Porsche 996 Miscellaneous

The IMS Guardian is the first engine failure detection system available for your M96 engine. Why take a chance? Protect your investment and your peace of mind with the IMS Guardian. In the M96 flat-six engines, the intermediate shaft is located just below the crankshaft and the IMS Bearing is located on the far end of the shaft facing the transmission. The IMS Bearing closely resembles an axle bearing, with a sealed unit containing steel balls and a permanent lubricant intended to last the life of the engine.

The IMS Guardian system relies on Magnetic Chip Detection (MCD) technology, used in aircraft since the early 1970's with other uses for monitoring the metal content in engine oil dating back to the 1950's. The sensor consists of two strong, opposing-pole, permanent magnets with an insulated gap of air in between. Each magnet is connected, by a wire, to the wiring harness, comprising an open electrical circuit. The wired magnet unit itself is mounted in a modified oil drain plug replacing the stock drain plug, that goes into the crankcase sump plate. As oil circulates throughout the engine, the magnets will attract the smallest metal debris caused by deterioration within the engine and circulated within the engine oil. As the ferrous metal debris is captured in the center of the magnets, it will quickly build up to the point that it will bridge the gap in between the magnets allowing the conduction of electricity, and will close the electrical circuit. Closure of the electrical circuit causes a warning light, installed in your dashboard, to illuminate and an audible alert will buzz. When the IMS Guardian alerts, the driver of the vehicle should turn off the engine as quickly as possible and call the IMS Hotline number provided with your IMS Guardian purchase.

The IMS Guardian is designed to be installed as a combination warning light/rocket test switch that mounts in one of your vehicle's factory accessory switch positions on either side of your dashboard. It can also be wired to function with dimmable backlighting for night operation. The circuit box and alarm buzzer speaker mounts under the dash. The cable to the sensor mechanism travels out of the dashboard, passing through the center console to the engine compartment and through to the engine compartment alongside the manual gearbox shift cables. The IMS Guardian™ is a solid-state device with no moving parts to break, it's self-contained and doesn't rely on any other system in the vehicle to function, only drawing about 0.05 amps of current while in operation. The LED warning light on your dashboard switch is illuminated in amber to indicate that the system is working. The LED changes to red and an audible alert accompanies an IMS Failure warning. By pressing and holding the LED switch, the system will enter test mode. The LED will change from amber to red and the warning buzzer will sound. When the switch is released, the audible warning stops and the LED goes back to amber to indicate normal operation. Available in both gloss and matte black finish.

Benefits of the IMS Guardian include:

Audio and visual alert indicator clearly alerts at the first signs of engine damage
Unobtrusive installation seamlessly integrates into your interior's unused indicator location (for 986 and 996 models)
Extensively researched, developed and tested to work with your M96 engine
Solid-state device, no moving parts to break - self-contained, does not rely on any other system in your car to function
Easy. low-cost installation. Takes one to three hours to install based on user ability.