Car Flywheel

Flywheel is especially important in a car as it smoothes over unevenness of the crankshaft rotation. The flywheel increases the moment of inertia that also refers to the crank gear. So, its flyweight also increases. Normally, crankshaft rotation is irregular. This is caused by the periodically varying four strokes torque of the motor. Due to the flywheel, this unevenness is limited. As a result, the engine operates better. Another consequence is that the start-up is much easier. Flywheel and its effect are also interconnected with the starter and clutch. It contains the clutch parts.

Usually flywheel is a durable car part. Normally, it serves during the whole period of the vehicle operation. Still, if it is necessary to replace the flywheel, visit the repair shop. To replace the flywheel experience and professional knowledge are required. A wrong installation of the flywheel can result in a clutch bearing damage. Take into consideration that it will be necessary to move heavy car parts.

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How to detect the flywheel failure

It is advised to start the component inspection with surface testing. To begin with, start the engine and listen. If in neutral gear with RPMs increasing to the maximum, you hear the knocking sound and feel the vibrations, the flywheel may be faulty.

For further diagnosis you have to dismantle the part and examine its surface. Often you can find stains of various colors, indicating overheat of the flywheel. It is very important to properly evaluate the location of spots. Multicolored stains and darkened areas on the component frictional surface suggest a brief overheating, but do not indicate the flywheel failure. But if during the examination you notice blue-colored annealed areas on the outer diameter or in the mounting rivets area, discoloration of the sides and the back, discover cracks and scuffing on the surface or leaky lubricant, the part requires replacement.

To check the flywheel performance special equipment is required, with which you can estimate the maximum torsion angle, the flywheel axial and radial clearance.

You may identify that the flywheel requires to be inspected by the following symptoms:

• scratching noise when the engine is idling, disappearing when the clutch pedal is depressed;
• knocks around the transmission during the engine start;
• vibrations at accelerating, especially in the second and third gears, as well as when the engine is shut down;
• the car jerks when the overdrive gear is turned on.

Causes of the flywheel failure

Many flywheel faults occur due to its overheating. Continuous performance under increased heat loads may lead to destruction of separators and damper springs, as well as cracking of the part working surface. Besides, extreme temperature increase may cause the lubricant inside the mechanism to burn out or boil, which typically leads to its blockage and the axial bearing destruction.

The flywheel overheating results from unstable engine operation, clutch malfunction, faults in the fuel supply and ignition systems, aggressive driving style.

Often, the component failure occurs due to neglecting the recommendations for the car operation. For instance, because of the habit of driving at reduced rpm, sharp switching of gears, releasing the clutch pedal or starting in overdrive gear, the mechanical loads on the flywheel are considerably increased, which results in the damper springs breakdown, the disruption of the axial bearings and separators, and sometimes even causes the unit housing to wear through. Similar failures are caused by unqualified tuning of the engine in order to increase its power.

Replacement of the flywheel

It is advised to replace a dual-mass flywheel at every routine clutch replacement, every 180,000 kilometers on the average. But if you comply with the operation recommendations, it can have a much longer useful life. Single mass flywheels have even longer service life.

The procedure of installing a new part is complicated, demanding and time-consuming. Besides, special equipment is required, as well as balancing of the part after it is installed. That is why the flywheel replacement is best performed at a service station.