eBay 996 build thread

[Beany]

I might give that a crack then.

[JLv3.0]

I might give that a crack in a few years then, after askholing the entire Internet

[Beany]

I might give that a crack in a few years then, after askholing the entire Internet

Oh you knows it!

[Coaster1]

Cleaned up knob.

Excellent

[Nathan]

Are early (1998) 3.4 any trouble ?

The way I see it, if its made it to 21 years old - its probably ok ?

[NotoriousREV]

Are early (1998) 3.4 any trouble ?

The way I see it, if its made it to 21 years old - its probably ok ?

So this is my understanding of the IMS issue, based on reading some posts by the owner of Hartech:

Only a tiny proportion amount of bearings cause trouble. Less than 2% is their estimate.

There’s effectively 3 failure modes. Most common is early failure under 30k miles. This happens when the bearing tolerances all line up to create a tighter bearing than average e.g small outer race, big balls (lel) and large inner race. When new, the bearing creates a bunch of swarf which mixes with the grease to create a nice grinding paste that is trapped inside the bearing seals which then destroys the bearing fairly rapidly.

After that, there’s a few that go around the 70-80k mark. Typically these were tight bearings that created swarf but also suffered some seal damage that allowed some engine oil into the bearing, but not enough to to consistently flush fresh oil through the bearing.

If the bearing lasts beyond that, they’ll go to 150k miles which is the life of the bearing no matter what you do to it.

There’s a few things people try to do to resolve the IMS issue. There’s expensive ceramic bearings, and self lubing bearings (see the recent Wheeler Dealers episode where they used one of these).

Hartech say these aren’t necessary, you need a standard double row bearing from a 3.6 but remove the seals which will allow engine oil to flush through regularly. When they rebuild 3.4s, they switch the tail of the IMS for the later type so they can use the double row bearing (mine’s had this done). They describe the 3.4 single row bearing as suitable but marginal.

Their advice is: leave the IMS alone. During oil changes look for metal particles or bits of the seal in the filter. If they’re absent you’re fine. If you have a clutch change, inspect the bearing while everything’s apart. If it’s fine, remove the seal you can see but otherwise don’t disturb it. If it’s rough, replace it but remove the seals from both sides of the new, standard bearing prior to fitting.

[Nathan]

Thankyou.

I also understand auto's are vulnerable because they pull away in 2nd gear and theres more torque on the crank.

But in terms of bore scoring ?

[NotoriousREV]

I know very little about it. When mine was rebuilt, it’s noted that the owner “refused our recommendation of new cylinders”. I’ll let you know how much oil it uses.

[NotoriousREV]

The honeymoon could be over...

[nuttinnew]

[Jobbo]

Butterscotch Angel Delight is not for use as coolant, Dave. Didn't anyone tell you that?

[JLv3.0]

[Jobbo]

Googling it says it may be a cracked head, which isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds. If it is, you've probably not got any coolant in the oil so it's a replacement head and clean-up job only.

[Sundayjumper]

Oh.

How's the oil looking ?

Worst case - you'll have to do that V8 project now.

[drcarlos]

The honeymoon could be over...

Something I dread seeing. Not good.

[NotoriousREV]

Feel a bit sick right now

[mik]

Balls. That s not what you want to see at all.

[NotoriousREV]

It’s used a litre of oil in 50 miles. I’m guessing it’s all in the cooling system.

[Beany]

It’s used a litre of oil in 50 miles. I’m guessing it’s all in the cooling system.

Oh bollocks.

[JLv3.0]

I hate all of this.