broken flex plate

[akrockhound]

I thought I'd follow up on a thread i started about 4 months ago.

Long story but Dealer had my allison out of the truck to fix an oil leak.

When I picked up the truck it made a new whining noise and before I left the lot it made a creak for a couple of seconds.

I brought the truck back and complained of the whining noise and after a few checks they said it was the turbo. but they did document my complaint.


Four months later I start hearing this combination rattle, knock, miss sound. It was a completely new sound to me and it was BAD.

It gets worse over the course of about 2 days.

I drop the truck off and it has been diagnosed as a cracked flex plate and the dealership has admitted that they did not torgue things properly last time the tranny was out. apparently the holes in the flex plate were all out of round.

[77TransAm]

That's just shoddy workmanship. I hope they are covering you for their error. Starting back in '02 or so, the factory torque converter bolts came with a "patchlock" strip of anti-vibration compound on them to prevent loosening. The bolts should always either be replaced, or at least treated with something similar, even if it's only loc-tite, upon reinstallation to prevent them from coming out. Generally when the bolts come loose (or are left loose), not only is the flexplate damaged, but the torque converter and main pump can also be damaged.

You should definitely get a new flexplate out of the deal, and possibly a torque converter, and hopefully while they have the trans out, they will tear down the front end to inspect the pump for the source of the whine. If there is any wear or damage to that, it should also be replaced.