Tighten flex plate

[65 Polara 500]

I see a couple folks are alluding to the elephant in the room here without just saying it..... What you are describing is a very rare situation.... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??? Was it put together without torque applied to the bolts?? Is there an underlying issue; vibration, crank register, bolt holes or problem with the bolts themselves?? Flexplate damaged or warped?? You really need someone experienced to solve this before simply tightening the bolts and hoping for the best. Finding loose flex to converter bolts is a way more common issue. Best of luck.

Almost forgot... possibly you need offset dowels on the bellhousing because of an off-center crank to trans centerline issue??

To your question, why/how did it happen. I have no idea, I finally got everything separated, and when I did the flex plate dropped out of the bell housing along with 6 bolts, one was sheered off. This completely boggles my mind, I have no idea how the car drove home. So another topic, whit all of the work that I have put into this, I don’t want to have to do it again, I’m considering replacing the transmission or a rebuild. I know this tranny is unique because it has two shifting cables going to it. Is there a way of replacing the tranny and going to a one cable

I see a couple folks are alluding to the elephant in the room here without just saying it..... What you are describing is a very rare situation.... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??? Was it put together without torque applied to the bolts?? Is there an underlying issue; vibration, crank register, bolt holes or problem with the bolts themselves?? Flexplate damaged or warped?? You really need someone experienced to solve this before simply tightening the bolts and hoping for the best. Finding loose flex to converter bolts is a way more common issue. Best of luck.

Almost forgot... possibly you need offset dowels on the bellhousing because of an off-center crank to trans centerline issue??

To your question of why or how did they come loose. I have no idea, my guess is they were never installed properly. When I was able to back the transmission away from the engine to my surprise, the flex plate and all 6 bolts fell right out one both was sheered. It completely boggles my mind how I was able to drive home.

 

[polara71]

How long ago were they installed (miles too) . Is something out of balance? Vibration?

 

[65 Polara 500]

About 17 years ago, maybe 7-10k miles. The car always ran perfect, no vibration. My thoughts are they were always loose and have contributed to the converter bolts coming loose twice over the years.

 

[Loadrunner]

Most good techs can have an engine out in two hours.

Unless you have A/C that is charged, the only consideration for me, pull the engine, leave everything else alone.

A loose flexplate at the crank would scare the h out of me, like whoever did the work, what else did they fk up and forget to tighten.

Most often in a shop, an air gun would have been used because it's hard to keep the crank from rotating.

Blue Loctite is your friend.

 

[fury fan]

FWIW, I've never used loctite on the flexplate, converter, flywheel and clutch bolts and have never had a problem. They do need to be clean threads and properly torqued for that to work, though.

You say the trans is slipping. Is that every time, or just when backing it out of the garage in the AM?
If just first time of the day, that is worn sealrings on the front support, that the converter slides into. It allows fluid to drain out of the converter.
You can side-step this issue by putting the trans in neutral for ~15 secs after startup so the converter re-fills, then put it in reverse.

As for the shifter cables and a later trans:
Some years ago I evaluated the 65 cable floorshifter and it looked like it would work using only 1 cable of the appropriate length/fittings.
I can't remember the details, and never actually tried it, though.
But IIRC one of the lever arms moves the full distance from P to 1, and when the shifter moves to P that's when the 2nd cable kicks in.
So it would seem that the full travel should satisfy a '66-up trans that operates all shifter positions from that one lever.
Be aware a 66 trans is also 1-year-only, in that it has the 66-older 19-spline torque converter with the 66-newer lever shifting. Not a problem except torque converter supply might be more limited.

The shifter cable swap might work only on a floorshifter, though.

 

[493mike]

Not loose, very loose! So loose that the starter won’t engage! I can move the flex plate almost a half an inch. My thought is, they didn’t use loctite when they installed it.

Chrysler never used Loctite either. Torque wrenches have their uses.
Mike

 

[Toolmanmike]

To your question, why/how did it happen. I have no idea, I finally got everything separated, and when I did the flex plate dropped out of the bell housing along with 6 bolts, one was sheered off. This completely boggles my mind, I have no idea how the car drove home. So another topic, whit all of the work that I have put into this, I don’t want to have to do it again, I’m considering replacing the transmission or a rebuild. I know this tranny is unique because it has two shifting cables going to it. Is there a way of replacing the tranny and going to a one cable

To your question of why or how did they come loose. I have no idea, my guess is they were never installed properly. When I was able to back the transmission away from the engine to my surprise, the flex plate and all 6 bolts fell right out one both was sheered. It completely boggles my mind how I was able to drive home.

It's entirely possible and I have seen it happen before. Someone hand tightened the bolts and didn't follow up with a ratchet. breaker bar, or torque wrench. Possibly they were just tightened with a small cordless impact and never were properly torqued. The good thing is, you got to them and can correct the issue, properly this time.

 

[Loadrunner]

Pretty unusual to hear of loose crank bolts, points to some severely greenhorn mechanic, as they are usually just rattled in with 1/2" air gun or a torque wrench (rare), but the 4 torque converter bolts are installed last, with an end wrench, tight clearance, and the use of blue Loctite is recommended.

Be aware all the holes only line up in one position out of four possibilities, this has to do with the balancing,