Hi , I know it’s nothing to do with trucks but , have any of u had any experience of using a single mass flywheel instead of a dual mass in a ford mondeo or vectra , and if they are ok to use . Mine needs doin but dual mass are twice the price thanks rob
Robspils:
Hi , I know it’s nothing to do with trucks but , have any of u had any experience of using a single mass flywheel instead of a dual mass in a ford mondeo or vectra , and if they are ok to use . Mine needs doin but dual mass are twice the price thanks rob
heard of it being done using the one out of the transit mine cost £625 for a new dmf & cluch at halfrauds guarenteed for three years which was a good £200 + cheaper than anyone else in manchester this was two years ago tho good luck cos they are apparently a B£$*^%rd to DIY
i used to own an '03 ford transit that had the DM changed to a single because of the problems ,it costs about a grand .It was a well known problem at the time ,no idea if it has been fixed with modern fords
Hi I don’t have experience in that particular make, but the flywheel in my old skoda Fabia VRS needed changing and I thought about going for single mass till I’d read a few reports online.
I always thought a flywheel was just a lump of metal that stayed on an engine for all its life.When DMFs arrived (and the problems started)I thought whats the point? I then looked into fitting the “solid kits” until I read reports on crankshaft failures,bell housing cracks etc. these new generation engines are designed around a DMF.My advice is replace the DMF with a top quality O/E part and do not be tempted to get cheap stuff online or solid kits.
DMF’s are also usually fitted to high torque engines so to make a single last you’d have to drive super gentle and with lots of mechanical sympathy!
No help to you now, but apparently DMF don’t give so much trouble if you rev the engine slightly before engaging the clutch when pulling away.
It’s ‘idling away’ like you were supposed to with the ■■■■■■■ M11 truck engine that kills the DMFs on cars and vans, apparently.
there was a DMF under development for heavy trucks , but (hopefully) it will never see the light of day!
GasGas:
No help to you now, but apparently DMF don’t give so much trouble if you rev the engine slightly before engaging the clutch when pulling away.It’s ‘idling away’ like you were supposed to with the ■■■■■■■ M11 truck engine that kills the DMFs on cars and vans, apparently.
there was a DMF under development for heavy trucks , but (hopefully) it will never see the light of day!
This is correct, the DMF is working hardest at or near idling speed, abit of revs relieves some of the stress put on it when pulling away. Also when moving keep the revs above idling speed as this will help prolong the life.
Gear changing will be quite a bit lumpier… If you don’t mind that, then go for a traditional flywheel. DMF’s also protect the gearbox from shocks, apparently
maga:
until I read reports on crankshaft failures,bell housing cracks etc. these new generation engines are designed around a DMF.
Never heard of anything like that, and I’ve fitted a few retro-kits.
This suggestion that it protects the gearbox is all marketing hype in my opinion.
Ford offer a ‘heavy duty clutch’ as an option on Transits, a solid flywheel instead of DMF.
Ford also issued a TSB on retro-fitting solid flywheels where dual mass ones were failing.
Full list of part numbers, instructions, book times etc.
I checked the ETIS for part numbers, bell housing, crank, gearbox etc all the same part numbers for both solid and DM.
Where a dual-mass flywheel is fitted as standard, I can’t imagine a manufacturer would also change the strength of the crank or bell housing. The idea of the DM is that it makes the ride ever-so-slightly more comfortable by reducing vibration and driveline judder. Where we’ve fitted retro kits (solid flywheels) the customer has never noticed a difference in comfort.
As an aside, the largest manufacturer of Dual-Mass flywheels is LuK.
Can you guess who the largest manufacturer of solid flywheel conversions is 
Some of the Transits we converted from DMF had a crankshaft damper in the kits.
Steve
cieranc:
maga:
until I read reports on crankshaft failures,bell housing cracks etc. these new generation engines are designed around a DMF.Never heard of anything like that, and I’ve fitted a few retro-kits.
This suggestion that it protects the gearbox is all marketing hype in my opinion.
Ford offer a ‘heavy duty clutch’ as an option on Transits, a solid flywheel instead of DMF.
Ford also issued a TSB on retro-fitting solid flywheels where dual mass ones were failing.
Full list of part numbers, instructions, book times etc.I checked the ETIS for part numbers, bell housing, crank, gearbox etc all the same part numbers for both solid and DM.
Where a dual-mass flywheel is fitted as standard, I can’t imagine a manufacturer would also change the strength of the crank or bell housing. The idea of the DM is that it makes the ride ever-so-slightly more comfortable by reducing vibration and driveline judder. Where we’ve fitted retro kits (solid flywheels) the customer has never noticed a difference in comfort.
As an aside, the largest manufacturer of Dual-Mass flywheels is LuK.
Can you guess who the largest manufacturer of solid flywheel conversions is
Yeah that was the advice given to me on an owners forum. I was told because modern diesels and some turbo’d petrols kick out a fair bit of torque almost instantly the DMF was designed to take some of this shock instead of it all going straight to the crank shaft.
Obviously with a single mass being thinner more of the ‘shock’ went through the crankshaft causing it to fail.
the dmf is a clutch in it self as well kinda.
as with anything it wears out.
i have heard of in the vectras that fitting a SMF has given problems destroying gearboxes and vibrations etc.
but if mine was to go in the vectra i wouldnt think twice about fitting a SMF but then i can fix the cars myself.
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I’ve read on one of the Mercedes(I think) forums that a DMF can sometimes be skimmed to cure problems if you catch it early enough.Apparently a fraction of the cost of a new one, but still the same labour for removal/replacement,no info about life span of the skimmed one though. False economy in my book. Opinions?
I have an 04 transit and changed from dmf to normal one( think all the bits came from e bay ) and two yrs on have had no problems yet
The 310 sprinter i had for 5 years did 500 000miles and never needed a dmf ,the 316 i had new has done 560 000 miles and has had 3 due to vibrations at low revs and sounding like a 9 speed fuller when ticking over which drives me mad,theres a company in yorkshire who say the standard flywheel replacement is fine,well its defiantly not after 3 months the vehicle will vibrate shake and be awful it finds out all the other transmission weak points.i would always put a dmf back in.
We have 5 transits on our fleet, all have had the solid flywheel conversion. This was mainy to do with the costs (new dmf and clutch was £600 odd, solid conversion kit was £200 odd). To me they drive exactly the same. Not to sure about doing it on cars though, i know with higher bhp vehicles changing the dmf to a solid one would make the vehicle jerk when pulling away.
ril4881:
i have heard of in the vectras that fitting a SMF has given problems destroying gearboxes and vibrations etc.but if mine was to go in the vectra i wouldnt think twice about fitting a SMF but then i can fix the cars myself.
especially the 6 speed boxes!
DMFs are coming down in price now anyhow, I had to do one in a vectra about 4 years and the DMF was over £400! im led to believe that the same DMF is now only around £250… obv that is the unit price… the rest added on makes a difference! LOL
B…
Ive just swapped out my DMf from my M3 to a lightened flywheel. the DMF weighs in at 9kg, the lightened flywheel weighs in at 5.4kg and revs considerably faster.