Monday, November 18, 2013
Flywheel Surface Specifications
The flywheel is an essential part of a vehicles clutch system. When you push in the clutch pedal of your car, the clutch disc is disengaged from the flywheel. This action disengages the transmission from the engine. When you release the clutch pedal, the clutch disc makes a secure connection with the flywheel, engaging the engine with the transmission, which allows you to move the vehicle forward or backward.
Friction Surface
Over time the surface of a flywheel is exposed to significant heat and wear. Flywheels develop hard spots and cracks from exposure to heat and rough treatment. These are reasons that contribute to your clutchs slipping when you try to engage the transmission. As the clutch engages and disengages from the flywheel, the surface may be distorted, making it difficult for the friction surface of the clutch to hold. Flywheel resurfacing procedures are designed to correct these problems. When you take your flywheel to an automotive machine shop, your flywheel will be placed on a specially designed metal lathe that will machine (turn) your flywheel and cut the metal down to an acceptable surface. Hard spots and small cracks on the surface can usually be removed if there is enough material left on your flywheel to machine it down without becoming too thin, according to the Road Race Engineering website.
Flat Surface
A flywheel with an uneven surface will not mate up correctly with the clutch friction surface. Flywheels that have been exposed to rough service may warp, or develop a scalloped surface. A warped surface also affects the way your clutch pressure plate mounts to the flywheel. When the machine shop begins the process of machining your flywheel, the machinist will use a dial indicator to inspect for a warped or uneven surface. If your flywheel surface is warped too far, or is too uneven in any other way, you will have to purchase a new flywheel. If the machinist determines that your flywheel can be machined, make sure he considers the surface the pressure plate bolts to. If the clutch pressure plate does not set on the flywheel properly, you will experience clutch release problems after the job is done.
Parallel Surface
After your flywheel is mounted on the back of your cars engine, it is important that you do some measuring to insure that the friction surface of the flywheel is running parallel to the clutch surface, reports the Ring Gear website. Much of the responsibility for a parallel surface rests with the machine shop that machines your flywheel. If the flywheel is mounted unevenly on the lathe, one side of the flywheel surface will be cut deeper than the other. The flange your flywheel mounts to must also be considered. If the flange is warped or tilted to one side, the flywheel and clutch pressure plate will not be at the correct angle in relationship to the transmission input shaft. If the flywheel mounting surface on the flange is contaminated, you will not be able to mount the flywheel correctly, and the clutch pressure plate will be out of alignment to the transmission input shaft.
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