Tranny Noise - Flexplate or TC or...

[Zilverado]

Wow! It's been ages since I've been around here. It's great to see it's still a pretty busy place. I've been busy with home renos and things, and the truck just keeps on going, so I have not taken too many oportiunities to visit the board... my loss I think.

So I just recently got a nasty noise coming from the tranny. Thinking I've read alot about cracked flex plates, I started my search there. I read a bunch of stuff, but I thought I would ask the question for myself as well, since my "noise" seems different than the "banging rod" sound I read alot about.

My sound is like a loud scraping (or very fast rattle) that happens mostly at slower speeds - or at a stop. In reverse it happens occasionally, but not as much. It almost sounds like when you bump the starter when teh truck is running - not quite as violent, but that type of sound.

I slid under the reuck today, and it's definiety coming from the front of the tranny/back of the engine. I did not have time to take the flex plate cover off, but from what I've read, a cracked flex plate would not really be visible anyway.

So any thoughts on what I'm up against here.

Thanks for still being around!!!!

[old Rusty C10]

id pull the inspection cover and see what you see... could be lots of things but a bad or loose flex plate could be one of the things... i had a torque convertor bolt come loose and it made a racket

[Zilverado]

Thanks Bob,

Yeah, I sure hope it's something as simple as a loose bolt. Hopefully I get a chance soon to take a closer look - things are pretty hectic, but I can't afford to have the truck un-drivable for too long.

[Zilverado]

So I just thought I would update this post...

Since I have had absolutely NO TIME for looking at this and the noise was getting quite bad last night, I thought I would stop by my tranny shop this morning.

So it turns out I was about to loose my starter - one bolt was completely gone (I mean missing) and the second was well on it's way. The starter was actually jumping around and making contact with the flywheel.

While they were in there, they removed the cover plate and checked the flexplate and TC - all seemed well, other than a few "nicks" on the teeth of the flexplate. Nothing serious.

So after 1/2 hr and $50 I was back on the road - quietly. Just wish they were all this easy and affordable.

[old Rusty C10]

Im surprised you didnt have a symptom of that when you started the truck.. Im glad tho it was a simple fix... the flexplate is not an expensive part but the labor is expensive

[Zilverado]

Yeah, I was kind of (or very) surprised as well - I would have expected some starting / grinding issues, but there was never anything. I was just embarassed that I didn't find the problem myself. Although, like I said, I hadn't really taken the time to really look. Oh well, I just hope this maybe helps someone else out...

[silvereagle07]

I've had that happen before, glad you found it.