IMS Bearing Replacement In Progress.....*Complete*

Hello, I'm new to the Porsche community. I just picked up a 2000 996. I currently replacing my IMS bearing and RMS. I've had much guidance from Kyle and numerous other write-ups. So far so good... except that bolt at the 12 o'clock position stalled my progress for about an hour. If anyone wants some advice or pictures let me know. I about about 5 bolts from dropping the tranny... - Ryan

Good to hear. I'm planning on doing the same thing this summer. Please post pictures and let us know if you run into any problems.

Yes, please post some pics and any problems you have. Good luck!

no problems so far... the only thing that took time was the top bolt on the tranny.. im about to drop the tranny as we speak...

uhhh ohhhhh....... i think this may be bad....

leak..... oh crap the tranny is bigger than i thought... time to improvise...

this thing is big...

she's out... pressure plate time...

some surprises... what the heck is on the pressure plate and flywheel.. looks like little spots.. ive never seen this before... any ideas? i dont want to buy a new clutch.. the clutch looks good... but those spots..... i definitely have a nice IMS leak... what size torque bolt is the flywheel? im sure there is more presents underneath it that i wont be too thrilled about....

I'm beat and im going to bed. i will pick up where i left off tomorrow.

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so 7:23 pm to 9:45 pm. That's less than two and a half hours from time he finished removing the easy bolts to the time the trans was sitting on the floor next to his car. It took longer to change my spark plugs. The more of these threads I see the more I think I'm doing my own clutch and IMS bearing...perhaps as early as the end of the summer. My clutch is getting stiff, but when I saw that the clutch in a club members car was almost as good as new even though it felt old, it got me thinking that I might only replace my friction plate, and leave the flywheel and pressure plate for another go.... What's your thoughts?

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I'm thinking maybe if the car sat a long time there was bonding between the plates and flywheel. After that it was just smear the scaring is what it looks like to me. Chunks bonded and rusted to the wheel then applied friction after that. Not sure about your plates but most have metal in them. That or somebodys been frying the clutch. Doesn't look too bad to me. Is it slipping? Just the plates if the rest aren't ate up is how I would plan it.

Hi: Here you have several pics from mine. My mechanic did it 2 months ago. Perhaphs it could help you Good luck http://pasionporsche.com/component/c...ms-996-36.html

Looks like normal wear to me. Rick 99 996C4 87 944S

Good luck Ryan. Thanks for posting.

Almost there!!!!! My PP and flywheel were a mess too. I took a BROWN scrubby pad from lowes that can be found in the paint section and spent about 45 min doing nothing but scrubbing the stuff off. mine cleaned up nice and It have had no isses in 4000 miles so far, No chatter, no slipping.... I also put in a new clutch.... I think it was from oil from the RMS leak burned on to the flywheel that made the mess.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU ARE PINNED AT TDC AND THE TENSIONERS ARE OUT.... IF YOU DIDNT ALREADY DO IT, I SUGGEST YOU DROP EVERYTHING AND DO IT NOW!!!!!! Before you get over zellis and really screw up. also do yourself a favor and run over to target and get yoru self a soft gug to lay on... Make the job 1000X more pleasent.

holy crap im stiff this morning..... i might take an emery cloth and try to remove that crap on the clutch plate and flywheel. YES, i pinned the dampener and TDC. i will take the tensioners out next..... ive been using a creeper for the most part. that has helped my back a bit, BTW: the clutch was not slipping prior to pulling the tranny. also, what size torx bit do i need to get off those FW bolts?

FYI: These transmissions a much heavier than honda/ford's transmissions. Off to the store to find a torx bit for the FW...

T-55 thats the one for the FW

You know that you should use new bolts on the flywheel. They are stretch bolts. Also for tightening they you will need a torque angle gauge. You tighten them to a torque and then another certain number of degrees.

Update: I'm about to pull the old bearing.. the old one looks in great shape..

Picture time////

I was really hoping to find a chewed up bearing... but no... somehow my 996 with 97k miles on it has a perfectly good bearing inside...

I did get a splash of oil in the face after the old bearing popped out... Here are some pics...

Oily Mess.. My poor garage floor

There was minimal play in the old bearing but it did have alot of oil in the shaft and it smells burnt..

time for some lunch and then the new bearing will go in....

new bearing in...fits PERFECT..

Well done, good progress. Thanks for keeping us all in the loop.

tranny is on after fighting with it for 2 hours.... a few more bolts, slave cylinder and the axles....

