Torque Converter Easier to pull engine or transmission

[BwoncoHowie]

Also check the snout of the starter, sometimes the retainer ring falls out of place and rubs on the ring gear.

 

[Rustytruck]

I,am guessing loose flex-plate bolts at the flywheel or a cracked flex plate. This is assuming you already torqued the converter bolts. Does the converter have drain plug and is it in the proper flywheel hole for it? If you pull it out check the end play on the crank shaft. Excessive wear in the crank shaft thrust bearing allowing the crankshaft to walk back and forth. Before tearing it apart I would make a real mess with the engine running spray a bunch of WD-40 with a hose tip up into the flywheel and converter area and see if the noise changes. if the oil gets up into the squeak area the noise should change some, at least for a brief moment. Take all precautions with WD-40 flying about you don't want it flying all over yourself. put a card board down and at least safety glasses.
I am with everyone else I would pull the transfer case then the tranny. remember to replace the transfer case input seals and order the gasket while its out. Does the squeak go away when the transmission is in gear?
Please followup here when you resolve this issue. so we can all learn something.

 

[partsloco]

I replaced the converter and checked the flexplate over the weekend and that was not the problem. If you have to only replace the converter or flexplate then I think pulling engine forward is quicker. I pulled the transmission and it seemed way harder and longer. I'm going to pull the pan tomorrow and check the rear main bearing. It sound like the noise is coming where the converter/flexplate and crankshaft meets. The engine only has about 600 miles on it.

 

[pcf_mark]

Before you take anything else apart why not run the engine not connected to the trans? Support it with a floorjack.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Before you take anything else apart why not run the engine not connected to the trans? Support it with a floorjack.

You'll need to use the bellhousing from the C4 to do this. Just 5 big bolts.

 

[partsloco]

I already put it back together. Pulling the oil pan. I guess I just want peace of mind about the rear main bearing.

 

[pcf_mark]

I do not know what you are expecting to find by pulling the pan but I bet it will be nothing. The sound in the video is external and not muffled in any way by pan or oil. If the rear bearing was wasted you would have 0 oil pressure.

 

[partsloco]

The flexplate looked clean with no visible cracks. I also looked for something rubbing against and nothing. The flex plate is new zinc coated so it would be pretty easy to see something rubbing.

 

[partsloco]

I think it might be bearing because of this. My non hardened push rods ate through. I'm wondering is metal got stuck in the rear main bearing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbSvIg-TTjM

 

[partsloco]

I just pulled the rear main bearing and it looks clean. So far I have

.replaced the converter
.Checked the flexplate and sperator plate for cracks and scratching
.checked rear main.

Could the C4 pump be making this noise? Car drives and shifts fine. It does seem to make more noise when I come to a stop then goes away. Its makes that really loud metallic sound when hot and out of gear. What ever the issue is it seems to be related when the engine and trans gets hot. The sound is very minimal for non existent when cold.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Could well be a pump problem. That's going to be a whole new can of worms so eliminate everything else first.

 

[pcf_mark]

I have never tried this but could you remove the torque converter nuts and shimmy the converter back enough that the engine could run without spinning the converter?

Eliminated the dumb stuff like the trans dipstick tapping on the exhaust or firewall?

 

[partsloco]

I can't be 100% sure but it seems like it starts to happen when the transmission gets warn. When I first start it up and let it idle until It gets hot it does not make the noise. Once I start doing a few laps around the block in starts to make the noise when coming to a stop and then stops making the noise once I'm not moving. When I pull into the driveway and put it into park is when I start hearing the metallic noise.

 

[Viperwolf1]

You might want to pull the trans pan and see what's in it.

 

[partsloco]

Its sounds like its coming from the bell house area. Maybe the sound is coming from the C4 pump. The sound could be traveling from the pump through the torque converter. It sounds external, I've looked for hours to see if anything was rubbing. I even looked at everything when I replaced the converter. I like the stock stall converter way better then the TCI sizzler. Its feels like it has more torque now.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Its sounds like its coming from the bell house area. Maybe the sound is coming from the C4 pump. The sound could be traveling from the pump through the torque converter. It sounds external, I've looked for hours to see if anything was rubbing. I even looked at everything when I replaced the converter. I like the stock stall converter way better then the TCI sizzler. Its feels like it has more torque now.

If there's something wrong with the pump you will see metal in the pan.

 

[Teal68]

I can add to this thread after this past weekend!

I went with everyone's advice and did the work from below. Easy? No, not really, but I'm not sure from above would have been any easier. I will say from above the cherry picker does the hard work for you. From below that that darn D20 and adapter are straight up awkward and HEAVY!

Here's my realistic list from below:
Drain the t-case and tranny
disco drive shafts from t-case at minimum. Completely if you like
Remove shifters. I had a floor shifter so that had to come off also
Remover cross member at frame bracket and t'case. Note: leave brackets in place.
Jack up assembly until you can slide the cross member out.
Lower a bit and support the t-case
support the motor seperately
remove t-case and adapter together. Note: be sure tranny is in first gear
Remove tranny
remove starter
remove clutch lever spring and adjuster
remove bell housing
remove pressure plate
remove flywheel
remove bearing or bushing
Assembly is the reverse with the following notes: Be sure to use the alignment tool, and headless bolts are a great aid for sliding things back together.

Please note this Bronco had a 3" body lift which may have aided in my process.


And, .......now that I got that out of the way and it was all together the darn clutch would not release no matter what!!! You know the saying about thinking it's a one day job. Yea right, never!!!

This is where the story/process gets a little better. There is no way I felt like doing all that dis assembly and draining of fluids again. So this time I remove the shafts and shifters and leave the whole t-case/adapter/tranny and cross member together as suggested above. All I had to do was take the four tranny bolts out and slide that whole mess straight back while on the tranny jack. Yea, it was tight working under there but it was fine for problem solving. In the end it was a defective pressure plate.

The lesson to be learned here is:
Once you have the bellhousing, clutch lever spring and adjuster attached stop and press the clutch pedal and make sure the clutch disc is releasing. For me I could press the clutch with one hand and reach thru the floor shifter hole with other to spin the clutch disc via the alignment tool.

Hopefully this info is helpful for future searches,
Tyler