LWFW Damaged By FedEx...Advice Please

Hi Guys. I just received my Aasco flywheel today, that I purchased from a 6-speed member. It was in perfect condition with about 1,000 miles on it, when shipped. Here are some pictures of what it looks like now. It was obviously dropped, as you can see from the box. The damage is just under 1 1/2 inches long. The metal is bulged on the friction surface side. One of the locating dowels is also "mushroomed". I am concerned that if I have it ground down by a machine shop, the balance will be changed. I am also concerned about the possibility of microscopic stress fractures. Can anybody offer me advice on whether it can be repaired?

Too bad Mark. Can't help you with your question, but would't a local automotive 'machine shop' be able to determine whether a fix is possible or replacement is necessary?GL

Wow, out of balance quickly rotating part. Not ideal.

Thanks Steve. salayc, my thoughts exactly. I just got off the phone with a guy at Aasco (on a Saturday!). He said not to worry about stress fractures, since it's aluminum. He told me that balance would not be an issue, if I left it alone or had it repaired. He also asked me why I was going to have it repaired....I didn't tell him that I'm so ****, that the thought of having a cosmetically flawed part inside my bellhousing would bother me. I guess I'm going to leave it alone and look forward to enjoying a faster revving engine.

why would fedx not be on the hook?

I would get the FedEx types to cover it...no way I'd put a dented flywheel in my car..... JB

FEDEX will put the blame on the shipper,--not adequately packaged. But if you can get that issue out of the way, get it either returned or remachined to rebalance it.

Was it not insured with FedEx? I know you have to state value if you want it covered.

Looks like it was not properly packaged to me. Should have been in a larger box with bubble wrap at least. I would get that fixed before installing for SURE.

Thanks for the responses. The seller told me that he insured it with Fedex for $600 (the price I paid). They sell new for about $900. If I get my money back, I have to pay 50% more for another flywheel. I would imagine a very small amount of material might have to be filed off so the pressure plate is flat against the flywheel. The guy at Aasco told me that even if that was done, it would not need rebalanced. I don't know if it will matter to Fedex, but it appears that the seller packaged it. It was wrapped a couple times with paper and there were about four small pieces of cardboard in the box. I sold a decklid here to a member (yasuro) and it was damaged during shipping. It took about three months to get my money back from UPS and they packaged it. I can't imagine what an adventure it would be trying to get money from Fedex, when the seller packaged it. At this point, I told the seller not to worry about it. I hope the guy from Aasco was correct, and it might just need a miniscule amount of material removed prior to installation. He did offer to repair it for me if I brought it by; unfortunately, I live about 450 miles away.

Something does not make sense to me, looking at the box I do not see how the flywheel was dented on the edge and the box was damaged on the top not an edge. More then likely you will be fine if you did not loose to much material on it. If you are worried about fractures you can find a place that does Zy-Glo or floresant dye penetrant to check for cracks.

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You don't by chance have a photo available from the seller

I would certainly try to fight it.

I agree, FedEx will ask to see the package and this was not enough protections. For an item like this they recommend 2 inches minimum on all 6 sides, bubble wrap is a poor choice as the bubble pop leaving the heavy item to rattle around in the box. Hard foam is the option and I would have boxed it in a second box with an additional 2 inches of soft foam around the first box. Something that is that much money, it only makes sence to spend $10 for a couple good boxes. I would contact the seller and leave fed-ex out of it. plus for sure get it fixed and re-balanced, then I think it will be fine...

Geez Mark.....sorry to hear this....you've had your issues haven't you? Eventually you'll get her all dialed in....I didn't know you were going to go with the LWFW....are you still entertaining the S/C'er? There's not much left on the table for you do do to her. What's your schedule for the aero kit? That's what I really want to see....it's going to make it look great.

