peugeot

[suffolkpete]

I'm with Tractorman on this. DMFs are there for a reason, change it for a solid type and it will knock eight bells out of the gearbox, anyway it sounds as though your mate couldn't afford to, so just change the clutch. I'm not sure 406s are in banger territory in France anyway, car values are much higher there.

[TerryG]

On the thrust bearing issue or the suspension and charging ones?

[rich.]

thanks chaps, main problem is the thrust bearing.. other problem is a driver who knows nothing about cars & from what i see doesnt really care.. im just trying to help the chap out really. i charged the battery & that seems to be ok now (fingers crossed)

[JPB]

Car manufacturers fitted solid flywheels for long enough before someone came up with the idea of the DMF, as for gearbox damage, I don't see why a solid flywheel would be responsible and my modern makes gearchanges just as smoothly since it had the solid one fitted, along with a new pair of clutches. I see no reason why a gearbox in a car with a clutch pedal would be any more likely to fail either, were that car to be fitted with a solid flywheel, unless the driver is being brutal, in which case they'd break a gearbox soon enough, just after they'd stretched the flywheel's springs beyond further usefulness.
Main dealers wouldn't be replacing DMFs with singles under warranty if they believed that this was so unnecessary.


If the 406 isn't totally rotten in the usual places, where's the harm in mending it? Sure & that's still cheaper than throwing it away and buying a replacement car? Though burning the evil thing is a pretty good alternative, IMHO.

[tractorman]

Car manufacturers fitted solid flywheels for long enough before someone came up with the idea of the DMF,|

True, but the older diesels were indirect injection and much lower powered than most modern ones (IIRC, my Mk2 Golf was somewhere around 60BHP and the Passat 1.9 TD was about 70, but I could be optimistic on both figures!). The indirect injection engine is inherently rougher running than the direct (and common rail etc) engines and the lower revs of the diesel engine (and low down torque) don't make things easy for the gearbox!

As far as "poor" record of reliability is concerned, I suspect that much of that is the usual Internet Myth. I don't know many cars with DMFS that have had problems - when used normally (ie not "straining" the engine). When the Mk4 Golf needed a new clutch, the garage almost refused point blank to change the flywheel as they said they had few problems with them and didn't want me to waste money on something that wasn't needed! I certainly had no problems after the new clutch (apart from a large cobble jumping into the road and smashing the sump!) However, when I had the Mk5 engine rebuilt, I got them to fit a new flywheel (and all sorts of other things like cam belt, water pump etc) so that the engine was as "new" as possible - they said that the flywheel was OK (at 115K), but agreed that, with complete new clutch and other stuff, it was the best time to change it!

I have done or two longer journeys of late with the Golf (the dog died ten days ago, so I can be away from home for more than a couple of hours!) and am surprised that it wants me to change to top gear as soon as it does - at one point I tried in top when the warning light said to change up (on level ground and with some momentum) and it was "happy" that it was doing less than 1200RPM in top gear (and the Bluemotion top is higher than the normal 1.9TDI box). Perhaps it's things like that that cause the problems - people slavishly following the gearchange "warning" and not using common sense!

[JPB]

I let mine take care of its own gearchanges since DSG has more idea than I do when a change is needed , apparently the DMFs are a known issue with the DSG7 and are on the limit of their maximum torque handling capability which is why they fit DSG6 and different ancillaries instead to the GTD version but anyway, cars old or newer are sometimes just so unimportant in the greater scheme of things..

I'm sorry to hear of the passing of your much loved canine friend. I know she was pushing on a bit yet, in spite of knowing that we'll outlive them and that their demise invariably hits us like a kick in the stomach from a twenty stone man's tackety boot, we do become just as attached to the animals as we do to those human beings we choose to let into our lives and I know what it's like to lose both, the pets are always harder to live without as they ask so little of us and give so much in return. My thoughts are with you.

[suffolkpete]

I always thought the purpose of a DMF was to give better damping than an equivalent weight solid flywheel, with consequent improvement in engine performance. Fit a solid flywheel of the same weight as a DMF and you will transmit much more vibration to the gearbox. Fit a heavier one and it will save the gearbox, but the engine pickup will be more sluggish due to the higher inertia

[rich.]

hi chaps time for an update....
car is starting all by itself now without swearing or the the use of jump leads ihave made space in my workshop & drove the car to the door & tried to move it in & the clutch cable snapped... this resulted in me pulling the car up the slope to my garage with pulley blocks for the next two hours with lots of shunting & cursing all things french.. still its in place & ready for the operation later in the week.. i really have scrapped better cars...
sorry to hear about your dog mate, they leave such a big hole in your life when they are gone.

[JPB]

car is starting all by itself now

It's a slippery slope mate, this time next week it'll be stealing your beer and trying to hump your people carrier. It needs a firm hand and a tight leash!
Or did you just mean that it doesn't need the jump leads?

[rich.]

hi chaps time for an update....
car is starting all by itself now without swearing or the the use of jump leads.

the 406 is just too crap to get a second look from the people carrier