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Question For those who have cracked a Flex Plate

M

Mike1331

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Folsom, CA
Was the crack visual from the front of the plate w/ it still bolted into the crank? Or did you have to take it off to see a crack?

I had a rattling coming from the bottom end of my jeep. Dropped oil pan and nothing was loose or interfering, so i then dropped the AW4 tranny thinking it was for sure a cracked flex plate and it looks fine bolted up to the crank and had no play or wobble. I had a couple finger loose bellhousing bolts and am hoping the rattle was from that. It almost sounded like pebbles were getting sloshed around in my bottom end. Many people said flex plate but mine looks fine.
 
ok thanks chris thats what i thought. Mine has around 40k on it from when my trans got rebuilt and isn't cracked so i'm just going to put everything back together and hope the rattling was from the bottom two loose bellhousing bolts. I'm glad i cought them as my tourque converter snout that also only has about 40k on it has a slight chip on it.
 
mine cracked between the bolt holes holding it onto the crank. i couldn't see the cracks till the trans was out but at idle it would make a noise like a rod knock. higher rpms and centrifugal force would take over and keep it from hitting, thats how I knew it was the flex plate.
 
The loose bolts will cause that type of rattle also.
A picture of mine.
006-1.jpg
 
Wow that is one Effed up plate. Yeah mine looked cherry so I threw my tranny back in tonight with licktight in all the bolts, and re-did my exhaust while it was out. Ill now when I start it up if it fixed it.
 
GrimmJeeper said:
no just the crank :shocked:


so is the noise gone?
Click to expand...

Lick a cranky tranny?:gee:

I'm not sure yet, i still have my oil pan pulled to change my rear main seal, I'm going to leave the oil pan off for now as i'm pulling my HO cyl head tomorrow and putting on a rebuilt renix head on the HO block. I like the renix head heads and it'll flow better mated to my renix intake w/ matching ports.
 
No, he wants to lick a tranny's crank. Yikes, this thread is going south...

...but seriously folks, I have not heard mention of the "hooty ring" (for lack of a better term) or spacer, that fits over the flexplate when it gets bolted in. I've seen some pics with it in and some with out, or not installed at all. Does it keep the plate from breaking around the bolt holes?? or is it useless??

Spacer, they say, but what does it space.

aw4-60.jpg
 
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it's there to distribute the load of the bolts more evenly-- I've never tried to bolt things up without it, so I can't speak to weather the bolt length would be too long without it, but I'm sure it was put there for a reason and I don't profess to be smarter than the design engineers. It'll stay there on mine.
 
Shorty said:
it's there to distribute the load of the bolts more evenly-- I've never tried to bolt things up without it, so I can't speak to weather the bolt length would be too long without it, but I'm sure it was put there for a reason and I don't profess to be smarter than the design engineers. It'll stay there on mine.
Click to expand...

My problem is that I just swapped an AW4 into my MJ, the 5 speed flywheel being nice heavy metal, did not have one and I have had a hard time finding one. I just bolted it up yesterday...but after reading this, I dunno.

I figured it was there to spread the torque out...why don't they seem to be available. I don't want to have to drop a tranny in the JY to find just the ring (if it's even there).
 
i know nothing of this ring. I don't have one nor have i ever seen one. But this is the only aw4 i've pulled before so... I now want one.
 
I'm going on my second flexplate and I have to assume because of the messed up motor mounts. I have an ATP flexplate for replacement and it seems to be more robust than the omix-ada one I put in 2 years ago.

As for the reinforcement plate (spacer), I have one in mine and shows it in the 95 FSM.
 
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Mike1331 said:
i know nothing of this ring. I don't have one nor have i ever seen one. But this is the only aw4 i've pulled before so... I now want one.
Click to expand...

Could the LACK of the ring be the cause of the cracked flexplate? Seems like a weak spot, and that being why the ring was installed in the first place.

It's always seemed a little strange to me that the whole drive train depends on either the four flexplate/TC bolts or the six crank/flexplate bolts.
 
ParadiseXJ said:
Could the LACK of the ring be the cause of the cracked flexplate? Seems like a weak spot, and that being why the ring was installed in the first place.

It's always seemed a little strange to me that the whole drive train depends on either the four flexplate/TC bolts or the six crank/flexplate bolts.
Click to expand...

mines not cracked but i agree on how it would definitely stiffen/spread stresses and loads.
 
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