Hello Scotty and Forum -
Thanks for considering my question. My mechanic and dealer determined that several failures stemmed from the flywheel detaching abruptly from the ring gear which were presumably welded together originally. About 55k miles, local and highway with regular daily use plus some modest fun on local back roads.
Can you point out whether there is a driving or shifting habit that might cause such an abrupt break between the ring gear and the fly wheel? If not, is this kind of failure normal at 55k miles? The fix for clutch (ruined from ring gear failure and junk rattling around) is around $2000 up here in the Northeast. What a bummer. Is this something you might advise I take up with manufacturer as potential defect? Or should I get shifting lessons? Or both.
Your shifting has nothing to do with the relationship between the ring gear and the flywheel. The only thing the ring gear is used for is to engage with the starter to turn the engine over. You may have a defective flywheel, or a defective Bendix in the starter that's not disengaging the ring gear properly, Another possibility is that the starter is not mounted or aligned properly.