Wow that was quick.. Can I drop my car off too?!

awesome thread!

haha i may be in a body cast tomorrow. my back is bruised all over i can feel it... just waiting to finish the slave cylinder and axles then the moment of truth (starting it up)

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i could help you... where do ya live? haha

ill post some more pics later.. after im done..

alright, im at the angry point in the project... what is the gdamn trick to getting the slave cylinder on...

SUCCESS!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

IMS Replacement 16 hours ... done.... any questions just message me..

MORE Pics..

did you use OEM bearing or LN retrofit?

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LN Retrofit.. Double Row

Good job, nice report. It's nice to know I'm not the only one that gets beat up after doing a simular job.

SWEET!!! so you ordered the bearing ahead of time? How did you know what you had....and you got the tool from LN too? right nice job!

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well i just went by the VIN #'s on the LN website, they told me not to go by it but i did anyway. LN said if the bearing was the wrong one that i could return it and they would send the other one. I just got lucky i guess

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I'm feeling better today that i thought, if i would have done it on a regular shop lift (rather than in my garage on my back) it would have been easier..

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good to know !

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sorry that was Engine Code not VIN...

Impressive work, I did not even know it was possible to do it on jack stands !!! R-E-S-P-E-C-T ! From what I see you manage to drop the transmission with the front wheels on the ground and the transmission strap to a jack ? PS: What' with the supermotors.net website ? why posting pics over there instead of uploading directly here ?

yea, - understood but thanks for the clarification anyhow - from what I have seen the early models have the double row and the later the singel - though for the life of me I cannot figure how Porsche came up with that as a better set up??? seemingly a failing part would be replaced by a more robust one. not the other way around.... makes me wonder about bean counters in control

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yea my "old" bearing was in great condition. If i could have seen it prior to pulling the tranny i would of left it alone. oh well...... i like wrenching on cars either way, and i really like the design of the porsche, believe it or not it is very easy to work on compared to a honda, nissan, ford, etc...

i wonder if most IMS failures were single row opposed to double....

Mine bearing was in good shape at 105K miles, but It's done and I'm not worried about it failing any time soon. It sits on my computer desk now and I play with it now and then. Sometimes if I spin it hard it makes some noise. Rick 99 996C4 87 944S

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was yours a double or single row?

i guess the term - sitting at your desk, spinning your wheels, is about right ehh?

haha

Just saw your post, great job. I did the same but got a creaking in the clutch when pushing the pedal and releasing. It ended up being the shaft tube that the throughout bearing rides on. The manual said not to grease the tube but the creaking was too much and not getting better. I greased the tube and the creaking was solved. I also see you had trouble with the top bolt of the transmission. Access to the top bolt is gained by lowering the engine support by 25mm. From your pictures it looks like the IMS flange was leaking. Also the flange had the upgraded torque bolt which indicates this flange had been replaced before. My thoughts are that when the flange starts leaking this is a signal that the IMS is having some movement. I believe this movement is breaking the tight seal on the IMS flange.

yea i get a slight creak when i move the clutch pedal.. i dont care though, the tranny isnt coming off anytime soon.

I didnt mond helping at all. But I have to ask, what happened to all the great aupport you were to get from the people that make the kit?

i didnt bother calling them.. arent they off on the weekend?

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Are you talking about greasing the black plastic splined collar that the throwout bearing rides on? What grease did you use for this? Are you referring to the rear engine support - the two motor mounts at the muffler end of the car? Thanks for laying the groundwork for me gentlemen. I'm kind of getting stoked for doing this job now.

i just put some high temp grease on it...

Yes, the splined collar and the guide tube that the collar rides on. I greased both with a black synthetic grease. Porsche calls this the "GUIDE TUBE". Porsche stated "Do not grease sliding surace of release bearing or guide tube". No, not the rear. The jack that one uses to hold the engine before removing the transmission. See the note in the following piture:

i was able to reach up and use a short 3/8 drive ratchet with a 16mm socket and i could turn it about 1/4 turn at a time.. it was hard because your hand goes numb from using it above your head...

Nice job! And fast too! Mine is still sitting on jacks in the garage after I don't know how many months! Just too busy with everthing else to go play...

yea i dedicated those two days for the Porsche only, even the wife understands.. this car is my daily driver right now, so i needed it for work today.

Yeah being the DD does put it into priority. I got sucked into an out of town wedding this weekend and the last month I drove 2890 miles of business miles (not including commute and other driving, and the 450 miles to the wedding). Driving is not top priority for me right now!

