Dual Mass flywheels yet again

[Derek Mc]

I am starting to really look into this whole DMF thing in as much depth as I can find and would be very interested in learning if driving style has any co-relation to failure rates as from my initial searching have found a very strong link to initial torque, acceleration in low gear and upshifting hard, and this from Honest John on the Telegraph,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Flywheels of mass destruction
I am having trouble with my 06-reg Vauxhall Zafira 1.9CDti SRI, which I bought in January 2007. In January this year I had to have a new EGR valve and windscreen washer pump, which cost over £370. The air-conditioning has now failed and needs a new condenser, which will cost about £500 and I am told that the flywheel is suspect and needs replacing at a cost of £1,500 approx. This car is only three years old and I have never had a flywheel need replacing on any car I have had at 68,000 miles. I complained to the dealer but although I get the feeling they agree that there must be a fault on the flywheel, Vauxhall is refusing so far to replace it. I have looked on various websites and am getting the impression that there is a problem with the parts. Do you have any information about this or any comments to help me with my case to Vauxhall?


It's very common, unfortunately. Dual mass flywheels (DMFs) have been an unmitigated disaster. The reason for them is to absorb some of the engine torque, putting less strain on the transmission, particularly on the upchange from first to second. But their failure rate has been so high that companies like Ford and Mazda are now abandoning them in favour of ECU software that damps the throttle on upchanges, achieving much the same effect without the huge cost of having to replace DMFs every 60,000 miles.

[barney490]

pretty much all manufacturers have gone the dmf route, seems the boffins got this one wayyyyyyyyyyy wrong and then some. There is no way on this good earth that the manufacturers will come to the party and compensate owners in some way, it would cripple them. Just another example of how car makers can make such huge mess ups and get away with it.