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IMS (Sorry...)

Are you planning on keeping the car, or punting it on after a quick fling?

That will have a bearing on your decision - if you want to keep it forever and a day, then who cares how many owners, buy on condition and if it stacks up, it's a good buy. Use it as a negotiating point.

If you're selling in 12 months, then it won't help the sale, although if I were buying I wouldn't care as long as the car looks right, goes right, and hasn't lost scores of paperwork in the intervening ownership changes.
 
So it's only really had 11 owners over 14 years. I'd still be getting a bore scope done even though it's had one 15k miles ago if you decide to buy. Then get a LTT fitted ASAP.
 
crash7 said:
alex yates said:
As I stated in my 1st post.

You also stated that if an IMS has gone past 50k 'It's not going to fail' - Its a bold statement and one you can't guarantee.

Although not possible to guarantee (much like a new bearing can't be gutanteed not to go), the statistics imply the probability drops quickly and monotonically the further from 50k the unit has passed.

Obviously, at some point, normal wear and tear will catch up with it (bathtub probability etc)
 
GT4 said:
crash7 said:
alex yates said:
As I stated in my 1st post.

You also stated that if an IMS has gone past 50k 'It's not going to fail' - Its a bold statement and one you can't guarantee.

Although not possible to guarantee (much like a new bearing can't be gutanteed not to go), the statistics imply the probability drops quickly and monotonically the further from 50k the unit has passed.

Obviously, at some point, normal wear and tear will catch up with it (bathtub probability etc)

GT4 has brought some clarity to this discussion!

The advice given thus far has ignored the effect of wear on the bearing components which follow the 'bathtub' probability curve. The bearing will fail at some point in the failure / wear phase of the curve! As it relies on being bathed with engine oil, you can prolong its life probability by ensuring a supply of clean oil through regular oil changes and the use of good quality filters. It will still need to be regularly inspected to asses the wear.

Cautious engineering practice is to replace bearings when access allows - I've lost the number of times I have replaced a clutch thrust bearing when replacing a clutch when it strictly wasn't necessary. Most clutch kits have them as part of the service kit. This is where many are coming from in this discussion and I can understand that.

The Lone Ranger's experience highlights statistical variances which questions the significance of 50k miles. Where did that figure come from and what is the duty cycle? 50k driven up hills in Snowdonia in 2nd gear, or 50k of motorway driving in sixth gear!

Statistics can only 'help' you make decisions as they are based on likelihood which themselves contain variances.

Unfortunately, IMS is the 'silent' death. There is no notification. The best advice is to have the IMS inspected by an expert (like Hartech and other respected Indys) whenever the opportunity presents itself like a clutch change. Only a physical assessment of its condition can determine if a replacement is required - with certainty!

As with most things, this is a personal choice and if you have a cautious approach to engineering practice.
 
Once you start thinking about wear instead of failure, that then opens an even bigger can of worms as this applies to a majority of engine parts that can be just as severe if they fail. What if a chain snaps, or valve drops, or oil pump fails.......the list is endless. Get down that road and you may as well save your money and don't drive. But statistically the chance of those happening are very slim....just like an ims bearing going pop past 50k.
 
I had the outer seal removed during a clutch change at 40k miles in 2014, as from what I read at the time, this was thing to do. I was told by the garage the bearing was fine (no play), and was already letting "some" oil in.

Fortunately so far, the car is at around 54k miles, and it has been fine.

However, the last post I read from Baz, was that even taking the cover off to inspect the bearing is a risk, and should really just be left alone. (Personally, I prefer knowing the outer seal is removed, and the bearing is getting the oil it needs - and am probably just lucky it was done without causing any problems)

Just to add, I think putting an after market bearing such as LNG one is probably the worst thing anyone could do.
 

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