Excellent job. How much easier would it seriously be if you had a lift?

much easier..... more ergonomic...

Hi i was reading through the tread, All looking good.... I too was looking at replacing my RMS IMS seals and would really like to gather as much info as posible on the subject. can i ask where you obtained any information.. thanks again

996erme, if I recall there are actually instructions with the LN Bearing but I got most of my info from this thread as well. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...t-bearing.html Let us know if you have any other questions...

Very impressive! My indy shop quoted 14-15 hours to do the job. You were only an hour longer. And on the floor no less! Strong work.

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as far as the insturctions on the LN engineered bearing, they recomend sealant when installing the IMS...its written in the instruction booklet they send with the bearing...**i didn't see the special sealant on your bearing bolts or center bolt? heres mine after it was completed 3 months ago:

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I opted out of putting sealant on those bolts, at the time I didn't feel it was necessary. No leaks yet...

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If your clutch is getting stiff...it might be the slave cylinder. Even though it is a pain to change, you do not have to drop the trans to do that. You should also replace the flex line to the slave while you're there as they have a tendancy to leak after 10 years or so.

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at least you have the ability to remove the tranny again if need be...did you repalce the $18 RMS while you were in there since that is a problematic area of leakage too?

Clutchs in 996s get stiff when they wear.. The wear material packs inside the pressure plate and makes for a much tougher pedal to depress..

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RMS was already replaced/updated by previous owner... no leaks either so I did not replace at the time.

sounds good.

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First I will echo other members: Much Respect to you sir.... Second, I rarely (if ever) think about the IMS failing...but this thread convinces me more that I do not need to replace it. I have seen more of these: "My old bearing was in great condition when removed"; "My car has over 1xxK miles and it has the original bearing"; than "my engine blew because of IMS failure". Again....much respect to you....I think I am way too old to attempt that kind of work on my back.....

Don't judge a book by it's cover. Disassemble that bearing and I'll bet that you find acclerated wear of the races and spalling of the *****. I see this wear on every bearing that we pull apart. The lowest mileage car we have performed an IMSR procedure on had 11K miles. That bearing is the only one that wasn't showing signs of accelerated wear. Keep in mind that once degradation of the bearing begins it is possible to progress from a stage 1 bearing failure to a stage 4 in just a matter of a couple thousand miles. The degradation starts the snowball in a crash course with hell and the worse it gets, the faster is gets worse. Those who want to just "leave it alone" benefit the most from the IMS Guardian system.

"spalling of the *****" sounds so dirty Jake!

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..... it also sounds painful!

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Thread resurection - sorry about that. In the clips from the service manual (I have a copy thanks) there are two pictures showing how the rear of the trans is mounted to the chassis. The first shows the steel frame which is bolted to the car at four points and runs longitudinally. The second shows the cross member which is mounted to the car at either end, and where the trans is mounted in the centre. There are arrows to all 8 mounting points - suggesting that all of them have to be undone, but it's not clear why. In all of the threads showing photos of this job, the trans seems to come out without any support brackets at all attached. Which points have to be undone ? Also - I know that dropping the motor an inch helps to get the top bolt, can I confirm that this is done with the hydraulic motor mounts at the rear of the car left alone ? Thanks gents.

All of them have to be undone to get it out, at least without a huge fight.

The secret to the tranny bell housing bolts is to remove the trans mount and dip the nose of the trans down first. Then you need a couple of feet of 1/2" drive extensions to reach back. It's actually pretty easy that way. The slave also comes out very easy if you dip the trans nose down first. Don't forget to do the AOS while you are in there.

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I just completed the trans removal yesterday. Lowering the motor and the tail of the trans made it possible. About the AOS. Is see one of the two mounting bolts is hidden behind the device...any hints for getting that out?

I don't remember any tricks to the AOS. It's just hard to get to even with the trans out. But some of the hoses have coolant in them. Be prepared for coolant to escape when you disconnect them. The nipples the hoses are connected to are really brittle so they will probably break off during removal. Don't forget to remove the broken off nipple from inside the hose, because you will drive yourself crazy trying to figure out why the hose won't go back on!!

I have 1/4" drive sockets, wobble extensions and ratchets. Maybe that helped. I don't remember, it was over a year ago I did this job. I also did a write up and posted it here.

Thanks Cefalu. I'll look for your write up. It totally makes sense to do this now, but it looks painful.

The AOS is the hardest part of the whole job. But it's not that bad while the trans is out. I have read the posts from those who did the AOS with the trans in. Trans out is easy by comparison. Made a believer out of me.