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Exploding flywheel

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AuSpec Vr4

Probationary Member
11
0
Feb 25, 2011
Brisbane, Australia
Hey guys, please tell me this happens to other people...

I don't know how many of you know about my vr4 and its progress but it has been off the road for a year getting much needed upgrades to turbo/intake side of things. Yesterday was my first time driving the car in over a year, fresh rego and all was going well. At 12am in the morning when heading home from work i wanted to see what the power was like after fitting a new exhaust with 3 mufflers in it to make it road worthy, from 2nd gear 2000rpm i was WOT till 7,000rpm just about to change to 3rd and the pictures explain what happened next. Years of work have gone into this car and had only been registered less then 12 hours ago. The flywheel exploded instantly killing the car, the flywheel separated into three chunks, 1 almost going threw the radiator but also taking out the water pipe/turbo/turbo feed/radiator hose/intake/radiator fan/condenser and has bent the whole front of the radiator support panel forward, bent the lower cross member and the gearbox bell housing was scattered for hundreds of meters down the road along with coolant and oil. bolts snapped in the block, starter motor output shaft snapped from its housing, cut the steel clutch slave line and found the slave on the road. i can't describe how much of a mess it has made and the noise was horrendous. I am speechless, i thought i was at fault with something i had done but i would never expect a flywheel to give way like that. the 6 bolts are still holding whats left of the flywheel on along with the clutch, i hope for my sake the engine is still fine.


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Had the same thing happen to me in my old n/t. Flywheel overheated from an improperly adjusted clutch and came apart. I probably see this at least once every other trip to the track and it's the reason scatter shields are required for high powered cars.
 
Yes I will be getting a scatter shield for my own safety this time, I wanted to make big hp but this was on 8 psi boost.
 
We had a dirt track non turbo car on our dyno last year and the same thing happened! I think it made about 146 whp. It was like a bomb went off in our shop with shrapnel flying everywhere. Destroyed the engine, transmission, radiator, etc. Unbelievably fortunate no one was injured.
 
Oh wow. That's a kick in the shorts, man. But, you're very fortunate it didn't grenade and throw shrap into the passenger cabin. Cars and engines can be replaced, life and limbs not so much.
 
Yea seeing how much force it had i'm lucky im still alive. Its just a lesson to use new flywheels and not machined ones. Im desperate for gvr4 front cross member/support and engine mount, if anyone in US has one who is willing to post to aus let me know.

Thanks, Brock
 
Wow. Thats nuts! Glad that you are okay though.

Looks my flywheels are going to be replaced more frequently than I thought, just for the safety factor.

Curious though, I notice that the pressure plate is red, which is what XTD (eBay) uses as their colour. What brand clutch and flywheel did it have on, if you know?
 
Yea XTD clutch and pressure plate, but learn from my mistake or unfortunate break down, get a new flywheel of decent quality! Thanks guys.
 
Did it go through the hood? I have also seen pieces almost make it through the fire wall. I have seen 4 or 5 and I usually have to weld the ears back on the block.
 
Didn't touch the hood, and broke one of the ears on the engine block,
Below water pipe.
 
The same thing happened to Bruce Kwartler's Galant back in '01 or '02... as in, 10+ years ago!

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=410151285707734

(he did hit the wall with his rear bumper... but not very hard)

He was "only" running mid to low 12's at the time. So he was NOT required to have a scatter shield by the NHRA/IHRA rules! BTW, I was supposed to drive the car on THAT pass...

I am sorry if I sound rude, but it is time for some tough love... Anyone who is racing on a cast OEM flywheel is ASKING FOR THIS to happen!!! This is common knowledge! Yet people overlook this all the time!

This is completely unnecessary! You can pick up used ACT or Fidenza FW for under $100! Last time I had a Fidenza FW (in great condition) for sale, it took me forever to sell it for just $60!!!
 
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You are right. The word needs to get out to everybody about using stock flywheels on modified cars. They can be life threatening when they come apart. The flywheel may look like it is in great shape but remember these 6 bolt flywheels have been around for 20 years. Most have been abused. Don't trust a 20 year old flywheel with your life. It's not worth it.
 
OP, this really sucks to see, glad nobody was hurt!!

However, I think this was just a freak accident. If one flywheel comes apart out of thousands in many years of use than thats just shitty luck. Id say these flywheels are pretty good quality. Im using a stock flywheel and it doesnt bother me. Now, if a bunch of cars from the same manufacturer kept having flywheels come apart in the first couple years of production I would most definitely be worried about this happening.
 
I think that it is a bit more common than you think... There have been many guys, over the years, who had it happen to them. Bruce's incident really hits close to home because he is a friend and it was supposed to be ME in that car on that run!

One of the reasons why you do not see more of this, is because people ARE getting the message and using aftermarket FW's! Most guys in New England DSM are using those, of course, we are more aware of this problem since it happen to one of "our own" at our home track.

Tym Swytzer also had his explosion on tape around '98/'99.

If you ever have a chance to closely inspect a stock used FW, BEFORE it is machined, you can actually see the cracks on many of them! NEVER use a stock FW with such cracks, which means that you shouldn't buy a used FW after it was machined because machining can hide cracking!
 
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The flywheel i had was the original and was inspected for cracks while out then machined, we did not notice or think anything about it 4 years ago because it looked fine and it has lasted this long but it must of worn down quick because when inspecting the flywheel now... there is small hairline cracks everywhere. But yes, for the $200 max you should spend on a new flywheel, you should get one.
 
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