Clutch and Dual Mass Flywheel Conundrum.

[Burnerman]

Clutch life depends on how the car has been driven.....if the release bearing is noisy then that would indicate a hard life, in my opinion.
Definitely replace the DMF at the same time.....solid replacements can make the car vibrate like hell, and they don’t like the RPM todays diesels can reach - which is one of the main reasons they were developed.
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

if the release bearing is noisy then that would indicate a hard life, in my opinion.

From a bad driver - someone who rocks the car back and forth on the clutch, often for minutes on end, whilst waiting for the lights to change. It is so annoying them mistreating a car, but it seems common these days.

 

[BlueLoo]

Well,

How much is it to open/close the bell housing?

A bearing is what? £10?

Just replace the bearing if the cost of opening the housing is low.

Else you need to replace everything in it. Does the seat have the slave cylinder in the housing as well?

 

[Burnerman]

I don't think dropping the transmission on any FWD car is that simple anymore....as well as removing the driveshafts, gear linkages or whatever the subframe is in the way on this one too. Expect a 4 hour job if all goes (very) well, minimum. On the Altea the battery tray has to come out and the engine wouldn't drop down enough to get the bell housing clear because of the turbo - either that or trash the air con condenser.
The slave cylinder is inside the bell housing.
Crazy to go that far and risk having to do it again - but that's only my opinion.....no more clutch changes for me!
John

 

[Mottie]

no more clutch changes for me!

I don't do them anymore either. I bought a kit with DMF for our diesel Golf in October last year. It's still under my desk at work!

 

[Keithmac]

When I did my Kuga it was subframe and steering rack out job, took me a day on the drive to remove.

It's designed to have the car dropped onto the engine/ gearbox / subframe assy on the production line and a complete arse to work on afterwards..

 

[norseman]

I don't think dropping the transmission on any FWD car is that simple anymore..
Crazy to go that far and risk having to do it again - but that's only my opinion.....no more clutch changes for me! John

Nor me, both our cars are auto's. Our last (Ford) had 170k on it when sold & was still shifting correctly.

 

[Seafarer1966]

Yes the flywheel is an expensive part. It is made of titanium. Machining what is a 8 - 10 inch cog out of a block of titanium takes some serious tooling. I have a Focus 1.6tdci (actually a Peugeot 1.6HDMI diesel engine) and the mechanic advised me to change the dual mass flywheel with the clutch. The life of a DMF is anything between 75,000 - 100,000 miles and they take a real beating which is why they are titanium. The German manufacturer Sachs has been mentioned already by another poster. I would go for this brand. I paid £130 for a Sachs DMF three years ago. I got it from an online car parts retailer. Shop around as prices do vary quite a bit. I would also recommend LUK clutch kits. Again German manufactured and very good.
If you don't replace the DMF and it fails you will be paying twice for the same amount of labour.

 

[Mr Chibs]

At just over 150k I reckon mine is probably well overdue

 

[jj4091]

Do flywheels do a different job nowadays?
On all the old cars I have worked on it was just a means of transferring rotation from the starter motor to the crankshaft. They were always solid steel but precisely balanced by drilling holes part through them.

 

[Keithmac]

Do flywheels do a different job nowadays?

On all the old cars I have worked on it was just a means of transferring rotation from the starter motor to the crankshaft. They were always solid steel but precisely balanced by drilling holes part through them.

A modern DMF dampens the crankshaft vibrations and smoothes out the power pulses from the engine. Basically decouples the engingine from the clutch/ gearbox.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A modern DMF dampens the crankshaft vibrations and smoothes out the power pulses from the engine. Basically decouples the engingine from the clutch/ gearbox.

They also reduce the stress, which would result from a solid flywheel, on the crank shaft. BMW 2L diesel has been known to snap crankshafts, if the DMF is replaced with a solid flywheel.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do flywheels do a different job nowadays?
On all the old cars I have worked on it was just a means of transferring rotation from the starter motor to the crankshaft. They were always solid steel but precisely balanced by drilling holes part through them.

No the do exactly the same job of smoothing out the engines power pulses and providing a ring for the starter motor, but less heavy and with less stress on the crank, due to the cushioning.

 

[Mr Chibs]

At just over 150k I reckon mine is probably well overdue

Well mine did the dirty on me yesterday, had to get the recovery home

The pedal has now gone to the floor, and it’s squealing on tickover.

bugger.

 

[mointainwalker]

Yes the flywheel is an expensive part. It is made of titanium.

I can't believe this. Do you have a link that supports this statement ?

Firstly titanium is hugely more expensive than cast-iron/steel.
Secondly it is 40% less dense so would perform poorly at smoothing out vibration etc. compared to conventional materials.