Stop-Start Driving Technique / Dual-mass Flywheel Question

[Wilburo]

Hello,

Looking through the Honda forum, I spotted the following statement about the Civic 2.2 diesel:

"To be fair, that does apply to any diesel car with a dual mass flywheel. The snag is that owners gently lift the clutch when in traffic and use the idle governer to drift forward. I used to - and managed it all the way up to 4th gear.... paperbag - and this kills the DMF.

Bit of a shame that I didn't know that at the time."

I have a 2004 MINI Cooper S which has a DMF and I regularly use the technique of leaving the car in first-gear, clutch up with zero throttle, and letting itself pull itself along at 5 mph. I'll do this the whole time I'm in heavy traffic, as I don't want to ride the clutch.

So, is the above correct - am I killing my DMF? What are the best low-speed stop-start driving techniques?

Thanks

[gdaybruce]

If a dual mass flywheel can't tolerate taking up the drive at tickover revs in 1st gear then surely it's not fit for purpose within the meaning of the Sale of Goods Act! I spend a lot of time in London traffic and let the car crawl forward at tickover all the time. What else is one supposed to do; accelerate brake, accelerate brake, etc?

That said, my Astra 1.9 diesel did need a new dual mass flywheel at about 80k miles....

[HellDiver]

Heat kills the DMF. Slipping/riding the clutch at idle heats up the clutch, and therefore the DMF.

[jjrabbit]

gdaybruce said:

That said, my Astra 1.9 diesel did need a new dual mass flywheel at about 80k miles....

The DMF on the Astra 1.9 is a common fault at around 80k bud.

[AcidReflux]

Interesting question.

As long as the clutch isn't slipping there's no extra heat going into the DMF, so unless the low engine rpm causes higher-than-normal vibrations for the DMF to absorb, I'd hope that low revs weren't harmful to the DMF in themselves. Would be nice to get clarification though.