Chip tuning and DMF failure

Stallingrad

While being tempted to chip various cars over the years I always decided against it, believing there is no such thing as a free lunch. Seems I may have been right.

4.3 Chip Tuning Chip tuning is a quick, easy and rather inexpensive way of increasing engine power output. For a relatively small amount of money you can easily increase the power of an engine by up to 30 %. Facts not normally considered are whether the engine is durable enough to withstand the higher outputs, e.g. thermal overloading, and also if the rest of the drive train can withstand the increase in torque/performance. Usually the torsion damper system of a dual mass flywheel, just like the remaining parts of the drive train, is designed for the respective engine. In many cases the safety reserve of the dual mass fl ywheel is used up or exceeded by a torque increase by sometimes more than 30 %. As a consequence, the arc springs can already be completely compressed du- ring normal driving, which deteriorates noise insulation and can cause the vehicle to jolt. As this is the case at half of the fi ring frequency, quickly, very high loads are produced and transferred not only to the dual mass fl ywheel, but also to the transmission, which could result in damage to drive shafts and the differential. Damage stretches from increased wear to a catastrophic failure which results in a huge repair bill. The operating point of the dual mass fl ywheel is shifted toward its security reserve by the increase in power of the engine. During driving, the dual mass fl ywheel is permanently over- loaded by the higher engine torques. This causes the damper springs in the dual mass fl ywheel to operate “fully loaded” more often than they are designed to. The consequence: the dual mass fl ywheel can be destroyed! It is true that many tuners give a warranty on the vehicle when increasing power output. But what about when the warranty period is over? The increase in output can damage other components in the drive train slowly but continuously. Sometimes these components will fail at a later time (after expiration of any warranty given!) which means the repair costs have to be paid by the customer.