I've had some oil leak and took my car for an inspection (C4 2002 ~50K miles) to a very reputable local P service station (not a dealer). I am in Chicago, IL. Just learned and starting to research the RMS issue , have a couple of questions.

* Need RMS (rear main seal) replaced quoted at $1300 labor +
* ISS (input shaft seal) replaced quoted at $250 labor

1. Is RMS and ISS seal replacements an overlapping labor?
2. Can anyone recommend a place in Chicago IL to get this done cheaper than I was quoted? Or at least get some negotiating power. I've been reading that RMS labor could be done for around $800.. (assuming labor overlap).
3. Considering replacing the clutch while doing the RMS work (the part roughly costs 500 from Sachs), should this be done as well? The car is at 50+K miles.

Thank you very much

 

Try Golz Motors in Deerfield, they did my clutch and RMS. The labor you were quoted seems a little high. To do both you only have to remove the trans, which should be a couple of hours out and a couple of hours in, and the flywheel which is another hours or so. Once the flywheel is oof you have access to both the RMS and the IMS. If you are removing the IMS cap and seal you should also have the bearing checked for play and remove the seal on the bearing. Take a look at this site:

http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html

Lots of info on the IMS. If there is play in the bearing you should definitely do the upgrade, some do it even if the bearing seems ok. Porsche does make an upgraded IMS seal/cap that sells for less than $100.

The RMS is pretty straight forward.

If you have 50K miles you should probably do the clutch while you are in there. The cost will be parts as everything has to be removed to get at the RMS/IMS. The only big ticket item is the dual mass flywheel, if you need one.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Dharn55, I'll definitely give them a call. My labor was quoted at $1500+ which seems rather high after reading other threads.

I understand the improved bearing (IMS retrofit) will cost $500-600 from LN, what about if I just replace the bearing with the Porsche OE, what's the price difference there?

 

Porsche does not make a replacement bearing, at least not one that can be retrofit. They make an updated flange with a new seal, but this is not the bearing. The LN product can be installed in about 1 hour once the flywheel is off. You know that LN is in momence, so only about an hour from Chicago.

 

Dharn:

Have you replaced your IMS Bearing? I keep thinking about this and with 35k miles when is a good time to consider replacing it.

Thanks,
99C2

 

PM me if you have questions about the IMS upgrade...Its what i do

 

Hello asialors996, I only have 11 postings and need 15 to be able to send a PM.. maybe you could send me your contact at cooldudela@gmail.com or I'll send you a PM once I reach 15. thanks.

 

99C2 - When I had my engine out last spring the new tools for removing the dual row IMS bearing was not yet available so I did not do the LN upgrade. I did remove the IMS flange, the seal on the OEM bearing, checked the bearing for signs of wear or movement (did not find any) and then put in the new Porsche flange with upgraded seal. This did not upgrade the bearing. I may do it sometime in the future, need to resolve a few other issues with my "fixed" engine first.

The obvious time to do the upgrade is when you are replacing the clutch as most of the laber is redundant.

 

Hi my name is Jim (Harmony Jim) and I did have a question regarding the IMS bearing upgrade. Can this be done without locking the cams in position as long as engine is pinned at TDC, and the tensioners loosened? I have read the postings by Jake Raby that this is sufficient, but I was wondering your opinion. Thank You

 

i would not recommend it...when you pull out the IMS bearing there is a good chance that you will let the chain loose and it will be off a tooth...be very careful if you are doing it your self...

 

Locking the engine at TDC and removing the tensioners should be OK. There is not that much slack in the chains so skipping a tooth is not that easy.

 

http://www.lnengineering.com/ims.html

Do the IMS upgrade from LNEng. The IMS puller tool works great and puts pressure only on the IMS shaft.

 

by the way. I stopped over to my dealer this morning to talk about a VW issue.

he was complaining that he has 3 997 (2008) with IMS failure, needing new engines.

so, its not only 996s

JB

 

The 997 mkI had the m96 engine. Same engine,same foibles. The 997 mkII was fitted with the m97 engine - re-engineered to avoid this problem.

 

i just bought a 2000 996 w/ 60k miles and im thinkin about doing the IMS upgrade too, but they just replaced the clutch and flywheel about 1.5yrs ago... so i just dont wana do anything that I dont have to do right now.