Dual mass flywheels are ingenious and increasingly important parts of modern, high-compression, diesel engines. These flywheels the movie eliminate jumps in the torque of an engine by smoothing out the power from the pistons.

How and why do these jumps occur? Pistons must compress air that is forced into their chambers and by which way they slow down. But, when the engine fires, the combustion of fuel causes these same pistons to surge forward. This inevitable process of slowing down and surging forward repeats itself over and over again, causing the engine to rock back and forth on its mounts. The vibration and movement in the engine will increase along with the weight of the load the engine is trying to move. Dual mass flywheels should smooth this severe oscillation, but, occasionally these flywheels go bad. When this happens, the automobile will begin to shake or vibrate. If this occurs, read the following article for a few ideas about what might be wrong.

Dual mass flexplates utilize dampener springs to keep the resonant vibration frequencies of an engine down. However, these springs along with their nylon retainers, may break or simply fail if other parts of the engine are not running smoothly. These springs should only be compensating for an engine’s vibration while the engine is running in low gear and at a low level of rounds per minute. However, faulty engine valves and fuel injectors, amongst other things, can cause an increase in engine vibration. This, in turn, causes the dampener springs to work harder and more often to compensate. Check the springs first. If they are broken, look for other engine problems before replacing them.

If the dowel pins of the flywheel and clutch are misaligned with the pressure plate, the resulting vibration can damage the center bearing which carries the load between the two portions of the flywheel. The center bearing should also be supported by the transmission input shaft. If the pilot bearing fails, it will destroy this input shaft which will, in turn, fail to support the center bearing causing it to malfunction as well. Besides, once the input shaft has been repaired, one must ensure that it is installed and aligned properly, or as before the center bearing will not last very long.