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The greater mass of the engines of days gone by did much to

dampen undesirable torsional vibration. Todays smaller engines
require engineering solutions to deliver acceptable NVH levels.

Dan
Marinucci

Illustrations courtesy Litens Automotive Group

dmarinucci@motor.com

echs may know that NVH is an

abbreviation for noise, vibration
and harshness. But they may not
know the newer components that
combat NVHor their impact on
serviceability. This month, well
examine one such examplethe crankshaft
torque modulator. This device has been in service
on some Land Rover, Mercedes and Volvo engines for several years now. Popularity of this
new-style crank pulley is expected to grow due to
the demand for more fuel-efficient engines.
The phrase crankshaft torque modulator is a
mouthful, so hereafter Ill just call it the component by its brand name, TorqFiltr. Coincidentally, the TorqFiltr is a variation of something you already may know aboutthe overrunning alternator decoupler (OAD). An OAD
sits on the drive pulley end of an alternator. A
TorqFiltr sits on the drive pulley end of a
crankshaft. Both components work the same
way to reduce NVH and improve efficiency.
Litens Automotive Group, which is based in
Ontario, Canada, created and patented the OAD
and the TorqFiltr derived from it. Litens special-

This is an exploded view of a typical overrunning alternator decoupler like one you might encounter on many import and domestic vehicles. The very muscular coil spring is the absorber spring; its the
key to the OADs ability to dampen torsional vibration. The one-way
clutch is on the extreme left, the front cover on the extreme right.

izes in power-transmission products for a wide variety of engines and applications. Originally, the
OAD was called the isolator decoupler pulley
(IDP). I covered IDP operation several years ago
but heres a recap. Once you understand the
OAD, youll understand the TorqFiltr, too.
The heart of an alternator is a large, heavy
electromagnet called the rotor. An alternator
wont charge unless the rotor does two things
spin and become magnetized. Designwise, rotors tend to be very heavy because it takes a
certain amount of iron and copper to create an
adequate electromagnet.
Traditionally, the alternator rotor and the drive
belt have been mechanically linked together full
time; the drive belt turns the alternator pulley and
the pulley is bolted directly to the rotor. Unfortunately, this full-time link-up may cause belt noise
and wear on some applications. Heres why:
When the driver shuts off the ignition, the engine quickly decelerates to a stop. The engine also
rapidly decels during hard transmission shifts accompanying sudden, heavy acceleration. When
the engine decels suddenly, the rotors mass tries
to drive the alternator pulley. This means the alternator pulley is literally trying to turn against normal drive belt rotation! This reaction may cause
drive belt slippage. Besides causing belt wear, slippage may create annoying chirping or squealing
noises during sudden engine deceleration.
The OAD assembly fits on the rotor shaft. Outside, the OAD has a traditional drive belt pulley,
but inside it has a one-way clutch and an absorber
spring. A one-way clutch, which is often called an
overrunning clutch, locks up in one direction and
freewheels in the opposite direction. So, the
OADs overrunning clutch locks up in the direction of normal alternator rotation, enabling the
drive belt to spin the rotor. However, it lets the rotor freewheel during sudden engine deceleration
so the rotor wont drive the belt in the opposite direction. Freewheeling the rotor during engine decel eliminates those belt-related issues such as
slippage, wear and noise.
Besides addressing these drive belt symptoms,
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an OAD may improve engine efficiency,

