DMF to SMF conversion woes

[Guest]

Anyone here converted to SMF and ended up with a snapped crankshaft/driveshaft or other damage attributed to the conversion?

[vrsCR]

Is it a 4x4?

[MereKat]

I will be doing an SMF conversion on mine when the DMF starts to go. Ill be using a VW G60/VR6 clutch/Fly on my BXE.

If you do go for it, 5 and 6 speed boxes are different sizes.

[Lewwy]

I will be doing an SMF conversion on mine when the DMF starts to go. Ill be using a VW G60/VR6 clutch/Fly on my BXE.

If you do go for it, 5 and 6 speed boxes are different sizes.

 

All 1.9 Octavia's are 5 speed though arent they?

[Guest]

I don't have any clutch issues at present, famous last words.

The juddering bite I previously experienced being attributed to a leaky diesel hose on the tandem pump, all fixed now.

I was just curious to hear of people's experiences since there seems to be a few horror stories involving taxi fleets and broken drive/crank shafts.

[MereKat]

All 1.9 Octavia's are 5 speed though arent they?

I don't know about the Octavias, but PD130/140/150 is a 6 speed in the Golf though I believe...

[dgoodwin101]

It is well documented that the 1.9 is a very suitable candidate for successful SMF conversion, as long as it isn't the 4x4 version. This is specifically excluded in the fitting application.

 

I have 2 SMF converted 1.9s which are vastly more refined now the conversions have been done, and there are many others on here and other VAG forums who can and will back up my compliments about the changeover. One taxi driver on here that I know personally has run his 1.9 Octavia for over 140,000 miles without any hint of trouble -- and the car was still running very sweetly when he sold it at 225k miles.

 

There is a taxi firm that shares the yard with the coach company I work for, and one of his Octavia taxis is an 08 plate with over 450,000 miles on the clock, 375,000 of those with a SMF conversion.

 

I wouldn't worry yourself -- the SMF conversion is now a PREFERRED repair by Skoda UK. They would not prefer to convert, and would certainly not give any warranty on the job if there was any danger of major component failure due to the different components they fit. No way.

 

As far as the other engines are concerned, I'm not sure if there are SMF conversion kits even available.

 

Mike

  I had a 1.6 tdi 60 plate done today using the Hanh and Schimdt kit for the 1.9 using an smf with the clutch kit supplied, the guys did it in under 4 hours and it drives like a dream with none of the engine rattle at idle mentioned on other posts when fitting an smf, the simple fact is the vehicle is now on it's third clutch with a replacement dmf at 43000 and now at 127000 the change over to sm, the second kit was fitted under warranty when the Skoda dealership were rather sticky about it alledging clutch abuse etc in order to state that they believed the clutch has been abused to make the dmf to fail prematurely

 

And before anyone says it no I am not left foot heavy and I don't ride clutches, I have had dmf fitted vehicles since 2002 using a derivature of a Ford drive line and the first of those went at 117000 and then it's replacement after another 170000 or so, so when a SMF kit became available I changed it and did 300000 miles using two clutches the second of which was still in the vehicle when I sold it at 599990 and working well without the heavy flywheel action associated with worn clutches using smf's.

 

I cannot shell out 370 or our finest pounds every 1.5 years to replace a very expensive DMF that will go again witrh less than 100000 on the clock during it's life and throw in a clutch replacement kit as well, that's over 500 plus labour to have it done, so fitting the heavy duty 1.9 smf really just makes sense from the point of my bank balance and I do wonder if the stories about the damage that smf's can allegly cause are a way of retaining what to two companies must be a very lucrative aftermarket for replacement dmf's

[alberg]

First time hearing that the conversion on the 1.6tdi went well.

How many kms have you done since then?

Did the idle stay the same at 780rpm?

Link to the conversion kit?

Edited 3 May, 2014 by alberg

[dgoodwin101]

Nice to see the 1.6TDI can be converted too. Can't see any problems there as the power output is still the same as the PD 1.9.

 

Keep up informed how things progress as the miles pile on.

 

Mike

 

PS 599990 miles? Why on earth did you not just drive another 10 miles to get the elusive 600k???

 

I couldn't be bothered to go any further in all honesty

And as for problems with the Octavia  after 6000 miles or so there is one major problem with doing the 1.6 TDI in that an SMF convesrion sets up a rhythmic vibration on the flywheel causing the engine to rock on it's mounts when hot and pant when it is colder, through careful experimentation we found that loading the engine in using the power boost takes care of the colder panting in putting on the lights, the power boost for the alternator smooths the engine , When the engine is really hot or the air temperature is also at that level the only way to calm things is to use the A/C as that requires a jump in revs of about 70-100 rpm,

To counter this we suspect that the initial idle speed and power boost speeds with have to be raised to 900+ rpm and 1150 rpm respectively, that requires an ECU remap using a custom written map as by holding the engine on the pedal at around 900-950rpm clutch out, eliminates the engine vibration

My concern is that since most of the SMF kits seem to be copies of the Vareo kit there is no distinction between the lighter DMF flywheels used in the 1.6 to the 1.9 and the standard SMF is too heavy and that is what is causing the engine vibration

[dgoodwin101]

Right for the results of the remapping, the remap was done and the engine changed to an idle speed of 950rpm, the guys were reluctant to tamper with the boost speed which I did ask about as I would have preferred that raised to 1150rpm for cold start scenario's but they seemed to think that the newer higher tickover speed would be just as good to prevent battery drain.

The remap also brought in economy over performance as I chose to fit an SMF for reliability and not to snap a crankshaft! The guy who was doing it was aware of the vibration issue and said that LuK had issued advice on it ( that might need to be verified) as they also manufacture an SMF kit for the Skoda, adding to the Valeo, National and Hahn and Schimdt kits that I am aware of

The higher idle speed has eliminated the vibration and surging when the engine is hot, the engine idles correctly and does not turn on it's mounts, the previous situation of the flywheel trying to turn the engine instead of it being the other way has been eliminated.

Price £300 plus the kit at £165 and £200 in labour =£665

The difference is next time the clutch plates go it's £90 plus fitting and not £500 or so for a new flywheel and clutch pack plus fitting