Well, looks like I'm going to have to replace the clutch. Whilst looking into info on the DMF I found this excellent article.
http://www.schaeffler.com/remotemed...ure_1/downloads_5/luk_fail_diag_zms_de_en.pdf

It also has a very interesting section on the effects of chip tuning on the DMF, which I'd advise anyone to read who has this done.

Thanks for posting that. A very informative article - finally some well grounded information about DMFs that can't be classed as 'Old Wives Tales'.

I'm not surprised that you've had to turn your attentions to the clutch. IWhen I bought my Multi, it had similar (though not identical) symptoms to yours. I had both master and slave cylinders completely replaced (by a Fiat dealer, which cost a fortune) only to find that I still couldn't change gear. The posts recounting my woes are buried on the forum somewhere. Ended up having the clutch replaced (not by Fiat this time!) with an uprated one and that fixed it. I didn't do the DMF change, by the way.

You can actually buy the LUK test tool on ebay! A mere £240, delivered - not far off the same price as a new DMF, which defeats the object of the excercise for the DIY'er, unfortunately.

How on earth did we and our fore-fathers manage for nearly 100 years without Dual Mass Flywheels

If mine ever plays up, it'll be getting a visit from my MIG welder, swiftly turning it into a Single Mass Flywheel...

Far too many 'Solutions Looking For Problems' on modern cars for my liking.

Why aren't compression spring kits an option to replace on the dmf when replacing a clutch.

Looking at the diagrams of their make-up, I reckon you'd need a few specialist tools and/or jigs to put one back together.

True but I'm sure we'd work out a way of dismantling and reassembling them.
DMF failure seems to be instilling fear in people!!

I personally dont think they are manufacturing DMFs that are up to standard yet, it should rarely fail.
Marty

Any vehicle (or major component of one), that doesn't have a degree of built-in obsolescence or premature failure, would be overly expensive.
Car/Bike manufacturers make a lot of their profits from the sale of parts.

I agree and understand that overengineering incurs cost and selling spares creates revenue.

That's fair enough on a wing mirror or chain and sprockets... Bits that are accessible to most and are essentially commodity items.
But having a not fully reliable DMF installed 1 bolt short of engine removal and at such a high price to me is taking the ****.
My opinion is that it's to keep repair outfits open and premature scrapping of otherwise good vehicles = more sales of new.
Marty
Kinda like the whole industry that was created around asbestos and fear.

Cars, and increasingly Bikes, are much too 'advanced' (for want of a better word).
All the electronic crap they fit to them is fine when new (even if we don't want/need it), but 3+ years down the line (i.e. just out of the warranty period usually) when it all starts to go wrong, we end up with all the expense and grief of keeping them on the road, and getting them through ever more stringent MOT tests

My daughter's 40 year-old Beetle may need fairly regular attention, but at least you don't need a computer to run it or keep it sweet (other than looking up stuff on the forums that is), or a bank loan to pay for parts.
I really wish I'd kept my old VW Camper(s), especially now that even a ropey one will set you back £5000+

BikeDoc said:

I really wish I'd kept my old VW Camper(s), especially now that even a ropey one will set you back £5000+

Click to expand...

Bet you don't really. 60's/70's vehicles could be fixed with a hammer and shifter, but they went wrong A LOT - even the restored ones - believe me, I know! Modern stuff is much more reliable, even with all sorts of electronics which along with DMF's etc can result in scrapping when it's not economic to fix or replace.

I can very clearly remember a journey of 100 miles on my British bikes was a major adventure providing me with a mixture of excitement and worry... Now I travel all over Europe with my Honda and Multi without much of a thought - and clean hands.

I think that's better!

My last Camper did a 3000 mile round trip through France and Spain to Portugal and back without a hiccup.
Most of Spain was over 40ºC in the shade at the time too.
If they're properly maintained and looked after, then they'll be reliable.

The more crap you stick on a vehicle, particularly electric/electronic crap, the more there is to go wrong.
That fact has kept me employed as an Aircraft Engineer for the last 33+ years

BikeDoc said:

The more crap you stick on a vehicle, particularly electric/electronic crap, the more there is to go wrong.
That fact has kept me employed as an Aircraft Engineer for the last 33+ years

Click to expand...

How very reassuring!
Think I'll walk.....

pig said:

How very reassuring!
Think I'll walk.....

Click to expand...

)))))))))

No worries.
Flying is still statistically the safest transportation there is.
Things go wrong, yes, but there are so many back-ups, fail-safes, duplicated systems etc, faults rarely have any real impact, other than keeping me busy at night that is .

Read up on the QANTAS A380 incident sometime.
So much damage, a lot of it outside what the designers could ever have imagined or planned against, yet they got it down in one piece (just!).

BikeDoc said:

Read up on the QANTAS A380 incident sometime.
So much damage, a lot of it outside what the designers could ever have imagined or planned against, yet they got it down in one piece (just!).

Click to expand...

Shh! I work for the engine maker!

Anyway, back on-topic

At the garage unit where I picked up my replacement wheels today (Pothole damage claim thread), they had a few cars up on the post lifts.
One was an Alfa 156(?) having it's gearbox whipped off.
I got chatting about Multis to the guy doing it while the boss was looking for my wheels.
EGR valves were mentioned, as were clutches and rear swing-arm bushes, but when I mentioned DMFs, he said, 'Oh, we just fit a one-piece whenever we have to do one."
Apparently, the solid flywheel, and clutch unit from the petrol Alfa 156 (I think it was the 156) bolts straight in to the JTD engines.

Don't quote me on it though, give them a ring...
http://www.soloitalia.co.uk/

Could it have been a 155? A few days ago, one of the whiz-kid Polish guys on here (who just can't bring themselves to leave a Multipla in standard spec, by the looks of things) posted in one of the linked-to threads:

'when I rebuild a Alfa 155 2.0 16v "wide body" to 2.5 V6. It's basically the same car as the Multipla....'

Can you get back in touch with the garage?

Could have been, though they may share the same part(s).
Check my link...