I purchased a 1991 L98 6 Speed Coupe in early march.

There has always been a vibration over 2800 rpms. I did my research on here and read about DMF balancing and the procedure and such.

I went out to the garage today, put the car on jack stands, and pulled the oil filter and starter, then removed the flywheel inspection cover.

I do not have a dual mass flywheel anymore. I was hoping I could add weights and be done with it, but this is no longer the case.

The clutch feels great but the throwout bearing is shot. It makes noise at idle with the car in neutral and clutch pedal released. Push the clutch pedal to the floor and the noise goes away.

There is also a harsh gear noise when lugging the motor.

What is my next step? I do not have the resources to do a clutch/flywheel myself.

If anyone knows a good vette shop in the RI area, thatd be great.

I know Dorman sells a DMF. I do not like the price, but I will own this car for a long time and it serves as a second vehicle for good weather spring/summer/fall use along with my 04 sierra 1500 for rain/snow/winter.

Since the throwout bearing is shot, i might as well put a clutch. The flywheel looked almost brand new from the inspection cover. Nice and clean and the gears looked good also. I did not see the friction side obviously.

So what flywheel should I go with? I do not like the gear noise and I hate the vibration over 2800 rpms. it is even slightly evident at idle and low RPMs. I need to figure out what clutch kit to get also, then take my car to a shop that will get my flywheel balanced correctly so the vibration is gone. I do not have a balance starting point because I no longer have the stock DMF with teh weights.

Any insight will be greatly appreicated.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Shoot, your topic sounded like a classic DMF balancing issue.

Any way of contacting the previous owner/dealer to find out what work was done prior to your purchase? Its a long shot, but maybe the DMF is still in their garage - maybe they lost interest after the SMF conversion.

Or... maybe it was a used car dealer who saved a few bucks and replaced a shot DMF with the SMF *AND* didn't use a disc with a sprung center? The only way to really check it out is disassembly.

When you do get it reassembled with the DMF and new clutch - make sure they align the balance marks. There should be a balance mark on the DMF and the clutch cover. That can help with vibration issues, but not always eliminate the need for the DMF balance procedure.

If no one here has a R.I. shop referal, then I would suggest finding the local Corvette club for a referal.

Thomas

 

I do not have access to the stock DMF, wish i did.

I am in the process of buying a good used DMF or a new one.

While I am in there, I'll have a new clutch installed and hope that the vibration goes away.

If not, I will get the weights and follow the balancing procedure.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Just to follow up...

I purchased a used DMF from vette2vette.com and a stock type clutch from carolina clutch.

I had a corvette shop install the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate last week.

I got the car back today and it feels like a new car. They tried some weights, but it worked the best without any installed.

I cant be happier with the car now. I loved driving it before but now its perfect.

All vibration is gone. Gear rattle at idle is gone. I can now drive the car like it was meant to. The car even seems to handle better and drive much smoother.

Thanks for all of your help.

Mike