JFP in PA

Have you contacted TRG and asked them? They are usually pretty helpful.........

By far, the best tool for this is a shorty double box wrench. I have one from Sears that is about 3 1/2 inches long and it gets right in there with room to spare. Put the wrench on first, then the drain tube, so the wrench stays in until you are done. There is more than enough room to swing the short wrench in the limited space. The best way to get at the bleeder is from below; many like to remove the rear wheel so they can see better, and because they are going to do the brakes as well. As for how high, that is a matter of preference; I've done them on the lift or on jack stands, either takes about the same time. With the correct wrench, and doing it from below, bleeding the clutch adds about 2 min. to the total time for a brakes and clutch system flush, just don't "over think" the problem. If you do not hold pedal to the floor while bleeding the clutch, you will not totally flush out all of the old fluid in the system, so it is a good idea to do so.

No one is trying to specifically be negative towards either DIY'ers or entrepreneurs’ trying to develop alternative products. But there needs to be some level of appreciation, particularly in the case of the IMS retrofit, how this started out versus where it ended up. When Charles and Jake set out to develop a realistic answer to a problem that Porsche said could not be done, I’m sure they had no idea how convoluted what was basically a good idea would become. Early on, both men went out of their way to try to support people attempting this retrofit, only to find out how all consuming it would become due to the demands it placed upon their time. To be simplistic, there a simply too many ways one of these installs can go wrong due to poor judgement, not product design; and then the phone starts to ring. Pretty soon, you find huge amounts of your time taken up trying to sort out what should not have happened in the first place. I can tell you from practical experience, even independent shops can spend can end up spending way more time talking on the phone about installs they have had nothing to do with, and that is simple not a good use of your time. There are a large number of DIY installs that have gone perfectly smoothly and without any problems; unfortunately, those get lost in the clutter of the smaller number of ones that didn’t. Secondly, this latest alternative is either the fourth or fifth coming into the market to my knowledge. One or two have been pretty innovative in their approach compared to the OEM design; another took the “low cost provider” route. To date, the first of the “innovators”, while initially very interesting, seemed to quickly die due to unresolved technical problems that left installers and car owners on the hook with some big problems. The second of the “innovators” is still in the early stages, but again appears to be an overly complex design with a lot of things “still to be determined”. There is also a simpler lower cost alternative, but with somewhat of a caveat: Because of the materials of construction and the design of the retrofit unit, it now appears that the suggested replacement intervals for the retrofit bearing may be rather short, perhaps as short as every 36,000 miles, which somewhat puts a dent in the “low cost” concept. So those of us that live in this space 10-12 hours a day, six days a week, tend to take a “show me” approach towards yet another new product offering, and recommend others take a “wait and see” attitude as well. That doesn’t mean that we believe there is anything intrinsically wrong with the new product, we are just being cautious due to experience……………

The keys for these cars are a reoccurring theme: Expen$ive. They require a special (read expensive) tool to cut, which many locksmiths do not have. I am not aware of any aftermarket source for the blanks. The coding is an issue because it requires proprietary software (PIWIS) to accomplish. Unfortunately, for the most part, only the dealer network has access to all three components, which limits your options. You can try shopping around different dealers, they often vary widely on what they charge, but in the end you are probably going to have to pay more than you want to get it. Not that it will make you feel any better, but we went through a similar process to get a second key for a customer’s Nissan; the key was $150, the programming was another $95, and everything was “dealer only” for the same reason as Porsche: The market is too small for the aftermarket to tool up and do it for less.

The clutch slave is located in a tight spot, but is not much of an issue to bleed. Removing the rear wheel helps to see it, but really does not make it any easier to get at. Just be sure the clutch pedal is held to the floor (an adjustable hood prop or section of 2X4 seem to be the preferred tooling) the entire time you are bleeding the clutch. When you are done, the pedal will remain on the floor and must be pulled up manually, after which is should be fine. If you have done a full bleed of the clutch hydraulic system (let it run for a bit, it hold ssome fluid volume) and it still feels funny, your clutch slave may be on its way out.

