I have been debating posting these pics for awhile. The whiskey got the better of me so here we go. This is out of an 05 997. Who can guess what this is.
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How about now? Anyone?

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Some type of bearing obviously.

IMS bearing?

Uh oh... I think I know where this is going. Though I'm not sure the claim was that they would *never* fail.

What orifice will Woody find these in the Morning?

Your "special" beads?

your thumbnail is WAY too clean to have pulled a Boxster transmission

I'm guessing it's a IMS retrofit, how many miles on it?

a trashed bearing race? you should change the oil every now and then.

R.A.T. can fix that for you.

So, whats the story on that engine? Who did the retrofit? Elective or reactive, and how was the engine qualified beforehand?

Any pictures of the cage? What is the serial number? What symptoms were there? How many miles are on the bearing and when was the installation done and by whom? Was the installation registered and bearing sent in?

Also, what is your intent here? I would think contacting the manufacturer would be the first step.

Early 05 997 Making funny noises, no idea, most likely reactive, and no idea.



Cage disintegrated, no idea, funny noises, no idea, wasn't us, no idea, oh and just to ruffle Jake's feathers.

LOL!! Thanks Woody!!

Anytime.

Jake's feathers certainly are not ruffled, at least about this thread. Maybe the fact I'm eating all his brownies while sitting on his sofa is more concerning to him :-)

What is of concern to me is we are seeing many more shops carrying out procedures on engines that were not qualified first. Many shops call us and tell us they just "saved" an engine when in fact they just postponed its death. We note all these calls in our system. Several were from TX, so I wouldn't doubt this is one of them.

I have two bearings coming to me now that were removed from engines where an IMS Retrofit was carried out after the original bearing failed. Furthermore, I have several more bearings from similar installations and even have another individual who now has glitter in his oil several thousand miles after he had a bearing put in when the original had failed. All in common is the replacement bearing was compromised by debris from the original bearing.

If someone tries to save an engine, it has to be in the earliest stages, like what an IMS Guardian can catch. A spin on filter adapter which has no bypass will help catch debris. Add a filter magnet and magnetic drain plug too. Dropping the oil pan several times plus changing the oil a half dozen or more times in the first 500 miles is also required using a break-in oil, but this is certainly no guarantee that the intermediate shaft isn't damaged already or that the replacement bearing will not fail.

Why all of the spalting? No oil? Or defective materials?

Charles this thread wasn't intended as a stab at you. It was more just poking at Jake with his typical demeanor around here. I also just felt like rocking the boat and I owed him one. My shop didn't install the bearing. I have a fairly good idea as to who did install it and this would be typical of the quality they produce. I included pictures of the bearing race. That should be evidence enough as to what transpired.

Oh and by the way, its doubtful any of your work comes from San Antonio, not from my shop at least.

Spalling isn't an indication of poor lubrication or defective materials - it's normal wear, but in this case, excessive loads cause spalling and premature failure.

From SKF: "Common causes of external debris contamination include dirt, sand and environmental particles. Common causes of internal debris contamination include wear from gears, splines, seals, clutches, brakes, joints and failed or spalled components. These hard particles travel within the lubrication, through the bearing, and eventually bruise (dent) the internal surfaces. The dents form shoulders that act as surface-stress risers, causing premature surface damage and reduced bearing life."

They give an example resulting in spalling from debris contamination bruises.

The solution is to reduce the load on the bearing or redesign the bearing using one with higher capacity, which we've already done with the next generation of single row IMS Retrofit.