diagnose this-update-pics-fixed

[NC-Fordguy]

I've noticed alot of rattling of the twin stick shifters for a while then tonight I cranked up the bronco to move it into the shop and the truck violently started to shake while in park after giving it some gas-the more gas given the more it shook.

I figured the balancer was the problem...looked good while running

Guessed perhaps a bearing spun in the engine...vacume guage reads steady at 16 inches with a slight tick of the guage(always reads this from the cam) Oil pressure mechanical guage reads 60 when cold and 40 when warmed up, typical readings over the years.

Giving the truck gas while sitting in park I noticed a knocking sound at the bell housing and a spark every now and then

Removed the inspection cover at the bell housing--all 4 bolts for the torque converter are loose. 3 tighten up fine. 4th bolt will not tighten, just spins and it's evident it was hitting something with all the marks on it.

The shaking was not as bad after tightening the 3 bolts but still noticeable

So I'm thinking pulling the tranny and replace the torque converter??

Is this the thing to do and what about the flex plate? Could this have been warped or thrown out of balance from the loose torque converter?

Anything else to look for?

Suggestions most welcome

 

[Viperwolf1]

Could have a cracked flexplate or possibly lost the balance weight off it. I've also seen a C4 bellhousing bolt (inside behind converter) come loose and contact the converter.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

ok guys

Before I pull the tranny can these symptoms be caused by something other than what I'm thinking--flex plate converter issue??

 

[Viperwolf1]

Sparks are a good indication something is not quite right. Pull the starter and get a mirror to look in behind the flexplate.

 

[EricLar80]

Make sure your bellhousing is torqued to the block properly.

Eric

 

[Rustytruck]

I would check the end play on the crank shaft and make shure it isnt out of whack.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

Pulled the tranny out

Flexplate looked good

tranny input shaft looked good

Found 1 bolt sheered off the torque converter-explains why it would not tighten. There's a hole in the torque converter where it use to be.

Question is... This explain the vibration??

 

[Viperwolf1]

It might explain the shaking. Was it running smoothly prior to this? In other words, are you sure the flexplate, balancer and crankshaft all have the balance?

 

[NC-Fordguy]

It might explain the shaking. Was it running smoothly prior to this? In other words, are you sure the flexplate, balancer and crankshaft all have the balance?

It was running great earlier that day. I cranked it up after dinner to move it into the shop, gave it some gas to disengage the choke and that's when I noticed the vibration.

As stated in the original post, harmonic balancer looked good as far as belts doing their thing. Oil pressure looked good, engine vacume looked good.

Weight was on the flexplate and I did not notice any cracks in it. It's still bolted to the crank

I noticed a coolant leak at the timing chain cover--figured this was from the excess vibration.

 

[NC-Fordguy]

here's some pics

What's left of the torque converter bolt can be seen stuck in the flexplate

 

[NC-Fordguy]

New torque converter installed, most of the vibration was gone..

Looked around some more and found a broken engine mount.--replaced that
Runs like old now

Still gotta fix the coolant leak at the timing chain cover.

Why do these sort of things always happen right before a wheeling trip?

 

[Ethansdad73]

New torque converter installed, most of the vibration was gone..

Looked around some more and found a broken engine mount.--replaced that
Runs like old now

Still gotta fix the coolant leak at the timing chain cover.

Why do these sort of things always happen right before a wheeling trip?

better than when wheeling...

 

[72Sport]

New torque converter installed, most of the vibration was gone..

Looked around some more and found a broken engine mount.--replaced that
Runs like old now

Still gotta fix the coolant leak at the timing chain cover.

Why do these sort of things always happen right before a wheeling trip?

This kind of sums it up: It is an experience common to all men to find that, on any special occasion, such as the production of a magical effect for the first time in public, everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Whether we must attribute this to the malignity of matter or to the total depravity of inanimate things, whether the exciting cause is hurry, worry, or what not, the fact remains.[3]

The contemporary form of Murphy's law goes back as far as 1952, as an epigraph to a mountaineering book by Jack Sack, who described it as an "ancient mountaineering adage":

Anything that can possibly go wrong, does.[4]

 

[DirtDonk]

As my West Virginia and Kentucky bred Granny used to say. "It's the innate cussedness of inanimate objects."
Nuff said.

Paul