Lighter flywheel

[myke_w]

Lets back up, what tranny do you have? Give us the code on the bottom..

If you have a 16v tranny.. you will need a 16v clutch disc

If you have an 8v tranny (older than 1993) than you need an 8v clutch disc

You can use the 16v pressure plate with either clutch disc.

[Baselyne]

So the 16V version would be better than....Yes?

Or are they both the same mostly?
Which pressure plate do you recomend for the 8V?

Thanks for that last post, It's all coming into perspective now!
I do beleave the gasser pieces are all the same then...clutch wise

[myke_w]

16v pressure plate is what you want

[Baselyne]

someone mentioned there 210mm? as appose to?

[TedV]

early cars, like 1.6 gas had  190mm
around early 80's like a 1.7 gas and 1.6 diesel had 200mm disk
1.8 gas introduced the 210mm disk late 80's should all be 210mm

the splines on the 16v trans are larger than regular 8v trans but the presure plate has a little more presure to it. So, you can use a 16V presure plate with an 8v disk and the above mentioned lightened flywheel for a cheap performance clutch.  If you don't ride the clutch pedal ( shouldn't do anyway) there should not be any more wear on thrust bearing or throw out parts with a stronger clutch presure plate.

[Baselyne]

where do you messure to deturmain which of the 190mm-210mm you have?

Where on this thing should I messure?

[Pat Dolan]

For the flywheels on 020s, lightening is a simple matter of machining off the massive ring beside the ring gear.  What I do (for gassers, diesel similar) is pull the dowel pin(s) from the flywheel (to avoid disasster) and chuck it up in the lathe.  Instead of turning the whole thing, I use an abrasive cutoff wheel to slit the vast majority of the material into a ring, and then use the lathe to face off the remaining surface.  For balance, I use a static rig I built that mounts onto a clutch cover (which I have very carefully balanced) and just drill the heavy spots until it is in balance.  I have used that on race engines that see the high side of 8 grand quite regularly, and on occassion I will take the whole thing to the local shop for electronic balancing as a double check, and I have never been even close to one oz/in off.  So, for diesel revs, this is well within tolerance for any practical reason.  

You may not want to go so light (but then again you may).  Lightening rotating mass neither adds nor removes power or torque, but it DOES allow the drivetrain to respond much more quickly to rev changes.  When you are accelerating, that means a lot less power is stored in the flywheel and ultimately will be available to accelerate the car.  Most lagginess in a diesel is coming from the turbo controller/wastegate, not from the mass of the driveline, but why throw away perfectly useable power for a smooter idle?  I tend to drive my cars, not park them running.

[TedV]

where do you messure to deturmain which of the 190mm-210mm you have?

Where on this thing should I messure?

measure the diameter of the clutch friction disk.  I have seen some presure plates marked 190/200 mm

[nokivasara]

For the flywheels on 020s, lightening is a simple matter of machining off the massive ring beside the ring gear.  What I do (for gassers, diesel similar) is pull the dowel pin(s) from the flywheel (to avoid disasster) and chuck it up in the lathe.  Instead of turning the whole thing, I use an abrasive cutoff wheel to slit the vast majority of the material into a ring, and then use the lathe to face off the remaining surface.  For balance, I use a static rig I built that mounts onto a clutch cover (which I have very carefully balanced) and just drill the heavy spots until it is in balance.  I have used that on race engines that see the high side of 8 grand quite regularly, and on occassion I will take the whole thing to the local shop for electronic balancing as a double check, and I have never been even close to one oz/in off.  So, for diesel revs, this is well within tolerance for any practical reason.  

You may not want to go so light (but then again you may).  Lightening rotating mass neither adds nor removes power or torque, but it DOES allow the drivetrain to respond much more quickly to rev changes.  When you are accelerating, that means a lot less power is stored in the flywheel and ultimately will be available to accelerate the car.  Most lagginess in a diesel is coming from the turbo controller/wastegate, not from the mass of the driveline, but why throw away perfectly useable power for a smooter idle?  I tend to drive my cars, not park them running.

OK, I think I have a fairly good picture of the benefits, but what about the not-so-good things with a lighter flywheel? Except the idle..

[TedV]

hmm  bad things.


Ive heard on modified Mk3 TDi's lighter flywheel will make the light load & throttle shudder worse.

you need to be better at balancing clutch release on take off.  I'm mostly experienced with race cars and light flywheels, and if folks arn't careful they can put the car thru the front of the trailer and into the back of the tow rig ( or at least it feels that way)

[KTMAuto]

Light flywheels change how the clutch grabs.  If u run a 12 pound flywheel on a tdi u get clutch chatter.  Even on my 16v ice racer gasser it chatters

[boosted_diesel_84]

i work at a machine shop where we lighten and balance flywheels all the time, on my audi 90, the stock flywheel was either 24 or 26 lbs, cant remember which, we lightened it down to 14,

we remove the weight by spinning it on a lathe and cutting it with a carbide cutter, which removes the mass evenly, even after taking the same amount off each side it was still over 60 grams out of balance! which is enough to cause some shakes and a rougher idle.

factory vw/audi parts are usually balanced within 5-10 grams. so 60 is deffinitly out of spec, so we have a balancer and balanced it under .1 of a gram, which is better than nascar specs.

needless to say, that car never idled smoother than what it did. it revved so much quicker and made it a lot more fun to drive. my point is professional balancing is a MUST or it can lead to problems! and you can feel the difference with it balanced correctly.

i have not lightened mine on my diesel yet, due to concerns that from the vibrations and power pulses associated with a diesel, and having a lighter flywheel wont absorb and cushion the drive train and lead to problems, any one have any input on this?

but if anyone wants theirs done contact me and i can get you a good price on having it lightened and balanced!

-Jack-

[Dr. Diesel]

contra :the enginebreak is less effective .

other way around. engine braking is more effective.

[silvertdi]

How are the VW diesels balanced...internally or via balancer (flywheel).  I put a Fluidamper on my Dad's Camaro...I checked out their website to see if they offered one for our cars.  They don't.  :cry:

[boosted_diesel_84]

How are the VW diesels balanced...internally or via balancer

almost all german cars have each component balanced seperatly, and normally only engines that have a long crank (inline 6, v8 or bigger) have a balancer to lessen the harmonics that are produced.

i was told that back when the bugs were being developed they had bad harmonics that were breaking cranks due to stresses of being horizontally opposed, and the fix was better balancing and having a forged crank instead of cast, reason why all vw's and audis have forged cranks now. if anyone knows different than please correct me!

-Jack-