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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHThoughts on what IMS in a 2008 reman 3.4
Leading reported evidence
Install engine
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Now it is possible someone sourced a remanufactured 1999-2001 engine circa 2008 and installed the engine.
Leading evidence: 'Install engine' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Install engine' (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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The engine in my 2002 996 was replaced by Porsche in 2005 (and not even because of an IMSB failure).
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Suggestion
He may also not be aware that the larger bearings are not prone to failure and so wants to avoid the car because he won't be able to change the bearing - not a reasonable consideration, but entirely understandable.
Replace bearing at some point in the future such as
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Suggestion
If the car has a small bearing then presumably the PO would consider changing the bearing at some point in the future such as when his clutch fails, and that's an entirely reasonable consideration.
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Suggestion
If I read correctly, he is considering purchasing a MkI car which had the engine replaced by what I am
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Suggestion
He may also not be aware that the larger bearings are not prone to failure and so wants to avoid the car because he won't be able to change the bearing - not a reasonable consideration, but entirely understandable.
Replace bearing at some point in the future such as
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Suggestion
If the car has a small bearing then presumably the PO would consider changing the bearing at some point in the future such as when his clutch fails, and that's an entirely reasonable consideration.
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Suggestion
From mid-2005 through 2008 the 997 came with 3.6 litre engines with variocam plus and the larger IMS bearings, but Porsche was also using the motors with the larger bearings as warranty replacements.
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17 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
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I'm looking at a 2000 c2 that had the engine go kaboom. New engine was a 2008 3.4 reman and has 10K on it.
Do you think it would that have the new non serviceable IMS bearing?
I'm trying to get the engine number to understand exactly what this engine is.
Your engine has 10k miles on it, why are you asking this? Do you want to replace the IMS bearing on a brand new engine?
What is your annual mileage? If it is like average P-car owner on this forum, it will take you about 5 years to get 50k on that engine, so why even bother with the IMS nonsense?
As doge says, IMS issue will give you a bunch of replies that will contradict each other. There are cars with 200k miles on original bearings, there are cars that lost their bearings within first 30k miles.
On a car with 10k miles on the motor, I would not bother with any retrofits. Buy the car if it passes PPI, and drive it. Assume a static 8% failure chance, that leaves you with 92% chance of having an amazing car.
Thanks. I don't necessarily disagree. I would just like to know if it's serviceable if I do the clutch etc. as the chassis has 64K.
More knowledge is never a bad thing IMO. Especially when dropping a bunch of cash on a used car.
That engine is from the wrong model run. The right engine would be from a 2000 to 2003 MY car.
The 3.4l IIRC has VarioCam Plus, vs. just plain old VarioCam the 2000-2003 models came with.
Before you spend too much time on the IMS bearing question you need to assure yourself the engine swap is real good. For real good read it should be just like "factory". The last thing I want to drive is some Frankenstein car.
I think the question may be valid but that the PO hasn't provided all of the information necessary for us to provide an answer.
If I read correctly, he is considering purchasing a MkI car which had the engine replaced by what I am
assuming
is a factory crate motor supplied in 2008. It may also be a third party rebuild circa 2008. That's the missing information.
The question (as I read it) is whether a factory reman 3.4 built in 2008 would have the updated Porsche redesigned larger IMS bearing, which can not be replaced, or the original smaller IMS bearing, which can.
I don't see the PO asking our opinion on whether he should be concerned about either design, he is simply asking what he is getting in to, so let's all just please stay on topic instead of derailing.
If the car has a small bearing then presumably the PO would consider changing the bearing at some point in the future such as when his clutch fails, and that's an entirely reasonable consideration.
The PO may also be aware that the larger bearings are not prone to failure which means he can rest easy.
He may also not be aware that the larger bearings are not prone to failure and so wants to avoid the car because he won't be able to change the bearing - not a reasonable consideration, but entirely understandable.
So - first we need to be clear on who supplied the 2008 3.4 litre. Was it a Porsche reman or a third party rebuild?
If the former, then that's a good question and I'm damned curious myself. If it's the latter then it's almost certainly a small bearing.
Either I'm confused or you are Macster.
From 1999 through 2001 the 996 came with 3.4 litre engines which had plain old variocam and small bearings (some single row, some double row).
From 2002 through mid-2005 996 (and 997) came with 3.6 litre engines with variocam plus and small bearings, all of which were single row.
From mid-2005 through 2008 the 997 came with 3.6 litre engines with variocam plus and the larger IMS bearings, but Porsche was also using the motors with the larger bearings as warranty replacements.
I'm one of the special cases here - so I have some experience. The engine in my 2002 996 was replaced by Porsche in 2005 (and not even because of an IMSB failure). The 3.6 litre engine that Porsche installed was equipped with the larger bearing.
It runs like a top by the way, and has 80,000 miles on it by now.
edit:
I'm thinking that even in 2008 Porsche would have built the remanufactured engine using an old style 3.4 litre case rather than a newer style 3.6 litre case. The reason is that the 3.6 litre case has a larger bore, so could not be used to manufacture a 3.4 litre engine....at least not without a fair bit of reworking.
This
My understanding is that this is a 2008 Porsche crate remanufactured 3.4.
If its the newer bearing and the engine has 10K and passes the PPI I am just going to drive it.
If its the older serviceable bearing and passes the PPI I am going to think about the LNE but will probably still take the approach of just driving it and swapping it later down the line.
Either way I am going to install an IMS guardian because I like the idea of knowing that there is any quantity of metal floating around, regardless of if its from a failing (failed) IMS bearing.
I was taking the 2008 as the year of the engine's manufacture and pointing out Porsche does not sanction swapping newer model engines into older model cars.
Using numbers from your post then the only MY engine that is sanctioned would be a 1999 through 2001. Now it is possible someone sourced a remanufactured 1999-2001 engine circa 2008 and installed the engine. This is ok, that is at least it stays within the sanctioned model years.
If the engine is truly a 2008 engine, then I restate my concern about the compatibility of the engine.
Of course, if the OP has test driven the car and is satisfied with that aspect of the car or choses to dismiss it out of hand, then nevermind.
As for the question about the bearing size or style and whether it is serviceable or not I can't answer that. I have stayed remarkably and intentionally uninformed about all the IMSB and model year issues, which MY has what flavor of bearing, which are replaceable, and so on.
As other posters already touched upon the OP I think could help by posting the engine's serial number. If there is any way to tell which bearing the engine came with, at least from the factory, that would be the way. If the engine was remanufactured by an indy shop, then what the shop did in this bearing area may render whatever the serial number has in the way of connection to bearing inconsistent or invalid.
