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Cracked flex plate? Loose bolts?

5K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Uniblurb 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I recently had a used transmission installed in my 1998 ZJ. It's been working better lately as the adaptives have adjusted over time.

There's a new problem, though. I've owned this Jeep for about 11 years and it has always had a slight knocking sound. After doing research, it matches the sound of loose bolts on a flex plate, or possibly a cracked plate.

After having this transmission installed, the idle noise has not changed. When I put it into gear, the noise is way louder, loose, and a heavy clacking.

The transmission has NO shifting problems as of right now. It does well.

I am going to check the bolts on the torque converter tomorrow.

Do any of you have any experience with this?
 
#4 ·
As you probably realize by now it would have been best to check the flex plate for cracks while they had the trans out.

In removing the inspection cover if you find the converter bolts loose remove one to see if the holes in the plate are elongated from all the bolts being loose. Not much you can do about this unless it's really bad where the flex plate needs replaced. Also try looking up in there with a flashlight to see if you can see any cracks.

Hopefully you can get by in just tightening the converter bolts and torque spec is 23 ft lbs for your 98.

I've seen some put a socket/breaker bar on the front crank/damper bolt to turn the engine over to get to the next converter bolt to tighten it. But this isn't necessary and you can spin the converter to the next bolt by tightening one bolt then move the whole converter the direction you are tightening to the next bolt.

Make sure your metal cover on the front of the bell housing is positioned correctly along with the inspection plate. Good luck.
 
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