Hello. I have an altea bxe engine 2007 1.9dti. Ive had a knocking noise on the flywheel for the past few thousand miles. I suspected the dmf. I had this confirmed by my local trustworthy garage. I am contemplating doing a solid flywheel conversion. I hear these are a debating point. Some say dont change as the dmf is there for a reason etc. Its purley a cost decision. I know the scoda octavia with the same engine have had alot of them changed from looking on forums, even by the dealers in some cases with no adverse effects. My car is totally original. No re map etc so itll be standard bhp. I just wondered if anyone has had any experience with the solid conversion. My logic is that i could get a cheap dmf and clutch or a decent valeo etc smf conversion kit with clutch for about the same money. Also smf future proofs it against another failure. Any opinions welcome.
solid flywheel conversion
- Thread starter yan101
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Dubster
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Don't do it, I know people that have and have regretted it. You will see a noticeable increase in vibration and has been known to cause crankshaft failure. The BXE engine that you have is well known for being the weak cousin in the 1.9PD family and is known to throw rods and break the crank. Personally I wouldn't risk it.
I don't believe anyone who says that a main dealer has fitted a solid wheel conversion. An independent specialist yes, but not a main dealer.
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I was skeptical too but ive seen quite a few say skoda main dealer did their solid conversion after dmf failure. I heard about the bxe problem too. My car has 94k on it. All the reports i heard about the bxe fails were in vw cars and under 50k miles a possible bad batch from a certain factory. To be honest its a price thing, dmf is £100 dearer and ive been made redundant recently so its not ideal. Like i said i have read multiple posts about vibrations etc and they were all on bigger engine cars or cars that have been re mapped. Only heard positives about the swap on the standard 1.9 tdi but they were all from vw or skodas. I wanted to see if anyone had it in the seat altea or leon with the same engine. Im 99% committed now to having it done next week. I will post when ive got a fes miles under the new set up for anyone else thinking about doing this conversion.
The 1.9 PD is an old design, there are a lot of vibrations from that engine whether standard or mapped. When I had my BXE I put in a dogbone insert which was fine in my PD140, and had to remove it through to unreal vibrations in the cabin with it being stiffer.
That vibration will only get passed along somewhere else and cause failure elsewhere, as mentioned. I looked into it like you, and for every rave review there was a horror comment. I think only the Valeo kit is the one worth considering, but I saw Sachs make one too now?
When I needed a new DMF I got a genuine Sachs clutch kit and DMF for £350 (about a year ago and were readily available).
I understand your predicament, but fear you may be paying out somehow in the future because of the SMF.
That vibration will only get passed along somewhere else and cause failure elsewhere, as mentioned. I looked into it like you, and for every rave review there was a horror comment. I think only the Valeo kit is the one worth considering, but I saw Sachs make one too now?
When I needed a new DMF I got a genuine Sachs clutch kit and DMF for £350 (about a year ago and were readily available).
I understand your predicament, but fear you may be paying out somehow in the future because of the SMF.
From what i understand the only difference is the springs are in the clutch rather than the flywheel. I can get the valeo kit for £270 or techmark for £200 plus £140 for fitting. I too have heard some bad commenta but never on the 1.9 and ive read alot over ths past few days. Usually transits that i hear bad things about. The good are skoda octavia 1.9 taxis that have done 200k plus miles on a solid. As i say its my only real option at the moment. Its booked in for a week monday and ill go for the valeo kit i think as its a proven and warrentied part that ive read has good success. Ill let you know how i get on.
Im a vehicle technician and ive only ever fitted two solid conversions with bad results . The first being a 10plate skoda superb taxi which after a week killed a driveshaft then a week later the gearbox . Second was a golf which just juddered . Ive never fitted them since and heard bad things from the skodas snapping cranks . I only ever fit valeo or sachs clutch kits and dmfs , its worth paying the extra as it lasts . If a customer asks for a solid conversion i send them to mr clutch .
I converted my AUQ to solid flywheel in February,, Iv had no problems or noticed any difference in driving other then it's stopped rattling from the old dmf
Were they 1.9 tdi's just out of curiosity? Also did you change the clutch too for a spung clutch or did you put the non sprung clutch back in? The kit itself can also make a difference. The valeo solid kit has a double sprung clutch to conpensate. The garage thats doing mine said the 1.9 is fine with a solid but he did a 2.0ltre that didnt like it and a re mapped 1.8 ford that didnt either. Its a valeo conversion kit im getting i think. Theres a choice of 2 either valeo or techmark. Never heard of techmark to be honest but its the cheapest and the one reccomended by the garage as they use them more frequently than the valeo.
My car is a standard 1.8 turbo 180bhp, I bought a solid flywheel conversion kit, inc flywheel, clutch and concentric bearing, I think it was an luk kit,, and it was around £375
Car drives fine, I haven't noticed any difference in the way it drives,
Car drives fine, I haven't noticed any difference in the way it drives,
i only ask because i beleive on a petrol its a different story, the concern on a diesel is something to do with the torque pulses or something?? its safer on a petrol to do the conversion, but as i said ive heard alot of positives about the conversion on the 1.9 tdi only times ive read about bad experiences is when the wromg kit was fitted or a mapped car has caused loud rattle at idle.
Mines a petrol mate,, but Iv fitted loads of solid kits to diesels and never had an issue with any off them
You're asking for trouble fitting a single mass flywheel to a diesel. The Dual Mass flywheel absorbs a lot of torque pulse and stops it from being transmitted into the gearbox and back along the crankshaft. You get away with it on the petrol engines because the torque builds much more progressively. Saving a hundred quid or so won't seem like such a good idea if you end up having to replace the gearbox or if you snap your crankshaft.
As has been said many times, they're fitted with a dual mass flywheel for a reason. 1. to minimize vibration. 2. because the crankshaft (not a forged item on that engine) isn't strong enough to cope with the forces that are normally absorbed by the dual mass flywheel.
As has been said many times, they're fitted with a dual mass flywheel for a reason. 1. to minimize vibration. 2. because the crankshaft (not a forged item on that engine) isn't strong enough to cope with the forces that are normally absorbed by the dual mass flywheel.
The valeo kit is specifically designed to replace the dmf. The clutch plate is sprung to absorb the torsional vibrations rather than the flywheel. Ive not seen one report of a crank breaking on other forums from member with this engine even after 200k miles on them. And there are alot of people with the conversion. Ill see if i can post the link to the valeo thing i read.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...4QFjAB&usg=AFQjCNHOX7eDUpAE8dx0smMKxZxuGpZGiQ
Let me know if that dosent work
Let me know if that dosent work
had the valeo solid flywheel conversion done today. and i can report...........no problems at all. no shaking or vibrations, the pedal feels a little lighter than before, but it drives superb. no noises nothing. £464 all in with labour. the kit was £324 inc vat and £140 to fit it. He showed me my old flywheel and it was jiggered. glad i got it done now rather than risk failure later. ill keep this post updated when i have a few miles under the new flywheel and clutch. but so far it feels great!
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