Mother, I understand what you mean about the damage not being consistent with the box being dropped on a flat surface. I would guess the driver dropped it against my curb when he got out of the truck. His behavior indicated that he did the damage. Fractures are apparently not a concern. AJ, no before photos. Riad, since the flywheel was such a good deal, I don't want my money back....I just hope it can be used as-is, or with a little work. ivangene, I agree on the packaging. I have learned to leave packaging up to the shipping company and charge the buyer the actual cost...it saves a lot of grief for both parties. I received a pair of OEM bi xenon headlights today for my BMW project car. They were so well packaged, they could have been dropped out of an airplane and probably been fine. Chuck, I wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much if it wasn't a challenge. I still absolutely love your old car. As much as I would love to supercharge it someday, my money would probably be better spent at some open track days. I will celebrate the completion of the Maserati project, by having my aero kit finally installed. I hope you had a great Christmas. Thanks again for all the input guys. Does anybody know if the (Spec stage 2)pressure plate actually mounts flat against the area that is damaged?

Mark I have read several times how simply re-surfacing a fly wheel is a difficult operation that many places do not do, since it is too difficult do it properly. Several people- mechanics included- have mentioned RMS failures due to extra vibrations; the double mass FW is supposed to counter act them. So why would you trust a SFW that is warped, even if only slightly? It reminds me of radio stations complaining about some audio demo CDs not playing, because some studios glued a label on them; because the label never goes on perfectly - even with some tools - as soon as the CD player spins at 300 RPM it wobles enough that the CD player can't read it. Now we are not talking 300 RPM on a light CD, but 7000 RPM on a substantially heavier SWMFW (Single Warped Mass Fly Wheel). I would get a "perfectly" balanced wheel. My 04 cents (Canadian) John

I remember a transmission and driveshaft that were out of balance in a Triumph of mine ending up in the passenger seat one morning. I drove home after a roadside repair with the transmission tunnel off and have always had a great respect for rotating parts after that. It's incredible how fast things turn, and how even a seemingly imperceptible difference in balance can make a big difference. A good machine shop could most likely fix the part (racing parts are custom machined all the time) but choose wisely.

Hell Mark, since this is for Chuck's old car, I think you should charge Chuck $300 for half of the LWFW. If he had not tried to "Bar-B-Q on the Go" you wouldn't have this problem. OK, Chuck's going to call me a ********......... again! Seriously, take the LWFW to a race shop to see what they recommend. Maybe they have sources to help resolve the issue.

I blame the shipper. This should have been packaged MUCH better. If the box could not handle being dropped one time on a hard surface it was not properly packaged. 3" of packing material around the contents minimum.

Just hand file the bulged area on the friction side and run it. It doesn't look bad at all and I would bet that it is not warped. You will spend more time and energy arguing over it when you could be enjoying the quick reving characteristics of the motor. Just my .02.

I would take that flywheel to a good machine shop (one that knows Porsche's) and ask them if it can be rebalanced. I would NOT put an unbalanced flywheel on a NA 996 engine - that we already know has a poorly designed intermediate shaft. That's my 2 cents.

JMHO, but I don't think the balance is altered from that damage. Its concentricity and shape should checked with dial indicators to ensure that its not bent and the running surface is still flat & true. Any loose or bent dowel pins should be repaired so the pressure plate remains centered correctly.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I appreciate everyone that took the time to respond. At the very least, I will have a qualified machine shop check it, prior to having it installed...I will sleep better knowing that an expert has examined it, and given it a clean bill of health.

Is this the guy who sold it to you? https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ing-noise.html Kidding....

Good one Chris. I yell at my kids for going out in the garage in their stocking feet. Something looked like it was going to fall over on his car. Those are probably the kind of noises that I want to avoid in my car...maybe Fedex dropped his flywheel on the ground also.

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Tim: I dont' want to be a spoil-sport during this most auspicious of seasons...so I'm going to PM you and call you a ******** offline in the interests of keeping the forum positive and festive. Wait a minute....did I just screw up?

I sent Aasco an email describing what happened to my flywheel and including pictures. Here is the response that I received back: "Hello, I see you are the victim of the "shipping Olympics" where they try to see how far they can fling your part. Unfortunately this happens with UPS and DHL as well. Basically it is more crucial that the pressure plate surface (top) be flat so that the pressure plate and diaphram mount true to the disc. Cosmetically it will be less than perfect but grinding down and welding up the dent would make more of a mess than it would be worth, and from a balance stand point it, the damage, has its mass altered toward the crank center line but probably not enough to violate the 4 gram tolerance Mandated by Porsche. This would be my assumption from viewing the pictures. Make sure the damage to the top is filed flat and that the trigger mechanism on the engine case side is concentric and has not also been damaged and run it. That being said we would be happy to look the part over and do anything to ease your concerns and perhaps that would include cosmetically as well. We have a complete manufacturing facility and that includes balance and moment of inertia measuring devices, as you may see from our web site. Rumor has it we are user friendly as well so please feel free to send it to us with a note and we will fix you up we are more concerned with our products viability in the Porsche lineup than profit. Randy Aase" I am very impressed with this company. I am sending the flywheel back to them, for my peace of mind.

