No, you can't tell by the VIN, but you can by the engine number.


996 Double Row:
Engine Number up to 661 14164

996 Single Row:
Engine Number from 661 14165

 

uhm my engine number is 661 18721. So I have a single row?

 

I do know this - having been an Admin for 2 Plant Mgrs at GM and Dialmer - soft recalls happen all the time - and since I was raised w 427's, LS6's too. It is what you put in it and do with it. Do you take meticulous care of it? Do you only buy the best oil? Do you change it frequently? I guess I can't imagine these things happening to a Prius bc you aren't going to track that Prius *nearly* as much.

 

If I were you and your clutch is good, I'd go with the Guardian now and do the IMS when you need to replace the clutch. It's not throwing money away because the Guardian will forewarn you about other potential engine issues.

 

Are you sure this is still an accurate method? I ask because LN Engineering had this tidbit on their site awhile ago but have since taken it off their site leading me to wonder why they would've pulled this info unless it wasn't 100% accurate.

There is another statement that says: "WE DO NOT RECOMMEND RELYING ON ENGINE NUMBERS ALONE TO IDENTIFY WHICH TYPE OF IMS YOU HAVE - IF YOU ARE UNSURE AND IN A HURRY, ORDER ONE OF EACH KIT AND RETURN THE UNUSED ONE. WE'LL WAVE THE RESTOCKING FEE."

 

I do not think you'll get the " warning" ( metal particles in oil) that your bearing is eating itself up.

 

That was my thinking. $300 is peanuts compared to the alternatives, so I put it in. Piece of cake. Pan and magnet were totally clean @ 47k. Wait until I need the clutch and do the whole shebang, then. Meanwhile, I have all peace of mind.

 

Where is the best place to get a replacement bearing and what kind of prices will I be looking at? When the time comes is there anything else I should do while I have the tranny out?

 

New AOS should strongly be considered.

 

Sorry for your loss...but curious as to why you did not at least consider the Guardian. I see that your post count is only three..... perhaps your forum surfing was limited and you missed the memo ?

 

Interesting. This method is still posted on Renntech and Pelican Parts. That said, I trust LNE - if they've removed it and put up a disclaimer that can only be because they've found exceptions.

 

Well I just took delivery on a 2003 C4s with 31k on the clock, while it was in for the PPI I had the put in the IMS bearing upgrade along with a new RMS. I had them do it then as it was in the shop already and I wanted the peace of mind. Also had an oil chenge and new K&N air filter done. I din't want to take the chance anything would happen with the IMS.
Just my point of view, better safe than sorry ($15 - $20K for a new engine)

 

I don't think there's any reliable data that suggests the upgrade actually fails less often than the OEM bearing. That's partially because Porsche doesn't disclose things, partially because there is a highly selective (i.e., non-random) sample of owners who opt for the upgrade, and partially because it has only been available for a few years and there seem to be an ever-increasing number of failures reported on LN's website. Most importantly, even LN acknowledges that it can't verify with certainty whether an engine has failed because of IMS and there seems to be a trend for people to blame any failure on the usual suspects.

To be clear: I'm not saying the upgrade doesn't work, I'm just saying that there is no reliable evidence to say it works substantially better than the OEM version, and for the price involved, I would think you're much better off investing in a good extended warranty that will cover other far more common issues.

Whatever you do: your odds of having a problem are very low (albeit not impossible as you have seen) and you should enjoy your car instead of losing sleep over the myriad ways something might go wrong. You're a lot more likely to be clipped by an uninsured driver or by a hit and run while you're parked than you are to have a blown engine in a car that consistently tops Consumer Reports most reliable list.

 

Lol, this data is flawed in so many ways.

1. What percentage of owners daily drive their Porsches daily and racks up the kind of miles compared to say a Camry or Accord owner?

2. How many miles does a typical Porsche owner rack up vs a Camry owner?

3. Where/how does Consumer reports obtain their data(surveys, dealer service records, etc)? Point is if majority of the Porsche owners are using Indy Mechs for cost effective reasons, that data will never make way to Consumer Reports and the Dealer will essentially look like they have a lot fewer cars to have worked on, indicating potential reliablity.

4. I would think generally Porsche owners are a bit more proactive/and or **** about maintenance and upkeep and actually make the necessary adjustments and or proactive repairs before the car actually fails in some way.

5. From a number's perspective, the sampling size is a lot smaller as there are far fewer Porsche owners vs. say a Camry or Accord owner.

There are many other variables as well to consider instead of taking this statement 100% by Consumer Reports.

I do agree that the 996 has made great strides in reliability and daily driveability, however I can't help but laugh whenever someone brings up the Consumer Reports.

 

No one is suggesting that a Porsche is cheaper to own than a Camry or Accord, but the data is based on owner surveys (not dealers) and Porsche owners generally report very few issues.

Anyway, the point was not to suggest that Consumer Reports or any other publication is the be-all, end-all of reliability. Rather, the point is that these cars, overall, are extremely reliable, and only on an internet bulletin board full of misinformation and gossip does one get the impression that they are ticking time bombs.

Perhaps that's no comfort to those who have problems, but it should be comforting to the VAST majority of 996/997 owners out there.