Preventative Maintenance

Consider replacing the bearing due to the mileage 187k on my 2002 boxster tip. Does everyone agree I should not bother with the retrofit for that reason?

... change the oil on a regular basis (5,000 miles) and inspect the filter every time.
When you decide to replace the bearing, why would you not install the only REAL solution which solves the problem once and for all?
The Direct Oil Feed is the way to go. You really need to cool and lubricate the bearing properly. Anything else is just putting a band-aid on the problem.
Just sayin'
Happy Boxstering
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Mine has almost 280K miles, and has a 5-speed, and I'm not doing anything to the IMSB other than seeing it gets fresh oil every 5K miles.

My 2002 S IMS went with 10,001 on the odometer. I was on a roadtrip in October. Pulled into a hotel at 1:00 a.m. in Toledo to get some sleep only to notice the sound of ballbearings in a coffee can. If it went an hour earlier, I would have been in the middle of nowhere at midnight in about 30 degree temps. Nice little puddle of oil left in the hotel's parking lot. The bolt broke off and left a hole in the block. Luckily, under warranty and Porsche took good care of me. Got an 09 997S with no IMS to be found in the engine.

Should clarify, they didn't give my a 997S. This happened in 2003. I traded the '02S in Nov. 2009 for the 997S.

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db997S
Should clarify, they didn't give my a 997S. This happened in 2003. I traded the '02S in Nov. 2009 for the 997S.

How many miles on the replacement engine by the time you traded the 2002 for the 997S?

Around 45K. I tend to drive my cars about 7,000 miles or so per year for a daily driver.

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db997S
Around 45K. I tend to drive my cars about 7,000 miles or so per year for a daily driver.

Good to hear the second one didn't have any problems.

I agree...When the LN engineering installer told me that he would not consider changing out my IMS due to the mileage of my car, I thought, geez, I love this car and want to keep it going. You and Pedro give all of us with older Boxsters hope and reason for not giving up when we start anticipating upcoming repair bills.

is a personal decision. How much can you spend, what are the consequences of not spending, what are the liabilities if you don't, can you live with yourself if you don't?

Did they say they wouldn't do it or just didn't recommend it?

I can see why, with so many other things that can and do (but infrequently) go wrong in a 150+k car, they may not want to have their work associated with the probability curve.

You on the other hand may know the maintenance history, value the car on an emotional level differently than a service tech might, etc.

I've over PM'ed many cars including my Porsches. Beyond the rational level. Yet they always were very very reliable.

It's like when do you get new tires? At the wear bars or well before? And how much more are you willing to spend for the best tires? Each of us makes a different choice. (I think the last Porsche I sold had maybe 3-400 miles on N rated Michelins.)

I've had people tell me changing oil at the first 1k is a waste. I still did it.

They said they wouldn't do it and I agree that being associated with other things that may go wrong with a higher mileage car played into their thinking. Knowing that Pedro and Marc have gotten in the high 200K mileage range is encouraging.