FlyWheel Problems

Well, Once again, to my dismay...my girlfriend's dad decided to be a 'nice guy' and take her jeep to the shop again and now it comes back with yet another problem. God I hate stupid people. Aparently they are talking about there being a problem with the flywheel. I wasn't home to hear the jeep itself but was told by my g/f that it's a loud noise but it goes away at cruising speed for the most part.

I was wondering how much it costs to replace it. How hard it is to replace it. Or if there is a 'simple' fix or something that is usually wrong w/ it. I don't really know too mucha bout jeeps but I'm learning.

I've heard that the bolts (4 of them) come loose on the flywheel and you just need to tighten them or put locktite on them ?

What does everyone think ?

PS- its a 94

Flywheel? Are we talking about an automatic, with a flex plate?

The flex plates can crack, in an annular ring at the perimeter of the reinforcing ring where the bolts hold it to the crankshaft. When it's cracked, it makes a knocking sound sort of like a bad rod bearing.

The cost of a replacement flex plate (new, but from Crown rather than Chrysler) was $60 two years ago when I did the job. May be up to $65 or $70 by now. To replace, you have to unbolt the tranny from the engine and slide it back several inches, then replace the flex plate, then bolt everything up again. A shop doing it on a lift can probably do it in a day or less. Took me several nights working on my back with the Jeep on jack stands in an unheated garage in December.

Eagle said:

Flywheel? .......... A shop doing it on a lift can probably do it in a day or less. Took me several nights working on my back with the Jeep on jack stands in an unheated garage in December.

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Yeah, Eagle, don't you just LOVE working on cars in the winter? I lived through a 30+ winters of that when I was in Illinois. Now here in AZ, I end up working on my XJ in flip flops and a t-shirt in the summer.

Its an automatic. Well i'd take it to the shop but they want like 5-700 bucks. I don't care of the time needed to do it myself (plus it's a learning experience). But to save a few hundred bucks I'll take a month to do it.

Remember, we're poor college kids. haha.

AZ Jeff said:

Yeah, Eagle, don't you just LOVE working on cars in the winter? I lived through a 30+ winters of that when I was in Illinois. Now here in AZ, I end up working on my XJ in flip flops and a t-shirt in the summer.

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OTOH, nothing quite like trying to wipe the sweat out of your eyes with hands covered in grease & brake dust on a humid 112 degree afternoon in August. Swore up & down I'd never do it again. The *real* risk is when you start hydrating yourself with beer. "Funny, I don't remember two bolts here...".

Having done both, I'll stay here in AZ though. No rust...

To the original poster, I'd priced an AW-4 flexplate at a local dealer for $97 a couple of weeks ago, before I found that mine didn't really need it after all.

AZ Jeff said:

Yeah, Eagle, don't you just LOVE working on cars in the winter? I lived through a 30+ winters of that when I was in Illinois. Now here in AZ, I end up working on my XJ in flip flops and a t-shirt in the summer.

Click to expand...

OTOH, nothing quite like trying to wipe the sweat out of your eyes with hands covered in grease & brake dust on a humid 112 degree afternoon in August. Swore up & down I'd never do it again. The *real* risk is when you start hydrating yourself with beer. "Funny, I don't remember two bolts here...".

Having done both, I'll stay here in AZ though. No rust...

To the original poster, I'd priced an AW-4 flexplate at a local dealer for $97 a couple of weeks ago, before I found that mine didn't really need it after all.

ryderxxxmc said:

Its an automatic. Well i'd take it to the shop but they want like 5-700 bucks. I don't care of the time needed to do it myself (plus it's a learning experience). But to save a few hundred bucks I'll take a month to do it.

Remember, we're poor college kids. haha.

Click to expand...

$500 to $700 for that job sounds a bit high. It's not a big job for a shop with a lift.

If you do it yourself, be advised that the tranny dipstick tube is two parts. The lower half is part of the tranny pan and the upper part slips in with a o-ring seal. You will probably trash the upper part trying to move the tranny back, so it's better to be prepared and just have a new upper half to install. When I did mine I paid $15 for it, IIRC, and that was full price because my dealer was out of stock and I had to go to a shop where I don't get a discount.