Dennis Nicholls

Well that's interesting. I didn't know that before. Specs here: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wix-51042

The spin on filters have a bypass valve too. But you get a NEW one each time you discard the old filter and spin on a new filter. The bypass valve on the plastic shell is re-used for years and maybe decades, allowing time for the valve to fail.

I've put 100 miles on the new components, and I don't hear any expensive noises. I ran my Durametric after a drive and checked my cam position deviations. Before: cam pos 1 dev. - 4.42 degrees, cam pos 2 dev - 4.25 degrees After: cam pos 1 dev - 4.42 degrees, cam pos 2 dev - 4.30 degrees No chain slipping teeth there. I also finished up the quick-and-dirty AOS test from last month. The oil filler cap comes off easily, but I didn't have the Durametric hooked up to read idle RPM ranges. Cap in place: idle 685 - 705 RPM Cap removed: idle 700 - 720 RPM Naturally those ranges are an eyeball from the displayed graph. I'd elected not to change the AOS at this time, due in part to a comment by Jake Raby that he's "never seen" an AOS failure in a car in the Rockies. I guess the lower atmospheric pressure at altitude helps. The AOS design seems "marginal" and it doesn't take much for it to have improved reliability.

IIUC the OEM filter goes back and forth from Mahle to Hengst. I bought a Mann filter to but didn't like the way it was designed to fit. You may want to get a spare drain plug to keep on hand as they are driven by a small hex (Allen) wrench and tend to get buggered up.

The LUK 20-016 clutch kit is a bargain at $300 shipped from RockAuto. It includes a Sachs clutch disc and pressure plate. And the part numbers matched the factory parts that I took off my car. It also includes a TO bearing, pilot bearing, clutch install tool, and a packet of special "spline grease". The clutch I took off my car appeared barely worn. But I installed all the new parts. After getting the car back together, I noticed - as many others have reported - that the amount of leg effort pushing down the clutch pedal was considerably reduced. The PO was some air force guy who bought it from the local dealer. A number of months later he was deployed overseas. leaving his wife to drive the car. She could barely push the pedal down. The dealer told her a new clutch would solve the problem and that they would gladly do the job for $1,400. She ended up selling the car back to the dealer instead. I'm guessing that the spring fingers in the pressure plate lose their tension after being clamped tightly for 14 years. This would be why a new clutch needs less leg effort to disengage.

The tranny comes off fairly easily. Just remember to use a LONG 6mm allen bit to undo the inner CV joint bolts. When lowered on the HF tranny jack, the tall part of the tranny slips out under the tailpipe cutout in the rear bumper. You need to hold the flywheel from turning when removing/installing the 8 T55-head flywheel bolts. Most people use some kind of metal bracket between a bellhousing bolt and a pressure plate bolt. Unfortunately the PP bolts are on the other side of the rubber layer in the dual-mass flywheel from the flywheel bolts. Half your effort will be winding up the rubber layer. I used a HF pry bar and a spare 10mm bolt to keep the flywheel from turning. I'd previously ground the end of the pry bar to fit cleanly in the "tooth gap" of a Miata flywheel. Turns out the Porsche tooth gap is the same size. When torqueing the flywheel bolts, a few blocks under end of the pry bar keeps it in place. You are supposed to torque the flywheel bolts to 19 ft. lbs, then "another 120 degrees" Dempsey isn't very helpful here, suggesting you use a protractor. But there's not enough room down there to get a clean 120 degree swing with your wrench. I used my extra torque wrench. Putting a large extension in it, I held the extension with one hand. Starting with the wrench straight down, I spun it 180 degrees and counted the number of clicks it made: 18 clicks for 180 degrees. So 12 clicks for 120 degrees. For each flywheel bolt I started with the wrench straight down, swung it as far as possible, and counted the clicks. Then I pulled it back to vertical. I did this several times until I had done 12 clicks worth of tightening.

My first challenge was getting the muffler off. Most instructions says something like "remove muffler". Not very helpful. You need to take off the two U shaped pipes that connect the muffler to the two main cat cons. They are held on with a 1-bolt clamp at the muffler and a 2-bolt clamp at the cat con. Slacken the 2-bolt clamp at the cat con. Slide it back towards the cat con. It will expose the "butt splice" where the U pipe meets the cat con pipe with a small gap. Now slacken the 1-bolt clamp. That end of the U pipe is slid about 2" inside the muffler pipe, and being able to rotate the pipe lets you gradually withdraw the U pipe from the joint. Once both U pipes are removed it's not difficult to disconnect the rest of the muffler and lower it with the help of the HF tranny jack. Summary: 2-bolt clamp covers a butt splice; 1-bolt clamp covers a slip joint.

