help deciphering Porsche service record - possible IMS repair?

[Grant L]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of vetting a '06 C2S for purchase and I'm hoping that someone here can help me decipher a Porsche service record that I think might be related to the infamous IMS bearing issue (hopefully not). 

This would be my first 911, so I really don't know what I don't know and appreciate any guidance the forum can provide.

-Grant

[JFP in PA]

Welcome to RennTech

 

We have seen this before.  Some of the cars had leaking seals on the IMS flange cover, which Porsche replaced under warranty.  But they only replaced the cover, not the bearing.  In addition, as the car is an 06, it carries the oversized third design bearing, which cannot be removed without disassembling the engine.  And before you ask, yes, the third design still are subject to failures.

[Grant L]

Thank you for the reply. During the PPI on this car, the inspector notes that there is light oil seepage, possibly from the crank seal. He states it's not a "leak", but I'm starting to get a bad feeling. The car has less than 16K mi and beyond this issue, the PPI checks out solid....but if that IMS bearing hasn't been getting proper lubrication....If you were in my shoes with this info, what you do?

[JFP in PA]

You are at a "toss up" cross road.  The oil leak could be from either the RMS or the IMS cover flange (they are both known to leak); both are low cost parts items, but the big money is getting at them (the trans, clutch, and flywheel have to come out, which is about a $2K shop bill).  And if you had this done, you could have the rear seal of the IMS bearing removed so that it can be oil lubricated going forward (we have done many of these, it seems to help the bearing long term).  If the rest of the PPI is good, try knocking the price down to reflect the expense to fix these issues; if the seller bites, you are golden; if he balks, move on, there are other cars out there.

 

And an oil leak from the IMS flange does not mean that the bearing has not been getting lubrication, it is a sealed and grease packed unit that happens to be partially submerged in oil, which is why the flange can leak.

[Grant L]

This is great guidance. I am going to definitely leverage the cost of this presumptive repair work into my offer. We'll what they say.

 

Thanks again!

-Grant

[JFP in PA]

This is exactly why you have a PPI done.

[Grant L]

Thanks again for the replies. After much thought and a little negotiating I jumped in and bought it! Car was delivered this afternoon to me and I'm very hopeful that it will be smooth sailing ahead. Will also have a local shop give it a once over now just to be sure.

[Captain Lockheed]

Grant,

I hope you enjoy the car.

[ThxRick]

A great car! Looks just like mine except Silver....how is it holding up?

[ThxRick]

How many miles on it?

[Grant L]

Thank you the car had just under 17K mi when I took delivery, so far so good...more or less. There have been two issues with the car, one of which is partially resolved and the other I just uncovered over the weekend and hope to get addressed this week.

 

First up was a very unusual PCM/ABS failure warning issue which was traced back to a faulty brake light switch; oddly it didn't show up right away and apparently wasn't an issue for the selling party or present during the PPI I paid for. After a couple of visits to the repair shop, it turns out that the brake switch wasn't the root cause; the real culprit was that the aftermarket headunit install had a power wire tapped into the same fused circuit as the brake gear and that caused the fault. Immediate solution was to remove the tap on the circuit which cleared up the warning, but has disabled my radio for now. Going to have that sorted out by a different shop this morning.

 

The second issue is more troublesome which is a stripped out lower seatbelt mount. After driving the car for awhile I noticed that the drivers side seatbelt was a little rattle-ly and upon inspecting it closely I found that the lower bolt was "slightly" backed out already; this also made me think about why the seatbelt webbing seemed to have an odd twist in it. 

I took my 17mm socket and with a little finessing I was able to back the bolt out (had to apply light outward pressure against the washer with my finger as I reversed the bolt). And could immediately see the tip of the bolt was well cross-threaded. (see pics).

Here's the fun part, take a look at the state affairs with the female threads in the rocker area. (pic).

 

Feedback on another board suggests I *might* be able to restore the female threads with a tap, otherwise needs to be drilled out and retapped for a larger bolt OR use a threaded insert like a Keensert or Timesert. Going to the shop later in the week to see what they can do.

 

So a little bumpy start, but besides these two issues I'm thoroughly enjoying the car.