Can anyone explain dual mass flywheels and maybe shed some light on my situation
 

I have an '08.5 MS3 and it was slipping out of 2nd gear so off to Mazda with my extended warranty in hand.

First off I wait a day because they called the company and they need a rep to test drive the car the next day. Then a day for him to drive it and say yup it pops out. Then I okay them to pull the trans. Then after the mechs say the gear is damaged they have to wait for another rep to 'see' the gears.

After that week and a half I had to wait for the parts to be ordered. At this time my contact at Mazda is trying to sell me new tyres and a clutch. Now the car has 60K miles and I'm not paying labor so I did the clutch, no dice on the tyres though.

More waiting...

So finally yesterday I was told it would be all done and ready to pick up today. Then this morning I get a call and mark.... Who has been VERY little help with any mechanical or technical questions accept prices.... Feels the need to try and explain how I have a dual mass flywheel and how it works and that it should 'twist' half an inch and that mine 'twists' 2 inches..... And not only do I need a new one but it's 1100.00:yikes:

First can I get a real explanation of dual mass flywheels and shouldntthis have been mentioned when they 'inspected' the clutch a more than a week ago?? Also what kind of damage is my 2" twisting flywheel goin to do. Mark said it will work, intact it will work fine, but it will prematurely wear my clutch. Which first he say no way to tell how fast. Then later says maybe 20-30K miles

John

I found a decent read here

Basically, dual mass flywheels are used to help isolate engine vibration from the rest of the drivetrain, particularly at low RPM. They have an inner and outer ring with some dampening springs and a friction ring. As the friction ring wears, the outer ring will twist more (relative to the inner ring) before engaging. I'm not certain why it would wear the clutch more, except possibly because of more abrupt engagement and increased vibration. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in.

I do know that they're wear items, like clutches, and that they're expensive to replace.

you should probably go aftermarket flywheel, and have them install it. But this is just my advice.

Fidanza flywheel will work with stock clutch, only downside is more chatter. I think it's $350 bucks or something and i would recommend replacing now rather than having to pull the transmission down 20k miles later again.

Sounds like one or more of the springs in the clutch assembly broke. The springs buffer the engine harmonics from the transmission and drivetrain so that it is quieter.

Since that is all the springs do, and since higher power cars can break the springs, most aftermarket clutch manufacturers do not make dual mass flywheels.

It is still driveable, but it isnt really recommended because it will eventually break and leave you stranded.

Had a new stock clutch installed.

John

Thats dope yo!

This video REALLY explained dual mass flywheels to me, I'm much more understanding in a hands on type situation(draw me a picture :-P)

John

i was just talking about this

So the throw out barring noise is normal with a dual mass?