8 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHIMS - Issue Characteristics
Leading reported evidence
Replace ims
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
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 performed work without a confirmed outcome
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.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
In the cars that I have changed the IMS on, the babied cars are the ones that seem to have the problem more often.
Leading evidence: 'Replace ims' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'only way is' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace i have yet' (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.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
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 suspect a cause
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.
Suspected cause
1) Unless it was done by Jake Raby, probably the only way is to take the car apart and look at it.
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
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
The thing I've noticed is that if the car has been driven hard and received frequent oil changes, i have yet to run into an IMS issue.
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
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
The thing I've noticed is that if the car has been driven hard and received frequent oil changes, i have yet to run into an IMS issue.
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
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
Does the car make a sound or run poorly or does it just happen?
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.
8 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Pelican Parts: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261027T044418Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I am considering purchasing a '90 996 and I have read the posts about IMS issues and the catestophic results of that failure.
1) How can I determine if the IMS has been updated? The current owner is unaware if it has been done, it wasn't done in his 6 years of ownership.
2) Other than complete engine failure (mosts posts) are there any precursers to the event itself? Does the car make a sound or run poorly or does it just happen?
3) Some posts say that "IMS is serialized" what does that mean?
4) I see $1,000 posted as the general price for having the IMS Upgrade? Is that still accurate?
1) Unless it was done by Jake Raby, probably the only way is to take the car apart and look at it. False upgrade claims are a common event in the used car market.
2) Not really, the event is usually quick and catastrophic in nature; very few are "caught" in the act of failing. Signs of a problem manifest themselves in a large amount of metal debris in the oil and filter, but that is usually too late. Early signs can be see in cam deviation values, but that requires diagnostic software.
3) When Jake Raby and LN Engineering introduced the upgrade, they developed a numbering system to identify which car what bearing was in for data tracking. Unfortunately, when installers failed to report back the necessary information, the data base broke down.
4) $1K is not realistic; $2500 to $3000 is more in line as the update usually also includes a clutch and RMS update. With the dual row IMS update part costing $650 alone, you are not going to get one done for $1K.
Hey Thanks for that great response!
Any idea what % of 996's have an IMS failure? Does year or production number within a year have any statistical bearing (no pun intended)?
Seems all year 996 and early 997 motors have experienced IMS failures. Factual numbers I don't think exist as I am sure Porsche doesn't admit that there is an actual issue. If you read the interweb long enough, you would think 100% have or will fail.
The thing I've noticed is that if the car has been driven hard and received frequent oil changes, i have yet to run into an IMS issue.
In the cars that I have changed the IMS on, the babied cars are the ones that seem to have the problem more often. I cant say why, but just an observation.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
