Direct oil feed IMS kit
Discussion
Anyone have any comments to make on European Parts Solutions answer to the IMS issue? Namely, pulling the allen key drive out of the oil pump, punching a hole through the thin wall behind it with a centre punch, then fitting a replacement allen key drive with a slot cut into it's length to allow engine oil to pressure feed the bearing?
But every kit makers claims sound good on paper. And everyone who comes out with a kit believes in their approach.
What I have cautioned from the first kit introduction is to let someone else be the tester. Recall that even Porsche with their multiple 100k test mules didn't get it right. It is only when the numbers are in the thousands and the years mount and the reports come in that we'll have an idea.
What I have cautioned from the first kit introduction is to let someone else be the tester. Recall that even Porsche with their multiple 100k test mules didn't get it right. It is only when the numbers are in the thousands and the years mount and the reports come in that we'll have an idea.
Are direct feed kits relatively new to the market?
It sounds like a better solution than a "serviceable" bearing to me, particularly given that every other bearing in the engine is oil fed.
But I'm not sure I'd want to be an early adopter - what if the fabricated oil feed fails?
One of the staff cars of GT Purely Porsche has had an oil fed kit fitted, and RPM are fitting one this week. I don't know if they're the same as the kit you refer to however.
It sounds like a better solution than a "serviceable" bearing to me, particularly given that every other bearing in the engine is oil fed.
But I'm not sure I'd want to be an early adopter - what if the fabricated oil feed fails?
One of the staff cars of GT Purely Porsche has had an oil fed kit fitted, and RPM are fitting one this week. I don't know if they're the same as the kit you refer to however.
mikefocke said:
But every kit makers claims sound good on paper. And everyone who comes out with a kit believes in their approach.
What I have cautioned from the first kit introduction is to let someone else be the tester. Recall that even Porsche with their multiple 100k test mules didn't get it right. It is only when the numbers are in the thousands and the years mount and the reports come in that we'll have an idea.
Yes but evolution is the thing. If you spot the fault from 1,000's of cars and rectify it it should be better. What you are suggesting is to replace with something that has a "known" Achilles heel".What I have cautioned from the first kit introduction is to let someone else be the tester. Recall that even Porsche with their multiple 100k test mules didn't get it right. It is only when the numbers are in the thousands and the years mount and the reports come in that we'll have an idea.
It would appear to be a very simple solution if you didn't still have to pull the box out, but as far as I can see, it can't work as a standalone mod, as the inner seal on the bearing would need to be removed in order for the oil to access the bearing race. Unless I'm fundamentally misunderstanding the setup? Which is eminently possible......I'm a decorator, not a Porsche tech!
ajondyh said:
Yes but evolution is the thing. If you spot the fault from 1,000's of cars and rectify it it should be better. What you are suggesting is to replace with something that has a "known" Achilles heel".
Should be but then again it may not be. How did that work out for Porsche? Their second design was far worse than their first. And with the worst having at most a 1% per car year failure rate, it would take a while for any kit maker to know if there was a design problem, materials problem, etc with their kit. So as I've said to several of the creators of these kits, testing on a few cars for a few months and a few ten thousand miles doesn't convince me of the quality of the product. You can only tell after some significant testing. Many miles/cars/years.
The state of things today is you have several options.
- Essentially the original design/materials.
- A LN ceramic version of the original design that has been out in the wild for 8 years and many thousands of cars/miles. I've seen hundreds posted.
- A ceramic bearing with two rows of ball bearings for the single row engine. This from LN/Flat6. Has been out ~2 years. Hundreds installed. Few postings about them I've seen.
- A source it yourself ceramic version. Mostly the "I'll engineer it myself" installs using various sources. I've seen maybe two dozen of these posted.
- Several versions of the just feed it with oil ball bearing kits that have been out for 2-3 years and hundreds of installs. I'd say maybe a thousand of these kits I've seen as claimed to have been installed and I've seen maybe 2 dozen posted on the forums.
- A flat bearing from Flat6/LN with a different sourced oil feed that has been out for ~4 years and hundreds of installs. A case where I've seen maybe 2 dozen posts from people who used them. A lot of these people spent lots more in preventative maintenance or upgrades than on just replacing the bearings. 5 to 10 times more.
- Several versions of roller bearing kits with various sources of oil that have been out for ~2 years. Haven't seen a lot of these noted on the forums until just recently.
Keep in mind the state of the engine before the replacement and the skill of the installer matter greatly. And if you are taking oil from somewhere, the source does matter as you'd want some significant testing to know you hadn't created a problem for a part in the area you had taken the oil from.
Your car, your money, your choice.
mikefocke said:
Should be but then again it may not be. How did that work out for Porsche? Their second design was far worse than their first. And with the worst having at most a 1% per car year failure rate, it would take a while for any kit maker to know if there was a design problem, materials problem, etc with their kit.
So as I've said to several of the creators of these kits, testing on a few cars for a few months and a few ten thousand miles doesn't convince me of the quality of the product. You can only tell after some significant testing. Many miles/cars/years.
With the limited number of cars produced (Unlike Ford etc) and even more limited numbers of preventative maintenance jobs on all Porsche cars afflicted your argument sort of contradicts itself. I don't think you'll ever get any long term significant results. I think the amount of people who still own repaired cars after say 2 years and that would actually post a report, good or bad is far too limited. So as I've said to several of the creators of these kits, testing on a few cars for a few months and a few ten thousand miles doesn't convince me of the quality of the product. You can only tell after some significant testing. Many miles/cars/years.
In any case, the manufacturer offers a lifetime guarantee so I guess they're confident. IMO Oil supply should not be a problem as the pump should easily have the capacity to keep pressure with the extra 1mm gallery/orifice. I'll keep my fingers crossed though
Heaveho said:
It would appear to be a very simple solution if you didn't still have to pull the box out, but as far as I can see, it can't work as a standalone mod, as the inner seal on the bearing would need to be removed in order for the oil to access the bearing race. Unless I'm fundamentally misunderstanding the setup? Which is eminently possible......I'm a decorator, not a Porsche tech!
It is a run wet roller bearing with no seal either side. The original was a fully sealed bearing which ran in it's own lube, however the seals failed allowing the lube to escape and congealed oil and other matter to get in accelerating it's fate 
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