What are the symptoms of a damaged car flywheel?
3 Answers
There are several symptoms of a damaged car flywheel: 1. It can cause the engine to vibrate. 2. It can lead to an imbalance in the transmission. 3. It can cause abnormal noises from the engine flywheel. Here is some related information about car flywheels: 1. The flywheel is a disc-shaped component with a large moment of inertia, functioning like an energy storage device. For a four-stroke engine, power is generated every four piston strokes, meaning only the power stroke produces work, while the exhaust, intake, and compression strokes consume work. 2. The torque output by the crankshaft varies periodically, and the crankshaft speed is also unstable. To improve this situation, a flywheel is installed at the rear of the crankshaft. The main functions of the flywheel are to store energy outside the engine's power stroke and to provide inertia.
Last time when my car's flywheel had issues, it was a real nightmare. During startup, I could hear this grating gear-grinding sound, just like scraping a metal spoon against a pot bottom – extremely harsh. At low speeds, the entire car body would shake, the steering wheel vibrated, and I could even see the rear end trembling in the rearview mirror. The most annoying part was how stiff the clutch pedal felt when shifting gears – engaging first gear was like prying a rock. Once at a traffic light, I stalled three or four times trying to start, only to later discover several sections of the flywheel ring gear had been completely worn flat. If you hear metallic clattering sounds from the engine bay, it's almost certainly the flywheel failing. When this part breaks, you must repair it immediately – otherwise you'll risk damaging the starter motor, which would be way more costly.
I've been running a car repair shop for over a decade and have seen plenty of cars with bad flywheels. There are three most obvious symptoms: 1) The starter motor spins wildly without engaging the crankshaft during ignition - that's a worn flywheel ring gear; 2) The RPM rises when you step on the gas but the car lacks power, especially when going uphill with the tachometer jumping erratically; 3) The clutch pedal kicks back with vibration during gear shifts, accompanied by engine shaking. Experienced drivers should pay attention to cold-start noises - if you hear metallic scraping sounds, immediately check for flywheel face deformation. An imbalanced flywheel can also accelerate leakage from the rear crankshaft oil seal and cause faster wear on the clutch three-piece set. Vehicles with over 100,000 kilometers on the odometer should pay special attention to this component.
