Replaced IMS and clutch status

I just got my Porsche back yesterday after having the clutch, IMS bearing, AOS and oil/filter changed at my independent repair shop. The cost was $3151. As it turns out, I have 47K on this engine, the clutch was showing signs of wear and now feels much lighter when depressed. They tell me it is the geometry of the relationship between the throw-out bearing, I hope that is the correct term, and the fingers on the pressure plate. When the clutch wears, it changes the angle the bearing hits the fingers on the clutch, a new clutch gives a more favorable mechanical advantage. The IMS bearing was tight, spun well with no bumps in the rotating, and was for all we could tell, still in fine shape. This was preventive maintenance. My buds at Import Auto, in Wichita Kansas, where I get the non dealer work done, let me come into the shop, view the work in progress, swap stories about the old days and comment on the ongoing progress. I've known folks who have known the owner and head mechanic all their lives so there is a big trust factor and I don't think you'll find a better place to get the P car worked on. Import Auto, Wichita Kansas so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and spend some money there. I took some pictures of the replaced parts but I suspect we all know what a Porsche clutch, AOS, and IMS bearing look like, there were unremarkable in appearance and wear. I figure a few thousand spent in this area is money well spent, I intend to drive this car till my kids pry the keys from my aged fingers, for my own good of course. It was certainly a joy to get behind the wheel again and drive that car, as we all know, they are a delight, joy and a wonder to drive and behold.

Thats awesome! I am really contemplating when i should actually do the IMS and the rest of the major works. I have got 84000km on the car but is going strong. Really scared when the car might just go "BOOM" ...

I assume the flywheels was good as that is ~ the same $$ my indy would charge for that job someone's gonna rest easy tonight! If you kept your IMS bearing and are curious.... sent it to me I will do an inspection for condition under the microscope and return it with photos... last week we did one that "felt" pretty ok and turned out the ball were pretty degraded once we looked under magnification. We are trying to keep some data based on the findings - our sample size is too small to be of any real use, but still we are working in the right dirrection -

Mikey55 What year is your car?

1999

Thanks! Happy Motoring with your new internals.

Thanks for your input on this topic. Question for the others - based on dealer records my car had the IMS replaced back in 2000. Its kinda hard to tell what exactly was performed back then as I don't have the actual receipts, just a printout showing some SEAL work due to leaks. I know the saying - don't fix it if ain't broken. Shall I worry about it too? I have NO current leaks or any weird noises. Currently have 63k miles on her Thanks

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They didnt do this procedure back then.... Maybe you are talking about RMS which was common back then....

not true, Porsche would replace the IMS "seal" meaning the seal and cover plate along with RMS and new case bolts - this was in response to weeping RMS concerns and over time they had a couple changes to tha seal and plate in an effort to head off leaks. so back then - IMS replacement meant a new seal/plate the bearings were never and as far as Mother knows are still not being replaced by Porsche dealers (though I have heard some rumors of some of them doing an IMSR under the radar)

I just bought a 2002 996 with 20,500 miles. I had a diagnostic and it shows the car was never rev'd up very high. The previous owners let it sit for long periods. This scares me more than oif the car had been driven hard. So, I am on the fence on changing out the IMS. I will be checking the oil plug this week for any evidence of metal wear on the bearing. other than that, all the shops that I have called locally are telling me to not change it until I need clutch service. Any comments, or recommendations?

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That is entirely a question of your tolerance for risk. I'm not one of those people who freak out worrying about the intermediate shaft failing, but I'm also not someone who is scared of spending $1500 or whatever on an upgrade that might extend the life of the car. So, if I owned yours, I would look at those low miles and that babying it's had, and consider the anecdotal evidence that these things correlate to more problems, and I'd probably open 'er up and put the upgrade in. That clutch could well have years of wear left in it. Would be a pity to fret about this for so long. One man's vote

Quotes source post: 8228168

You might be right. It was probably the RMS. The work was performed by a dealer back east. I know that if I called them they would not know either.