DMF Dilemma

urbancowboy

Hi,

I have the following dilemma that I am looking for a bit of advice on. The car needs a new DMF and clutch at the cost of just shy of €1400. Car is only worth about €4k I reckon. My question is should I bite the bullet and pay the €1400 and try to sell her straight away, or try to sell her "as seen"? I bus it to work during the week and only really need a car the odd time if the gf is using hers. Car is an 05 opel vectra 1.9cdti with 230,000k on the clock. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Dilbert75

Is that a dealer price?

andyseadog

i wouldn't buy a car that needed 1400 euros worth of work, even if it was priced to reflect that.

most people who buy, just want to buy, get in and drive stress free. anyone willing to take it off your hands with the problems it has is going to do their best to pull your trousers down financially.

PaulKK

What about

This

(€335)

and

This
(€370)

And about €250 labour at an independent?


Should come in under a grand anyway, saving of 400 straight off.


You could get a cheaper clutch and flywheel like sachs or a generic one and save even more,
but I picked LUK in the above example as they are ment to be the best.

mickdw

Why not keep it when fixed?

shedweller

I've heard of lads replacing the DMF with a solid flywheel, with no apparent changes noticed. Are there issues with that practice?

Dilbert75

I've heard of that too. DMF is designed to smooth out vibrations in diesel engine. Replace with solid and apparently it has negative effects on the crankshaft - how much I don't know. If you can get 100k miles from one, and you've to replace the clutch + put in the labour, why not put in the few quid extra and do it right?

Nissan doctor

Replacing the DMF with a solid one has no effect on the crank or gearbox as their designs haven't changed since DMF's were introduced.

They are designed to dampen the torque transfare to make diesels smoother but of course in doing that have, in many applications, made the flywheels a consumable item, which it never was before. And its not like they are cheap.

For a car with that milage and getting little use I wouldn't hesitate in fitting a solid flywheel and clutch.

Nonoperational

If the original DMF got to 230,000 KM I wouldn't be afraid to put another in there.

Nissan doctor

gpf101 wrote: »

If the original DMF got to 230,000 KM I wouldn't be afraid to put another in there.

I'd guess that for the OP it was the cost of fitting one to a low value car that was the issue, not its reliability.

shaunandelly

Not all vehicles are eligible for the solid flywheel replacement option.

shamwari

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of LUK. Sach's and AP definitely, but not LUK

Leonard Hofstadter

As far as I know, some of the clutch manufacturers even do a solid flywheel conversion kit for many of the diesel engines.

LuK does a single mass conversion kit for most Fords with a diesel engine.

Some cars take old fashioned flywheels no problems, the Avensis diesel for example will run perfectly well with a single mass flywheel.

It's good to know that you can retrofit a single mass flywheel to a diesel and it won't damage the clutch and gearbox, because some people reckon that doing this will put the 'box and clutch under extra stress because of the additional vibrations:rolleyes:!

I heard that Peugeot/Citroen had gone back to an old fashioned flywheel for their 1.6 diesel, not sure how true that is though...

It should be noted that Dual Mass Flywheels do not give any problems in petrol engines - BMW have been fitting their petrols with DMFs since at least the early to mid 90s (the E36 3 series has a DMF and that car came out in 1991) and I have never once heard of a petrol engined BMW suffering from DMF failure.

bbability

Dilbert75 wrote: »

I've heard of that too. DMF is designed to smooth out vibrations in diesel engine. Replace with solid and apparently it has negative effects on the crankshaft - how much I don't know. If you can get 100k miles from one, and you've to replace the clutch + put in the labour, why not put in the few quid extra and do it right?

Replaced mine in my 06 Passat TDI 3 years ago with solid fly-wheel. Much better car to drive.

-Corkie-

bbability wrote: »

Replaced mine in my 06 Passat TDI 3 years ago with solid fly-wheel. Much better car to drive.

Thats intresting. Is it smoother??/

OldmanMondeo

captainspeed wrote: »

LuK does a single mass conversion kit for most Fords with a diesel engine.

No they do not. I import and sell LUK and this came up yesterday in work, I rang LUK and confirm that they do not make solid replacements and do not advise using them.

maidhc

I hate when people wonder if it is worth spending €1400 on a car with €4000. Surely if the car is going well, and you cannot get a better car for your €1400 then it makes all the sense in the world.

I have often spent the value of a car on repairs to it and it makes perfect economic sense if the car is a good one.

Leonard Hofstadter

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

No they do not. I import and sell LUK and this came up yesterday in work, I rang LUK and confirm that they do not make solid replacements and do not advise using them.

I could have sworn they did, sorry about that..:o

Nissan doctor

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Replacing the DMF with a solid one has no effect on the crank or gearbox as their designs haven't changed since DMF's were introduced.

They are designed to dampen the torque transfare to make diesels smoother but of course in doing that have, in many applications, made the flywheels a consumable item, which it never was before. And its not like they are cheap.

For a car with that milage and getting little use I wouldn't hesitate in fitting a solid flywheel and clutch.

Went to thank this and saw 'twas not a new thread :pac:

bbability wrote: »

Replaced mine in my 06 Passat TDI 3 years ago with solid fly-wheel. Much better car to drive.

-Corkie- wrote: »

Thats intresting. Is it smoother??/

Probably just much better than with a w*nked DMF.