I started quite a few topics asking for advice during my LN IMS bearing installation. I'll let those threads die now and make comments in this retrospective thread. Thanks to all who helped out and a special thanks to John in Penn. My comments relate specifically to a MY 2000 base 986 with 5 speed MT. The job is pretty much at the end of endurance for an older (age 61) home mechanic. There's lots of pushing and shoving to get the job done and I don't have the strength I did years ago. I've been working on cars since circa 1970 and have become proficient at Miata work since 1994. Tools are important and the Bentley guide/Dempsey's book are not clear about this. I bought the HF tranny jack which did yeoman service with both the tranny and the muffler. The Neiko triple square set is a good choice, as it has a short M10 for that oddball tranny bolt and a tamper proof M16 for the tranny drain plug. Get a long 10mm box wrench to wrap around the M10 to break/make torque. I got a set of impact rated Lisle Torx bits from Sears on sale for $20: the T55 bit had no problem with those use-once bolts on the flywheel. You need a good long 6mm allen wrench bit for the inner CV joint bolts. A short one goes in crooked due to the rubber CV boots. HF has a set of 4.5" long allen bits that did the trick for me. A cheap 17mm allen bit for the tranny fill plug is adequate as it's not torqued tight. John said a 3 lb. dead blow hammer was about the right weight. Get clean cotton gardener's gloves to hold the frozen LN IMS bearing and installation tool when you pull it our of the freezer. To drive the RMS you need a nominal 4" OD PVC pipe coupler. But you can't ask for a 4" coupler since this size is actually called a "3 inch coupler" since it couples pipe of ID 3". There are two kinds, schedule 40 and schedule 80, and you want the bigger of the two. Get silicone grease from your plumbing supply as it can be used to lube the o-ring in the LN flange. A thin smear on the rubber jacket of the clutch slave also helps shove it back into place.

I wonder why Porsche thinks it's OK to drive 29 ft. lbs. via a 6mm hex wrench..... On the first bolt I tried to torque, my SNAP-ON 6mm hex bit just twisted like taffy. I went and bought one of those super-long hex sets from HF. They worked just fine. My Snap-on bit was purchased for VW work circa 1986, so it's not even recent vintage stuff. However, I always thought it was strange that the working end was clear cad plated, not the black chromate that most hardened Allen hex bits show. For future reference: you really need to use a super long (e.g. 4.75" shaft) 6mm bit for the CV bolts. The CV's rubber boot pushes sideways on the body of shorter bits and IIUC won't let you enter the recess straight on.

I'm just about done with my project. Different sources say different things about those bolts that connect the inner CV joint to the transmission flange (in my case the 5 speed of the base 986). Bentley manual just says install bolts to 29 ft. lbs. Dempsey's manual says install clean, grease-free bolts to 29 ft. lbs., but "CV bolts should be checked after about 500 miles of driving". Postings on forums says to put on a drop of Loctite then torque to 29 ft. lbs. What's the best practice? I presume when they say Loctite they mean "blue" Loctite 242.

I took Thursday off to recuperate. Being able to spin only one output flange really helped. All of a sudden the output flange would no longer turn - meaning the input shaft splines were locked into the clutch disc splines. Then what prevented the tranny going in farther was that stupid stud at location "H". I had to fuss a bit until it went into the hole in the engine case. Then the entire tranny slid right in. Jager, I've read that before. I'm leaving a small gap and will put in the clutch slave. I'm taking a break now.

You don't know how ironic your posting is, considering my post #2 in this thread on the Miata forum a few weeks back: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=544688 The problem with the 986 is that the diff is built into the transaxle. You have to spin both output flanges or the diff just spins without turning the tranny's output shaft. My brilliant idea: put a long bolt into one of the output flanges so it can't turn. Then I'll have one hand to turn the other output flange and a free hand to push on the tranny. EDIT I got a long bolt out of my metric bucket and tested my idea....now I can spin the input shaft with only one hand on an output flange. :thumbup: The old "safecracker" Richard Feynman would be pleased.

My LUK clutch kit came with a packet of "special" black grease for the input splines, so I used that. Strange that a LUK clutch kit comes with OEM Sachs clutch disc and pressure plate - the numbers matched what came with my car.

Yeah I pulled the tranny back off and checked to see if it's in gear. By holding both output flanges I can rotate them both and cause the input shaft to turn. I put the cutch alignment tool back in for a second and it seems to fit just right. Using blocks of wood I've tried to get the front surface of the tranny vertical on the tranny jack (using a bubble level).

