ugh... broken bolt behind driveplate and torque converter

grim problem by the looks of it...

Had a horrid rattling start this week - thought it was loose exhaust or a front brake problem.

Turns out there's something bouncing around behind the torque convertor.

Removed the lower shield and some areas of teeth on the driveplate are worn, removed the starter and the gear on it looks fine... but at least it lets me look at the edge of the torque converter behind the teeth and sure enough there are gouges everywhere.

I turned the engine with a wrench and rolled a magnetic pickup tool along the teeth to remove debris... mostly metal shavings. No way to get at the bottom of the housing and grab what's left of the offending shrapnel to also figure out what it is... maybe one of the rear housing bolts came out?

Anybody know of a clever way to try and retrieve something behind the plate?... barely enough clearance to put a plastic scraper between it and the housing.

All I can think of is putting it together and drive until the piece totally desintegrates and hope it doesn't do major damage.

 

Can you loosen all the bolts and slide the trans back an inch or two? Hopefuly it won't punch a hole in the convertor if you don't take it out. What if other bolts are coming loose? You might consider taking that trans out while it hasn't blown up yet. Keep us posted, kinda like to know what it is.

 

My wifes Geo rattles like a knocking rod but it isn't. It has everyone stumped. 560 miles since it started and it still has power and pickup and runs fine. The noise disappears around 2000rpm.

Try separating the motor from the tranny and see whats up.

 

Geo? You should be able to pick it up and shake it out, like a salt shaker

 

I know right! 1.6 is really small. My truck is a 5.7!

Why would a bolt come loose by the flywheel? Maybe something else caused it.

 

baffled with my little problem... I *REALLY* needed a good laugh right now...

but then again... that's not a bad idea... if I jack the rear end up REALLY REALLY HIGH and jam an air hose behind the starter and crank the engine back and forth maybe I can shake the thing out.


hmmmm...

 

Fortunately I just got a Haynes Tech Guide for Ford transmissions... there are six bolts behind the torque convertor in the tranny gear housing I think.

Either that or the starter has just started gouging gears off and one of them is bouncing around... can't see any missing teeth though.... also, the dust cover was tight, undented, unscratched so the noise seems to be happening behind the gear. Doesn't look like any foreign matter got inside.

 

a weight could have broke off the conveter also. that would be the highest odds of what could have gone wrong there.

 

could be a front pump bolt...i would pull it back and look...

 

I have a weight on my flexplate that rubs just enough to make you think it's comong apart. I don't want to grind it or take it off so I will be investigating "why?" later.

 

Whisky


Get a magnit strip from a refigerator door seal run it down through the starter hole pull it back out to get your prize ..

 

Excellent trick. I'll remember this one.

 

If yours is a 200, there are 6 bolts that attach the flexplate to the crank. They will back out and cause rattling. I always use red loctite and torque to specs 75-85 ft/lbs. There are 4 nuts that secure the torque convertor to the flexplate. You can see those now since you have the inspection plate off.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Thanks for the responses...

I like the magnetic strip idea too - and I just sent an old fridge to the recycler 2 weeks ago... didn't think about scavenging the door strips...

Problem with my magnetic pickup is that it sticks to EVERYTHING and is still hard to navigate between that 1/4" gap in the housing. Air compressor didn't work, shop vac with thin rubber hose didn't work... strip of double side tape on the side of the torque convertor rotated 360 degrees by hand picked up lots of metal shavings but no bolt or weight.

So I put it together and have to drive it this week. Car is a daily driver and I need it for work, so I can't pull the tranny out.

 

keep driving it...you will...