Two common problems on this starter, neither of which requires changing the starter or the solenoid. The first is the cable running to the starter gets corroded, reducing current flow and causing starting problems. The cable and connections can be cleaned and reinstalled unless the corrosion is severe, then the cable needs to be replaced. Second is the Bendix drive in the solenoid starts to hang up due to lack of lubrication and/or rusting. This requires pulling the starter, cleaning and lubricating the Bendix drive (we use DuPont dry Teflon spray lubricant, but it can be done with white lithium grease as well), and the problem goes away. Before you start buying expensive parts, start looking at the unit to see if all it needs is some cleaning and lubrication………

You will be fine, the Motive unit needs to clear the air out of the line before the fluid flows, and this will just sit above the fluid level in the system reservoir during the bleeding session. It will not get into your system. Small bit of advice for the future: I always suggest that people fully hook up the Motive unit dry (no fluid) if they do not use it regularly, then pump it up to about 10-12 PSIG and let it sit for about 10 min. to see if the pressure holds. If it does, you are golden and can release the pressure by unscrewing the pump cap on the Motive unit slightly until the pressure vents off, then fill the unit, pressurize and commence the flush. The reason I suggest this “dry pressure” run is that if the unit, the line or the cap it is connected to are leaking, you will find that and be able to fix it without brake fluid, which is Hell on paint, spraying all over the place. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks.

One of the primary reasons LN moved away from the DIY market and began to suggest that this installation is probably best done by professionals is the shear number of ways the IMS retrofit can be screwed up during installation. Both my shop and others can tell you about the teary phone calls we get when someone gets it totally wrong; the list of how many different problems can be created would probably scare most DIY’ers near to death. (My personal favorite in this department was the guy(s) who took out the chain tensioners to get the “bad oil” out of them, and then use the starter to turn the engine over to get it to TDC; and wondered why the engine would not start when they were done, not to mention the "extra" parts they had left over.) Worse yet, professional shops, and in some cases even Porsche dealerships, can and have totally blown the installation. While not rocket science, doing one of these retrofits requires some modicum of automotive knowledge, specific tools, the crucial ability to follow directions, and most of all, patience; which far too many people seem to lack. The bearing is a press fit into the rear of the shaft; the factory probably receives shafts with the OEM bearing already pressed in by their supplier using industry standard fixtures and hydraulic presses. The variation from one factory shaft to another as the result of how they are assembled is probably too small to even be measured. Field extraction, while simple enough if you get that far without totally botching the disassembly, needs to be followed by the insertion of the chilled LN bearing using the correct tool and method. Cock the bearing a little bit during this step, and you will end up beating the living Hell out of it trying to get it to go in. Then you have to use an extractor to pull it out again, off axis, which stresses the unit yet again. Then try to straighten everything up and beat it in straight this time. So by the time it is installed, both the shaft and the new bearing have seen their own little version of World War II. If a tech with years of experience, on a lift in a well equipped shop can foul one up, what are the odds on two guys using borrowed tools and lying on their backs in the driveway while one holds the flashlight getting it right without issues? Even very highly qualified technical people can only develop “idiot resistant” approaches to getting something complicated done correctly; “idiot proof” is a total myth. Unfortunately, God for some reason seems to also side with the idiots.

What type of cage materials does your bearing use?

You are too quick for me Loren................ :thumbup:

The clutch pedal should be depressed to the floor and held there while the system is being bled. Afterwards, you will need to manually pull up the pedal, after which it will operate normally. You can use an adjustable hood prop, or even a hunk of 2X4 to hold down the pedal.

Not necessarily, but I would still keep an eye on it as the loose nut did not do it any favors………

Attach a fuel pressure test gauge to the fuel rail and check the pressure before and when the tank gets down to the magic level, if it suddenly falls off, I'd pull the fuel pump and reservoir and check them; they could be either blocked by debris or coming apart............

If you are interested, Pelican does list their "kit" on their website at the moment, but without pricing.

To my knowledge, there are no limits placed upon the purchaser of their tools, I have also seen them come up for resale online from time to time. You can also obtain similar tooling from aftermarket sources, albeit at a higher price. I recently saw a just released photo of the Pelican kit, and I have to say that even without pricing being released, I am not impressed. The bearing (there is only one size) is sealed and appears to use spacers to compensate for the different style OEM bearings that were used, which would imply the bearing is the smallest style. I'm rather uneasy about that.

Maintainers measure voltage to obtain state of charge. Interestingly, a nearly dead battery will measure full voltage, but not have enough current (amperage) to turn the motor over, usually due to extremely high internal resistance. That is why the standard shop test for battery condition is a load test, not a voltage test.

Strange, I have several Ctek's, mostly 3300 and 7002's, and they all reset automatically after a power outage...................

The actual current number is four; three failed from either poor installation techniques (failure to fully install the spiral lock retainer) or the bearing ingesting debris from other sources (broken chain tensioner paddles, etc.). Only one appears to be the bearing itself, Jake Raby has been dissecting the engine to figure out what happened................

