My "flywheels gone"

[Steve]

What does this mean? And what could cause it?

I broke the work van today The clutch had been making an awful noise, like grinding, for a while. I figured that since everyone in the area office had driven it, and regularly, they knew about it and were getting it fixed. Anyway, 59 miles into the day and i lost all power. The clutch pedal kept dipping slightly of its own accord when I pressed the accellerator, then I went for second, and . . . nothing.

Vans got 88k on clock, 7 year old. RAC man came out and told me the flywheels gone. Is it a big job?

 

[mackandmutley]

The grinding noise sounds like the clutch plate had either worn down to excess or the friction pads have broken up leaving rivets to grind onto the flywheel. Normally the clutch would be replaced before this point leaving the flywheel undamaged, however the flywheel may now be gouged beyond repair.
Normally quite expensive, Sorry!

 

[davieboy]

is it a transit by any chance??

if so failure of the dual-mass flywheel is very common. similar symptoms to your description.

 

[TicklyT]

Typical pool vehicle - everyone leaves it to everyone else to sort out any problems, so nothing gets fixed until it falls apart

I've had a clutch driven plate hub break up, with similar symptoms - the clutch intermittently 'biting' as the springs, rivets and other sundry loose bits of metal got thrown out by centrifugal force, and momentarily wedged between the clutch hub, flywheel and pressure plate, then the drive failing as the bits of shrapnel gouged chunks out of the flywheel on their way out.

 

[KingboyD]

PLEASE STATE MAKE AND MODEL!!!!!



Ta


Ps - It prob is the duel Mass that has gone belly up! Not a 10 min job and not cheap

 

[JohnD]

I figured that since everyone in the area office had driven it, and regularly, they knew about it and were getting it fixed.

And no doubt they all thought you were arranging it.

If only there was a sensible, responsible person on the staff...

 

[Steve]

Its a Ford Transit.

When I finally got back to the area office, the three women there said they were glad it happened to me, and not them. They had all had it in the last 2 weeks. But not being people that make a habit out of driving vans, we assumed it was a normal noise for a 7 year old transit van to make

But nobody is currently responsible for the van - it is a pool van, we can all take it whenever we need it. It used to belong to the factory opposite the area offices, part of the same company, but a different business area. About a year ago they shut up shop. They had about 10 such vans. They left us one, all the others were re-allocated to other areas or sold (its probably not worth the cost of selling it anyway, its not in the best of shape externally either)

Glad I caused some serious damage then anyway Would overloading the van have made the problem worse?

 

[^neo^]

As guessed above, it's the rather common dual mass clutch on the Transit. When they go, they make a mess.

 

[blondini]

If you knew it was the clutch making the noise, then am I right in assuming that it was only happening as and when the clutch pedal was depressed?

If so, it may just have been the clutch release bearing which had failed but continued use will eventually have destroyed the release mechanism on the clutch pressure plate.

 

[2scoops0406]

Why, exactly are you worried about a work van?

 

[Steve]

If you knew it was the clutch making the noise, then am I right in assuming that it was only happening as and when the clutch pedal was depressed?

No. It was as the clutch was released, at the biting point. Which tallies with what someone said earlier, about the friction plate being worn down to metal, this is what it sounded like (very muffled of course). But not being a regular van driver, I figured this was just a normal sound for a 7 year old van!

2scoops, I'm not particularly worried about it, I just like to understand what went wrong and why.

 

[JonB]

Probably if it had been serviced by a garage it would have been picked up, & you would have been warned.
JonB

 

[Ron Gamma]

Its a Ford Transit.
But nobody is currently responsible for the van - it is a pool van, we can all take it whenever we need it. It used to belong to the factory opposite the area offices, part of the same company, but a different business area. About a year ago they shut up shop. They had about 10 such vans. They left us one, all the others were re-allocated to other areas or sold (its probably not worth the cost of selling it anyway, its not in the best of shape externally either)

So does it have an MOT, Insurance and Tax? Do you check this before you all take it out as the fine and points go on your own licence and not the company boss'.

 

[Steve]

So does it have an MOT, Insurance and Tax? Do you check this before you all take it out as the fine and points go on your own licence and not the company boss'.

Yes it has all the above. Its all dealt with by a central department which covers all the company vehicles. All the company cars, HGVs, vans, breakdown, insurance, tax, servicing.