My Porsche master tech at Lober Porsche, the one who inspects and did the last clutch job told me he rarely sees a bad one unless serve abuse on a bad clutch?
So, who would you trust then? LOL

 

With few exceptions, almost any "mechanic" is going to tell you to replace the flywheel when you do a clutch. He can make more money that way. This is also his way of having an "out" if the clutch "goes bad".
Truth is, unless you have been driving with a slipping clutch a for a period of time, it should be fine. The second you pull the clutch off, you'll know. You cannot grind a factory dual mass flywheel either.

 

Thanks guys!

 

because the amount of time on the lift is the main issue this is a simple fix.
buy a replacement flywheel. if you need it when you tear the trans apart you have it. if not return it for a refund minus a small restocking fee.
the pros and cons are equal on both sides. from my experience working on these cars is diffucult and the chance of other things going wrong while doing something else is 50/50. if it were me i would replace it once and not worry about it. but then again i have had my car apart so many times i have lost count.

 

I am going to trust a master Porsche tech over a typical shop mechanic.
And the proof is in the pudding with my dual mass being good after my HP level, driving style and 3 clutches later. .

 

I think of it this way: New clutch and flywheel will have perfectly smooth faces contacting each other for optimal contact. New clutch on old flywheel would have clutch gripping an uneven surface. That's enough for me. Why cheap out with these cars?

 

I Agree with John. That talk of the DMF not holding up to power is foolish, IMO. I have over 80,000 high HP miles on a DMF with no problems. I would be more concerned with the talk of the longterm effects of the lighweight flywheel causing premature crankshaft/bearing wear on the 996TT turbo due to the different harmonics/vibration inherent in the design...

 

Considering the cost of your power mods, I wouldn't cheap out here. You'll be really angry if you have to go back in there and spend another 4k because something happened.

 

Sorry but it doesn't have to do with being cheap here ,, we have enough in our car and don't mind spending money on them..
Its being in the know from being around and seeing and doing,,
Not by others speculation to jump on others band wagon over a few mishaps...
Its all good here, sharing info and helping spending money as needed..

 

Ya this is not about money. If it has to be done I will pay to have it done. If it doesn't have to be done I will not spend the money for no reason.

There are so many members on this board who have so much knowledge I love posting questions like this and learning.

 

For those of us that are "feeling lucky" about re-using our DMFW I ask:



What should I look for when inspecting it? I am replacing my clutch because up-coming HP upgrades not any issues with it now. My car has 30k miles on it and I've had it since 5k miles.


Should I clean it up with ultra fine(1000grit+) sand paper? or anything else like that?


Thanks

 

Highly recommend you replace it. But considering you only have 30,000 miles you may be okay. But please make sure to use a feeler gauge and check for warpage.

Take a look at the first page of this thread where I made a comment about this before. I attached a link you may want to check out. In fact, make sure you read that other thread in its entirety. It's definitely worth the read.

On our high-end platform, I cannot reiterate how important it is to simply replace the flywheel with a new one (Whether it's a dual mass or a lightweight flywheel).

Good luck!

 

I would recommend replacing it for the peace of mind as well as not taking a chance of curbing the life of the new clutch due to uneven wear. If you need a LWFW, I have them on the shelf and could get it out today for you. There are points to both sides of this, but with how big of a job it is I personally would want all of the bases covered when it comes time to disassemble. Especially this time of year when shop time can be limited.

 

Same here...I trust my indy and he is always honest with me. When I got my Clutch Masters FX 350 installed last month he said my original flywheel was fine. I've got about 600WHP and the stock DM FW is perfectly capable of handling this. When I got the clutch it was literally the day after I noticed slippage so like others have said, if the FW was subjected to a lot of slippage the story might be different.
BTW, I love the feel of the CM FX350! More aggressive than stock but no steep learning curve.

 

With other cars as SOP I'd just resurface the FW. I'd be inclined to do this with the Turbo's DMF. I've talked to techs at dealers and provided the DMF is otherwise OK they have no qualms about sending one out to be resurfaced. In one case the clutch disc wore down to the rivets and the tech told me the rivets wore a circular/round groove into the face of the DMF. I asked to see this and he said he'd sent out the DMF to be resurfaced. So they can be resurrected so to speak even if there is wear.

OTOH, if the DMF was not exhibiting any symptoms of trouble before and the clutch wasn't slipping -- which raises the specter of overheating which can result in a grabby clutch operation once the new clutch hardware is installed -- and with a precision straight edge the DMF friction surface is within flatness specifications, I'd leave it alone.

Had my Turbo in at around 110K miles for an RMS job. Tranny came out and of course along with the clutch and the DMF. Clutch disc thickness was still at the new dimension (1.7mm). I measured it myself with a precision depth micrometer. The DMF was just fine. The only piece of hardware the tech replaced were the two small needle bearings in which the clutch control shaft fits.