I'm about to throw in the towel. I've spent 6 hours straight trying to mate the transaxle back to the engine in my car. I've made a pair of "pilot bolts" by cutting the heads off a pair of 100mm bolts and cutting a screwdriver slot in the ends for eventual removal. They were placed at locations "B" and "F" in the Pelican photo. Using a HF transmission jack, I've lifted the transaxle up and was able to get it started on the two pilot bolts. It goes in until there is an approx. 30mm gap between the engine and tranny. Then it just stops dead. I've tried everything. Wiggling it side to side. Wiggling it up and down. It just won't go in. I was very careful with the clutch alignment tool, holding the tool with one hand when starting to tighten the PP bolts down so that the alignment tool was in the center of its "wiggle range". What's the trick? I've wasted an entire day on this already.

Well I've completed LNE instructions steps 1 through 22 now. It's getting hot now so I'll continue in the morning. I want to spend some time "pumping up" the chain tensioners before I put them back anyway. It's always the little things. Too long a crank lock tool. Getting that blasted spiro-loc ring-thing installed. Then torqueing the center bearing nut - every time I got close to the final torque value the center bolt would just spin. Fortunately I have a high quality Utica inch-pound torque wrench that can set torque in both directions. I chucked a screwdriver bit in the torque wrench and held the nut with an 11m box wrench, then set the torque CCW on the center bolt.

Once you get the tools working for you..... LNE instructions steps 1 through 16 went quickly. The OEM dual row IMSB looks almost new. The interior of the IMS had no debris of any kind, and hardly any oil I think getting stuck waiting a week after draining the oil before the correct LN kit arrived let almost all of the oil drain from the two tensioners and the IMS interior.

My black handle tool from LN is 10.5 cm long overall. Just the metal pin part is 70mm long. Notice that the red handle tool has been extended by unscrewing the metal rod from the plastic handle. It normally should be screwed in all the way. I cut mine down and chamfered the raw end nicely. Now it fits in and there's still about 4mm clearance between the crank pulley and the plastic handle when the tool is fully seated. EDIT Now that I've been there, I wonder if Boxster owners just unscrewed the pin from the plastic handle, inserted the pin by itself, then put on the handle when the pin was fully seated.

Sorry to ask yet another question. I've found I can't maneuver the black-handled LN Engineering crank lock tool into position: it's too long to fit. Probably not a problem with the 911 but the Boxster panel behind the seats gets in the way. I have a stubby 5/16" drill which is almost exactly 8mm in diameter - the diameter of the crank lock tool. It fits in just fine and bottoms out at approximately 45mm deep when measured from the front of the crankshaft pulley. I put some tape around it and you can see where I marked it with a Sharpie. My question: is there any reason I shouldn't cut the end off the LN crank lock tool, making the rod have a length approximately 45mm from the end to the black plastic handle?

I found a comment from Jake Raby on another forum.

Oh no, that photo is deceiving. I'm using 4 jackstands rated at 6 tons a pair, placed at the "official" lifting spots. The cinder blocks are slid under the tires as an "emergency backup".

I've discovered one more snag before I install the LN IMS bearing. I'd neglected to source a tool for the 12 point nut supplied by LN. What the heck is it? I've held it up to my triple-square bits and it looks to be midway between my M12 bit and my M14 bit. Charming. The only work-around I've found is that a deep 6-point regular 12mm socket fits this nut "good enough". By "good enough" I'm only supposed to torque this thing to 7.5 ft. lbs. (90 inch lbs.). Is this what everyone does? When assembling the bearing into the bearing driver tool, LN says I'm mostly concerned about getting the nut out of the bearing driver tool when the time comes.

I have one of those yellow oil filler caps. I never did like it as the seal is just a "loose" O-ring stuck in there. Really cheap. It's actually more orange than yellow (compared to dipstick handle). Part # 996 107 350 52. Should I replace this? The replacement appears to be part # 996 107 035 52 which is black plastic with a green seal.

Kudos to OEMbimmerparts.com . I ordered online Tuesday AM, and they shipped free UPS ground from Portland, OR. It arrived this morning. First time I've seen an IMS bearing in the flesh. Geez this thing is tiny. How did Porsche pick such a tiny size bearing to support the business end of the IMS?

Nobody near Boise stocks the ATE brake fluid. But O'Reilly's (of all places) does stock the Pentosin Super DOT 4 brake fluid, and at a reasonable price. Porsche uses Pentosin for other items (e.g. power steering fluid). Is their brake fluid OK to top up the dealer fill? Now that I've got the tranny pulled I see what a pain it is to access the clutch slave for bleeding. The dealer who sold me the car replaced the brake fluid and flushed the brakes just before selling it, but now I'll bet he skipped flushing the clutch slave. I should use my HF copy of the mityvac to flush the clutch line while the access is better after reinstalling the tranny. EDIT I think I answered my own question. Pentosin's data sheet says this product has been given Porsche ref. # 000 043 203 66, which is what a liter of dealer Porsche brake fluid is marked.