Please verify IMS flange type (single vs. dual row)

[JFP in PA]

LN uses their own design flange for a couple of reasons.  If you take a car apart and it has an LN flange in it, and you do not have any owner's records to document what was installed, pull the bearing out and you will know exactly what you are dealing with.  If you are not a shop holding inventory,  you will be far better off paying FedEx overnight charges on the correct bearing than having a $600 paperweight you are trying to sell at a discount on fleabay.

[Schnell Gelb]

Which is why ,in my first post I said:

"IF you have an LN cover dish marked "E3"  ,it seems to be different ".   Meaning the answer to the 1 row/2 row question.

 

 Yes,having an LN bearing retrofitted is rare but it is these exceptions that make Renntech such a valuable resource.And as time goes by, more M96  engines with retrofit LN bearings will be opened up and this exact confusion will arise.I am just making a clumsy attempt to help others avoid a $600 mistake.

The interesting option in my circumstances is to consider fitting the recently introduced LN IMS Pro , 2 row part - as an upgrade to the IMS retrofit previously fitted.Yes,it is an expensive and perhaps redundant upgrade but the back story of the development of that part is compelling (well O.K., for a nerdy engineer it is).

For those who are wondering : "why did this engineer-fool remove a perfectly good LN hybrid ceramic bearing ?" - see what Dennis did above and in my case,understand also that when an M96 engine has main/rod bearing failure, LN insist you do not refit the old(potentially contaminated) bearing.

And one more horror - when I started removing the LN Bearing the counterstay on the center stud would not hold it. So the nut and the center bolt just spun around. Thank goodness I had access to the tools and skills for that one! And when I finally could use the wonderfully over-engineered LN tool kit to remove the bearing - I found about two tablespoons of oil inside the shaft and all the swarf from the 'pin' that had been fitted to the IMS gear !The LN bearing had been fitted for about 1000 miles and probably had at least another 49,000 miles of life left in it before it was removed.

If anyone would find more photos useful to clarify ,please say so while this engine is still apart.

I hope this helps a few who follow this path in years to come.

[mikefocke]

Why has the LN web site been pruned? Why no returns?

 

Might both be that the stress and cost of dealing with people not qualified to do the job or who are attempting to return parts they have used and botched up has driven them nuts?

 

I recall a person attempting to force the bearing in, failing (oops, forgot the freezer bit), then selling the bearing on fleabay as new unused and that secondary buyer raising the question in the forum as to why it was scored. Deal too many times with that kind of stuff and you get defensive as heck with your sales strategy and your policies.

 

I used to sell a very expensive computer with some terminals.  The terminals were nothing special, we bought them from a major supplier but we also serviced them.  When a major government customer started to have failures on the same part number but of a slightly different era and asked us to honor "our" warranty we eventually caught on that they weren't one we had sold but had migrated from other systems,  In our case the cost was a new terminal and delivery cost to replace anywhere in the US.  In LN's case it would be parts cost plus handholding time from someone who would really rather be developing the next product.

 

Too much of that kind of stuff and you go out of business. 

 

Our solution (and I see LN practicing some of it too) was serial number recording both on initial purchase and, in our case, on warranty renewal.

 

I really get the feeling that LN would like to have only qualified installers buying as it protects the product's reputation.

[Schnell Gelb]

I asked LN about this i.d confusion. Obviously a common subject .Got a helpful confirmation that the engine numbers are not reliable.I am quoting below to help others with the same issue.

"The engine numbers really have no meaning when it comes to IMS Bearings. However, if you had a 106-08.2(note- he means the LN part number) - That's the Classic single row IMS kit of ours. The single row Pro 106-08.2.2 will work with all engines that the Classic single row did."

[Dennis Nicholls]

Why no returns?

 

Might both be that the stress and cost of dealing with people not qualified to do the job or who are attempting to return parts they have used and botched up has driven them nuts?

IIUC for the crossover years consumers would once order BOTH kinds from LN and just return the unused one for a refund.  I'd guess LN got tired of bankrolling such a program.