Wow. Kudos to them for a great bit of customer service/support.

Mark: Great response....the acid test is yet to come....but you should tell them you posted the response and got favorable feedback from the forum....Do they need the entire clutch setup to balance it right or can they just stick with the flywheel? I'm going to go look up their website becaue I might need some work done for my 930.....hurry up and get the Blue Angel finished up so we can hit the Salmon Falls run in the spring. Will you have the aero kit in by then? Happy New Year buddy....Chuck

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Chuck, Did Mark rename the car? I always thought you called it the Blue Flame! BTW - thanks for not calling me a dick head in public! You're getting kinder in your old age.

Chuck, they balance the flywheel by itself. I drove Salmon Falls yesterday. It sucked. My clutch is shot. I had to baby the car to get it home. I won't be driving it again until I get the clutch installed. I won't be getting the aerokit installed any time soon...between the clutch on the Porsche and the money I will be spending to restore the Maserati, I should be impoverished for a while. Happy New Year Chuck.

Yeah this is a really gray area, I could see it going either way. Personally I would try my hardest to get money back NOW, and not use that flywheel. You know this is going to potentially be a weak link in the chain and/or increase stress on other rotating bits in the engine. Also, pure aluminum is brittle. It is susceptible to fatigue, in which over time small cracks grow and lead to failure with a cyclical stress less than the yield stress. The crack acts as stress concentrator and the crack will eventually propitiate through the material. The effective load bearing area is reduced until it fails under normal brittle failure mechanism. A common example of this is bicycle crank arms. My assumption is the flywheel is designed with pretty tight tolerance in order to reduce weight as much as possible. BTW im a big fan of your project cars. Wish I had the resources to do that myself.

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Aasco knows a lot more about this than I do but I don't understand why balance would not be an issue. I've been told that a LWFW that's even slightly out of balance will create a harmonic which can lead to other engine problems. In the situration I heard about it was being blamed for a crank failure. Like I said, I have no expertise here but the idea that the balance of a flywheel doesn't matter just doesn't seem right. Jim

Dan, the thought of a flywheel coming apart, a couple feet behind my butt, was what led me to send it back to the manufacturer. I trust they will tell me if it is not safe to repair it. Thanks, I'm lucky my wife tolerates the projects. Jim, I read that article about the crank failure. It almost convinced me to not get a LWFW, until I read that engine had 12,000 track miles (someone pointed out that was the equivalent of running LeMans 4 times). I am definately worried about the balance issue. I hope that if the manufacturer takes off material, they rebalance it. Thanks again for the input.

Mark: Is the shipper (UPS??) taking any responsibility in this fiasco? It's obvious by the picture of the hole in the shipping box that they dropped it. My clutch is going out too...ran a vette last night and although I walked away from him, the familiar scent of burning clutch filled the cockpit. Kevin warned me that his flash is usually followed by a beefier clutch.

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That is a good call Mark. Let the manufacturer make the decision, it's their product, if they can rectify the balance issue then you're the winner and can be assured it will be right.

I sent the flywheel to Aasco. The owner of the company resurfaced & rebalanced it. He also replaced the friction surface with an updated version. It is now essentially a new flywheel. I payed $23 to ship it to them. He shipped it back to me without payment from me. I called and he said he was going to charge me $12 for a couple hundred dollars worth of work. I still have not been able to get him to accept the $12 he said he was going to charge me. What a great guy and an outstanding company.

Mark, Thanks for the update. Glad to hear it all worked out. What a great "customer service" story about Aasco. Because they treated you well, they are going to get a LOT of good publicity from it and they should!

Good ending, that will bring him some Karma for the new year!

Randy and company are good folks! They did a set of 2.7L heads for a rebuild I did in 2001. Great work, great pricing and good people, cannot ask for more!

Aasco has given me years of great service and parts !