Dual Mass Flywheel Fault

[EdF]

In the last year, covering 12,000 miles, I've noticed what seems to be clutch slip for 2 - 3 seconds on about 5 occasions in my 2002 90 TD5, usually in 5th gear at a reasonable speed, uphill on a motorway (so not that steep) and last week under normal acceleration on the level. I met a guy who runs a Landy repair business and he reckoned it was the dual mass flywheel causing the problems, not the clutch as I suspected. I found in tech archives an interesting topic by Jim Attrill about the flywheel, but I can't find an answer to these questions:-

Can the flywheel being 'on the way out' cause a symptom like the clutch slipping?

Can the flywheel come apart in use?

Today, towing 1½ tonnes approx uphill for 1/4 mile for the first time there was a smell - presumably from the clutch - but no slipping. It seems a strip-down is required, but I'm worried whether the flywheel can 'let go' before I can work on it. A solid flywheel and clutch kit is £287+vat from Brightwells and more from Britpart but a clutch on it's own costs much less. Perhaps it would be best to do the whole thing, all things considered? Any ideas? Many thanks for any replies..

[Aragorn]

The Dual mass unit on our A4 was absolutely fubarred (see the video here to see just how bad it was: http://friesian.lr90.org/gallery2/v/A4/MOV00402.MP4.html)

It however never slipped at all. At one point it lost all its damping, so slipping the clutch when pulling away was a horrible juddery experience, but even with the engine remapped and the clutch having done 194k, it never slipped.