too. Obviously, belt-driven accessories
affect engine efficiency because they
consume horsepower. An engineer at
Litens explained that some automakers
have tried to solve belt slippage and
noise by increasing drive-belt tension.
Although increasing tension may solve
one problem, it creates another by
boosting the load on the entire drive belt
system. This, in turn, hampers efficiency
by increasing the horsepower required
to drive the accessories.
Earlier I said that the OAD also contains an absorber spring. This is a horizontally mounted coil spring that connects the alternator pulley to the rotor
shaft. Power flows from the drive belt to
the alternator pulley, then from the pulley
through the absorber spring to the rotor.
Besides transmitting drive power from
the pulley to the rotor, the spring also isolates the alternator and cushions it from
torsional vibration. The benefit is a
smoother engine and a smoother vehicle.
Some techs think the absorber spring
is engineering overkilluntil they learn
about the impact of torsional vibration on
the engine. You see, a crankshaft speeds
up and then slows down slightly every
time a cylinder fires. This repetitive
speed variation causes something we
technicians often call firing pulses. Engineers, on the other hand, call these firing
pulses a torsional vibration. The engineer
at Litens said that the lower the rpm, the
greater the torsional vibration. Unfortunately, the drive belt transmits torsional
vibration to the alternator rotor and the
belt tensioner. The firing pulses literally
try to speed up and slow down the rotor
several times per engine revolution. The
pulses also increase belt tensioner movement, forcing the component to work
harder. Ultimately, torsional vibration can
shorten the life of both an alternator and
a tensioner, the engineer told me.
Absorber spring breakage inside the
OAD has been very rare. If the spring
does break, its still likely to drive the
rotor. However, a broken coil spring
wont provide the cushion a healthy
one does. It allows excessive drive belt
and belt tensioner fluttering. The result is additional harshness and possibly knocking or thumping noises when
the engine is running.

Because the TorqFiltr is located on

the end of the crankshaft, it dampens torsional vibration right at the
source. The earlier-generation version of this device had a horizontal
coil spring just like the OAD design.
But in this later version, the absorber spring (in red) is located in
an arc around the one-way clutch.

Occasionally, the one-way clutch

fails, allowing the alternator pulley to
freewheel in both directions. The obvious result is a no-charge condition
and a dead battery. One way to check
for full-time freewheeling is to start
the engine and carefully shine a light
into the alternator air vents. Or, very
carefully look inside the air vents with
an inspection camera type of tool.
(Watch out for those moving parts!) If
the alternator pulley is turning but the
rotor isnt, it confirms that the overrunning clutch failed.
When the center of the OAD spins
freely in both directions, the clutch isnt
locking up normallyand theres the
cause of your no-charge symptom. If
the thing doesnt spin freely in the direction opposite normal rotation, then
the clutch isnt overrunning anymore.
Either way, its time for a new OAD. By
the time this occurs, replacing the entire high-mileage alternator may be the
best value for the customer.
Experience indicates that the most
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common OAD failure is bearing noise

on higher-mileage units. The charging
system works fine but the driver notices a brief buzzing soundonly during engine shut-down. Sometimes the
customer hears a momentary buzz
when the transmission shifts from 1st
to 2nd gear. Verifying a noisy OAD
bearing is relatively easy. Have someone sit inside the vehicle and rev the
engine to 3000 to 4000 rpm, then shut
off the ignition switch while the revs
are up. Typically, the bad bearing
causes a telltale buzzing noise in the
front of the alternator.
By now, delving into the TorqFiltr is
anticlimactic; its basically an OAD assembly hung on the end of the crankshaft instead of the alternator. Because
the TorqFiltr is mounted on the crank,
it dampens torsional vibration right at
the source. This eliminates the need
for additional dampening devices on
the belt-driven accessories.
To my knowledge, the TorqFiltr first
appeared in the American market on
Volvos Si6, an inline six-cylinder thats
also called the B6304T2. In the later
2000s, Volvo used this engine in vehicles such as the XC70 as well as the allwheel-drive XC60 and S-80. (For technicians who are keeping score, this engines designation was changed to
B6304T4 in 2011.) The Si6 powerplant
also appeared in Land Rovers Freelander 2 and LR 2 models.
The TorqFiltr also has been in service
on diesel Mercedes vehicles in Europe.
Reportedly it will be on domestic-market Mercedes diesels in the near future.
Like the OAD, the TorqFiltr assembly isnt repairable in the field. If its
overrunning clutch doesnt lock up normally, the engine wont be able to turn
the drive belt. If the bearing inside the
TorqFiltr becomes noisy, the sound will
be most pronounced during engine deceleration/shut-off. If the spring mechanism breaks, the customer may complain about NVH symptoms. Furthermore, youll see lots of abnormal vibration in the belt tensioner.
Right now, there are already millions of OADs in service and several
thousand TorqFiltr units. Hopefully,
this is enough information to help you
handle both devices comfortably.

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