A friend of mine is looking at a early model 997.1. Although extremely rare, only the very early model 997’s (called 997.1) had IMS (intermediate shaft failure) and RMS (rear main seal) issues. Hence I would suggested looking for 997’s from June ’06 or newer since there was a final change for the IMS starting from MY06. He likes a '06 model but how can you tell if it was built before or after June 2006..
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Look on top right corner of door sticker on driver side. Tell your friend to look for later than 09/06.

 

Thanks adias.

 

They started building the MY 06's in early June 2005. Porsche NA claims that these had all the shaft problems ( actually, the bearings ) resolved and changed. 07 production started 6/06; about the only change from the 06 was TPMS was standard.

 

Good information to know, mine says 05/06, so I assume these issues are resolved.

 

The intermediate shaft design change was made on '07 production which started in the summer of 06. 09/06 and after are the best bets.

 

Oh noes!! I have a build date of 10/05.

 

From what I've been reading it only affects 5% of cars before 09/06. Crossed your fingers.

 

I'm actually more worried that it was built during the beginning of Oktoberfest! Seriously, it's and '06 with 23k miles and no major real issues yet. I've had it for a year and i just needed to replace a horn so far.

 

My build is 04/2006. I'm a little confused by the posts above. Maybe I should rub my eyes anyhow....

Tejoe: You're saying (actually Porsche) that June '05 and later is ok
Adias: You're suggesting 9/06 to be safe.

As luck has it, my model is in between those dates....LOL and I'm curious which one is accurate..Thanks!

 

RMS is a possible issue for all M96/M97 engines.

 

[quote=ggregory;3114809]My build is 04/2006. I'm a little confused by the posts above. Maybe I should rub my eyes anyhow....

Tejoe: You're saying (actually Porsche) that June '05 and later is ok
Adias: You're suggesting 9/06 to be safe................."

I'm not saying anything is 'safe'. Porsche had problems from the late 90's with the M96 family be it the 2.5, 3.4, 3.6, etc. ( ims bearings, and off-center crankshaft assemblies that led to rms leaks) While this was supposedly resolved with the M97 engines apparently it was not, at least on the early ones. According to Porsche NA, bearing changes were made by the Spring of 2005 so the last of the 2005 997/911 and those forward are 'OK'.

If you want a truly expert opinion contact Joel Reiser ( jmreiser@frontiernet.net or joel@reiser-technik.com ) or motormeister@aol.com or Wayne Dempsey at Pelican Parts.

All this said, less than two weeks ago I read about someone with a rms leak on a 2010; nothing is perfect

 

ditto here (10/05) but have an extended warranty thru 10/12

 

for ims 'patch' find your engine number (will be in PPI papers if you have them) and compare engine number to those which got IMS bearing replaced. search for this info, it should be on this forum or rennlist.

 

thank you.