so I can get plates as my temp tags expired a few weeks ago. Cheers Charlie

Great job Charlie, and excellent write up. Glad to see things worked out for you, and also good to know that the slave cylinder can be installed on the trans, off the car. Bleeding the clutch line should be a breeze with he motive, just make sure you keep high level of fluid in the reservoir.

Charlie, Thank you for including all the problems and mistakes. So often these jobs are given cursory and dismissively 'easy job' description. That is not helpful.Your saga is truely helpful.Specifically ,saying 1/2 clearance and then snug it up easily is so useful because there is a great temptation to force it in....not good ! Has anyone got a better alignment tool ? Jake mentioned making a hardwood piece but he did not say if he carved splines into it or just used a plain dowel. A carefully sized aluminum or copper rod or tube might work. A modified brass drift ? I got (dumb) lucky when I used a cheap plastic Clutch pilot tool that was intended for a Ford Explorer for the M96(Bxstr S) on my bench now. The major o.d. is 1" x 23 splines .The pilot is 19/32" https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ram-5311/overview/ A piece of domestic 3/4" copper tube may be useful for this size because the o.d. is 0.875" and the root of the splines on my cheap plastic tool is around 0.9".

Thanks guys - I've gotten quite a bit of help from several members on the forum. Without you guys to bounce ideas off it would have been even more difficult. Special thanks to Jake Raby and MeirSchwartz for taking the time to answer some specific questions. So... SUCCESS! Today I started the engine! Per instructions I started and shut it off 5 times in quick succession. Full oil pressure was built by the third start and everything sounded great. So far, everything related specifically to the IMS Solution appears to be working flawlessly. However, after the engine idled for a minute I noticed a spot of oil on the garage floor. I left the car up on jacks just in case something like this happened. It turns out that there is oil leaking from one of the timing chain tensioners. DOH! I did not replace the seal rings on them (didn't have the factory service manual at the time) but now that I have looked through the manual it is an 'always replace' part. This, again, was my mistake. So, I am going to go back out and double check that it is torqued correctly, but I have a feeling I need to get new seal rings and remove the tensioners to install. That's it for now, for the most part today was just buttoning things up. Triple check everything (oil level, make sure you remove the crank locking tool, etc, etc, etc). I did a full walk around of the car several times and reference the list I put together earlier before I reconnected the battery. UPDATE: I looked up the torque specs for the timing chain tensioner and it turns out I didn't have it quite tight enough. After tightening it, the leak seems to have stopped. Keeping a close eye on it though. I lowered the car off the jack stands and took it for a test drive with my wife. I drove about a mile, turned around and came back - looked under the car - all looked good. Then, I repeated the process and went a bit further. Since I have a brand new clutch/pressure plate/flywheel as well I am taking it very easy following break in procedures. I kept the revs between 2-4k most of the drive, hitting a max of about 4.5k. So far, everything seems perfect. I'm going to check the garage floor tomorrow morning to see if anything dripped overnight (my front differential seals were leaking previously and I replaced them too, so eager to see if that solved the problem). I'm also going to check the engine oil a few more times for good measure. It feels GREAT to be in the car again. To top it off, the first short trip a guy in a pickup yelled/screamed 'badass!' out the window as they went by.

Great job! Few have done this as a DIY!

yay! awesome to hear

Great work, although I'm going to miss this thread.

Congratulations Charlie! Truly an inspiration for all of us DIY'ers. Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations on this project.

Yes, I looked forward to your progress so will miss this thread too. Good to hear about both the errors and successes. Congrats on a job well done!

Haha, thanks guys. I, for one, am very happy to be finished. After driving the car the last couple days I can say with absolute certainty that driving it is more enjoyable than laying under it covered in grease in 90+ degree weather. Now that it is complete I'm going to be putting the IMS pro and supplemental toolkits up for sale, I should never need them again. Also, for anyone pulling their transmission or installing the IMS Solution, feel free to post here with any questions or PM me. I had some great support from the forum community on this one and would like to pay it forward where possible.

^^ Don't sell the tools yet Charlie, I'm bring my 996 to you to get the IMS solution installed. Jake Raby (even though he lives in spitting distance of me.) wouldn't take my car on as a guinea pig in one of his clinics and so this is your chance to be better and quicker at the solution install the second time around. hahahaha! What do you say partner? (ok ok ok I'm messin with ya, but was worth a try)

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Only because the Guinea Pig days have been over for the IMS Solution for over 6 years.... And because we have our own fleet of test cars and never use purchasers as testers. The way that it should be.

Quick update: all is perfect. Oil pressure is good, no leaks, engine runs great. Also, I realized I did not document the final step! So, without further delay, the installation of the IMS Solution sticker. Now, I did quite a bit of research and it appears that the 'proper' place, and the spot used by certified installers, is in the driver's door jam. I went back and forth but ultimately couldn't bring myself to put it there - the door jams are just too beautiful and clean. I opted to install the sticker under the hood. Pros: ascetically I prefer it here. Cons: I will have to point it out if/when I sell the car.

Charlie, would be so kind to you share with the 996 forum what you spent on doing this project? We really appreciate it!

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Sure thing, I posted a summary at the start of the thread. It hurts when you add it all up though! I'm sure there are little miscellaneous costs I forgot to include but that is the bulk of it. Cheers Charlie

Did the $4,800 include the damaged parts you encountered?

Quotes source post: 13550544

I keep going back and editing that list as I think of new things... but yeah that is a fairly comprehensive list. There are a few things I ordered that I didn't end up using (rear main seal) that I did not include. The only thing I forgot to add were the flywheel bolts, and the second set that I had to order when I removed the flywheel again to double check some torque settings. The only failing/damanged parts that I encountered were the front output shaft seals on the differential, and one on the rear. Those are in the cost. That being said, I also rolled one of the new seals while installing and had to buy a second (included in that list) and broke the clutch slave cylinder while re-installing (also included in the list). Also - remember that list includes what I spent, not necessarily what it would cost someone else. I replaced quite a few other expensive parts while I was in there and I had to buy some tools that others may already own. I think that is pretty much it - unless maybe I'm forgetting something?

Super! Thank you Charlie! Hope you enjoy the car. My best advice at this point is avoid the flip-flops when driving the Porsche or people will confuse you with those guys that drive Miatas. hahahaha

Wow! Congrats and what an accomplishment DIYng this thing. May need to bring you up to Indy for a consultation sometime