I knew that Porsche only sold the bearing with the tube (after all, the factory still says you cannot remove the bearings without splitting the cases); which just exacerbates the cost issue as well as the complexity..... Strange how $600 does not sound all that bad in light of this; LN's and Jake's work have altered the "value proposition" somewhat. From a marketing prespective, those that now offer a cheaper alternative will need to work to address the question of "Is their's as good?"

No disrespect to Wayne, but as he already sells LN parts; I am surprised he would try to develop his own IMS retrofit. That said, to my understanding, his retrofit uses the same style bearing as the OEM (steel with seals), but employs a larger center bolt much like the LN unit. While the smaller center bolts on the OEM style can fail, I really do not think that the bolt is the primary issue, which is lubrication or a lack thereof. All things considered, the primary costs for an IMS retrofit is not the price of the bearing; by far, most of it is labor. After paying all the labor hours, wouldn’t you want to install the strongest and most proven bearing you could lay hands on? Including LN, there are now four possible alternatives either in the market, or close to entry. Some appear to be copying LN, others going the “low cost alternative” approach, and one that supposedly uses bearings within bearings in conjunction with a “knock sensor” to catch a failure developing. While I am confident that the market place forces will eventually result in “shake out” of the lesser players, it is an interesting example of what happens when someone finds a way around a profound problem that the OEM says cannot be done (Porsche still insists that the bearings cannot be changed without splitting the cases, and this remains the “official line” at many dealerships), and the concept quickly turns into a multi million dollar aftermarket business............... I am doing the labor myself so yes the cost of the part is important to me. If I can pay half of the LN price for the same part and it is just as reliable then that is a no-brainier. My point is that LN has had a little bit of a monopoly and it's time for a little competition to bring the price down. $600 for a bearing? I think that is a little pricey. I wish Pelican or Casper Labs would come through for the ones of us who want reliability but without getting gouged! I agree with J_beede, where is the data for LN. JFP in Pa, where is the data that you claim LN has, " the strongest and most proven bearing you could lay hands on". Where would I find that information? There is no question that it is our only option right now. Do you have a report that we can read to back your statement. I am very interested. Again, I would look for the "Excellence" articles (there were two) from 2010 on the subject. I think Charles Navarro may have also addressed the relative strength characteristics of the LN bearing to the OEM style online at one time or another. That would also be well worth a search. As for how much these things cost, price out an OEM replacement IMS bearing, you just might be surprised............ I also have to say that in defense of small business owners that spend both their time and money developing and sourcing what at least appear to be superior replacement components, I cringe when someone uses words like “gouging”. You do not have to purchase these products, you can continue to run the OEM unit, or even replace it with another OEM unit.

I have little use for software on phones as diagnostic tools; far too many times, I have had customers bring cars in that were supposedly throwing this or that code, only to find something entirely different when we get it into the shop and on our Durametric Pro system. The OBD software system that Porsche uses is far to sophisticated and specific for cheap generic diagnostic software on a phone to deal with, and even the people that make some of the best (and most expensive) OBDII diagnostics software for VW and Audi will tell you that Porsche's software is so unique that their stuff will not work on it. As for figuring out if a PIWIS system is real or a knock off, that is going to be a problem. The only sure way would be to go to a Porsche dealer, theirs are all real ones. I have seen Asian knock off systems selling for less than $1000, when the real tool leases (it is never for sale) for in excess of $15,000 for the first year. You could also look for a independent that uses the Durametric software, about 85% as capable as the PIWIS, but one Hell of a lot cheaper; and even the Durametric software system can only be used on Porsche's, it is non functional on other makes.

The LN bearing uses a Timken silicon nitride bearing assembly that is both ultra low in internal friction and demonstrates a higher strength over a wider temperature range than steel counterparts, and the ability to withstand higher structural loadings as well. It also has outstanding wear characteristics under marginal lubrication conditions. Unfortunately, I lent someone my copies of the “Excellence” magazine article on the subject, which contains more details of the bearings materials of construction, and have not gotten them back yet (another example of why you should never lend out stuff). Perhaps you can locate copies of the two part series they did on the subject about 2 years ago.

If the EVAP canister was dead, you would have a code. The tank filling issue is caused by an anti surge flap at the base of the filler neck not opening when the upper flap at the filler neck entrance is opened (the "click" mentioned above). On the early cars, there were lines inside the tank that would slip out of position and block the lower flap, causing the issue and requiring accessing the tank to move them back out of the way. Later cars, this problem tended to be electrical (the E6 fuse). If memory serves, there are TSB’s on both.

The E6 fuse for the telephone is shared by the fuel filler flap system. If the unused telephone plug shorts to ground, it blows the fuse needed by the lower flap.