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YOUR RESEARCHSolution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
Reported or suspected cause
bearing is killed by the fact
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No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Suspected cause
Most likely the bearing is killed by the fact that dirty/acid oil gets inside it, have a look at this forum what people find in their oil filters.
Solution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
Frequently discussed work
Replace wearing part
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Suggestion · Original poster
Anyways, as I plan for the rebuild I was wondering, are there advantages to getting the Solution vs the Retrofit for a higher performance motor that will also see occasional autoX and 2-4 DEs a year, or is the Solution just a way to avoid replacing a wearing part?
Solution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
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Leading evidence: 'bearing is killed by the fact' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'bearing is killed by the fact' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace wearing part' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Anyways, as I plan for the rebuild I was wondering, are there advantages to getting the Solution vs the Retrofit for a higher performance motor that will also see occasional autoX and 2-4 DEs a year, or is the Solution just a way to avoid replacing a wearing part?
Solution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
Use nickies and pistons
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
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Suggestion · Original poster
Just hoping the engine isn�t trashed and I can still use the Nickies and pistons.
Solution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
Frequently discussed actions (2)
These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.
Replace wearing part
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion · Original poster
Anyways, as I plan for the rebuild I was wondering, are there advantages to getting the Solution vs the Retrofit for a higher performance motor that will also see occasional autoX and 2-4 DEs a year, or is the Solution just a way to avoid replacing a wearing part?
Solution or Retrofit for 3.8L Rebuild w/Occasional DE Events
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Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
13 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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First off - if this needs to be moved to the IMS sticky section, please feel fre to do so. I couldn't find a way to start a new thread in there, only continue a discussion.
I've been lurking here for a couple years and finally found and bought what I was hoping for - a roller C4S. It's been a member's car previously and had a rebuilt engine done by TuneRS about 40K ago with 3.8L Nickies and JE pistons but recenlty suffered a failure that the POs mechanic thinks might be a spun bearing (I'll be posting info, questions and rebuild info in another thread once I get the car shipped to me).
Anyways, as I plan for the rebuild I was wondering, are there advantages to getting the Solution vs the Retrofit for a higher performance motor that will also see occasional autoX and 2-4 DEs a year, or is the Solution just a way to avoid replacing a wearing part? I figure I'll drive about 3,000-5,000 miles a year. I don't know that I will keep this car forever (although I thought about keeping the engine forever and putting it into a black or white shell if I ever come across one), but I don't want to invest $10-$15K and multiple weekends rebuilding something just to see if fail again. BTW - the current car has the LN Engineering 3-row retrofit (yes, they made one at one point) as well as the .5qt deep sump.
Any thoughts?
Hey Prelude Guy - I guess we both have great taste! Just hoping the engine isn�t trashed and I can still use the Nickies and pistons.
Why does sleeping the engine increase the need or effectiveness for the Solution?
I am not a fan of pouring money into an M96 that hasn't been properly rebuilt. The main reason, they have so many issues. So many things can fail, good money can be wasted.
The Retrofit aftermarket options aren't a fix. They can fail as well, especially if the engine has other issues. Debris can still get into those bearings. That's why you need to get the engine checked out before installing the Retrofit. M96s that haven't been rebuilt tend to have debris floating around.
Personally, I would never put the IMS Solution on an M96 that I wasn't planning on rebuilding in the future. Since your engine has had many of the common failures fixed, now is the time to put the proper IMSB. I think the IMS Solution is the only option for a properly rebuilt engine. The IMS Solution is the bearing that should have come on the car from the factory, or at least some version of it.
Good luck with the car! Hopefully the engine is rebuildable!
I have done the bearing calculations(L10...and it's variants) for the IMS bearing recently to find out if the bearing needs to be bigger and/or stronger. My findings is that the bearing is WAY overkill when it comes to strength, no need for something stronger. This is no surprise as plenty of people drive long(+200k miles) and/or hard without issues. If you go for a bearing, make sure it's sealed and pre-greased. A good quality one should cost you no more than 40€(probably less) from a certified reseller, don't buy off ebay etc. Most likely the bearing is killed by the fact that dirty/acid oil gets inside it, have a look at this forum what people find in their oil filters. 5w40 oil works good as lubricant if the grease would go away.
With either option you will not get around:
-changing oil and filter frequently, less than 5k miles and minimum once per year.
-Making sure the engine runs cool. Coolant temps on average well below boiling.
I would personally go for original spec bearing and keep it in good shape, that's proven to work.
