Dual Mass Flywheel vs Solid Flywheel

Baruus

Forum Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
4
Location
Lysterfield, Vic
The clutch in my 01 Outback has just thrown itself to bits. We're at nearly 210,000 klm on the clock.
The mechanic has just told me it will be $2 > $3k to replace the clutch with standard suby equipment or Au $1,680 (incl GST) to replace the clutch and flywheel with a solid flywheel and heavy duty clutch.

Just looking for some feedback on other peoples experiences. I hear that going to the HD clutch can increase the gearbox noise through the car, the dual mass version helps reduce noise?? Also just curious on what differences i will notice in performance and driving feel going to a different clutch assembly.

And can anyone tell me if this replacement price sounds fair?

Any advice appreciated, Cheers
 
Rally will be able to help you here as I remeber him (I think it was Rally)having to go through this with his Forester.

My Forester had it's clutch replaced mid last year but it was already a single mass (First generation model) and I replaced it with another single mass, but after market and heavy duty.
Cost me $1300 all up with 10hours labour.

$2k to $3k is ridiculous, I would not pay that.

Of course a new clutch will feel different but you will get used to it. I noticed with mine that the grabbing/engaging point was much lower down on the cluch pedal and the pedal itself wasn't as heavy. The old one used to be a leg killer!
 
There is a conversion kit for under $1000 which includes new standard type flywheel, clutch and throw out bearing, but not labour. I do not understand why they bothered with the dual mass. All I found was that it was unreliable and expensive to replace. My standard flywheel works very well- I could tell no change from the dual mass
 
I got the same car as you, I converted from DMF to SMF (exedy heavy duty) for more than a year now. THe price that I paid for the kit was $750 (mate is a mechanic - discount price). The labour part depend on single mechanic, on the hoist should be 4-5 hours. I have not noticed any different but I think the HD kit help to dampen to torque from the engine (which was the job of the DMF).

Hint: If you go with SMF, make sure your mechanic machine the fly wheel before putting it in the car otherwise you would have vibration.
 
I didn't machine the flywheel- just bolted it in- no worries
 
I'm not sure why you need a heavy duty clutch. I'd suggest a standard clutch, no dual mass flywheel but a normal one and away you go.
 
I've recently heard that the foz clutch kit is a heavier setup over the liberty/outback/impreza. Anyone know if this is true? Apparently it's pretty common to order a foz kit to upgrade the rating of the clutch...

If the flywheel is new I wouldn't machine it, wasted money. Actually I wouldn't machine it unless there were hot spots or it was shuddering prior to removal.

Cheers

Bennie
 
A shuddering clutch takes 5 seconds to fix and you don't even turn the engine off to do it
 
Shuddering clutches were an issue for WRX's for a long time, although I hear less about it now. Most people who get them live on the low side of the street. The solution is quite simple. Slip the clutch. Not severely, just more than you normally would. The shuddering is caused by a build up of material on the pressure plate and/or flywheel. The same thing occurs with brake discs, and people think that the disc is warped when it is not. Brake discs do not warp, although they can and do warp. So some moderate slipping of the clutch should bring it back to normal. Just don't go and have smoke billowing out of the thing or you will destroy the clutch. If unsure, don't do it. With brake discs, it is generally some combination of disc material/pad material/driving style compatibility issues. That is why some cars have the issue and others do not.
 
Thanks for all your feedback guys.
Clutch is all done and got a few other bug bears tidied up while I was there.
For the clutch and labour ended up costing me $1,682 incl GST ($989 for the clutch kit and $540 labour). There was a time when I would just do this work myself to save a buck but these days with kids etc I am just too time poor, so more efficient to pay someone else to do it.
As always replace one thing and something else gives way. They had to put a seal kit through the slave cylinder as it started leaking after the clutch replacement.

The only thing I did notice after going to the SM flywheel is there is a little shudder at low revs (bit kangaroo hoppy as we would say). Don't know if the SM flywheel is responsible or if the new clutch just needs to bed in a bit.
RALLY - I would be interested to hear your fix for shuddering clutches.
Love the feel of the new clutch! It used to be heavy as a brick and only had a few inces of travel from the floor. Now it has full travel and feels light like a new car again.
Cheers again for your responses!!!
 
Having shudder on a new clutch suggests that there may have ben contamination on the friction surfaces during installation. Let us know how you go
 
I agree with Rally.

A new clutch assembly (clutch, pressure plate/s and flywheel) should be as smooth as a baby's bum.

If it's not, either the clutch plate has been contaminated, or the pressure plate and flywheel are not parallel to each other. The latter can be caused by wrongly tensioning the bolts holding the assembly together ... Or by the parts being defective.
 
The flywheel and clutch pressure plate surfaces should have been wiped down with a solvent to remove the film of oil the protects the faces from rust while in storage.

Cheers

Bennie
 
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