Mongo

In all the times I have released the pinch collar (most recent time I saw no movement of the collar itself but never measured it), should I have taken a pry bar or large screwdriver to pull the flywheel (gently of course) back away from the engine before tightening the clamp up?

The most recent time I have done it I noticed my flexplate is still bowed toward the block. Looks like about 3-5mm still.

Mrmerlin

to do the drive line /flex plate check
First inspect the rear pinch bolt and loctite and torque it to 66 ft/lb.( this only has to be done once as your verifying that the rear bolt is in fact tight)
Then check the front bolt, pry the flywheel back and then make sure the flex plate will freely slide on the splines with the bolt loosened. ( your flex may have already gotten bent and thus the bend is now its standing condition).
add some blue loctite to this bolt and torque this like the rear bolt

Mongo

Do I have to drop the exhaust to access the rear?

Mrmerlin

yes and the rear heat shields

Mongo

Ah okay. Bummer that I have no way possible to check the rear at the house I'm staying at right now.

The only thing I can do is get to the front with whatever stuff I have to work in the garage.



Reason why I asked this also was because I have a growling noise I have been experiencing for half of this year. I shook it off thinking it was my exhaust banging against the heat shields or something. I also have a sound like a chattering metal scratching metal noise. It's hard to tell if it's coming from the front or the rear of the car. Probably because the sound is traveling through the torque tube. It's had this noise since I bought it. Goes away when I am sitting at idle uphill on occasion. My flexplate in the front doesn't have rivets, but am wondering if this could be the rear it's coming from.

dr bob

Andy--

My car made a similar noise that I diagnosed as rear wheel bearings. Mine only when rolling, obviously. You mention no noise sitting at idle. Can you hear it if you rev the car in neutral at a standstill?

Mongo

Yes.

86'928S MeteorGrey

Assuming this is an auto, it can be the TT bearings, a failed vibration damper, or most likely the torque converter carrier bearings. Mine made a kind of metal scraping/whirring sound. It could also be the transmission itself, but this is the least likely culprit, as the MB transmissions are almost bulletproof. (I said ALMOST) If it's just an odd noise, and it is indeed coming from the transmission, a bottle of Trans-X eliminates noises well, and might get you down the road for a while more....

Mongo

I was thinking carrier bearings too. Aren't those between the torque convertor and rear flexplate?

86'928S MeteorGrey

Yeah, you have to drop the tranny to be able to press out the bearings.

Mrmerlin

if you remove the trans then you should also replace the front pump O ring and the torque converter radial seal

Mongo

Mmk...something to save for when I have a house and a garage to do it in..

brianrheffron

The subject of a fixed bow in the flexplate came up before but I can't find the thread I'm looking for.
From memory, the person who posted also had a bowed flexplate that didn't flatten fully on
releasing the clamp bolt.
They then released the six hex head bolts that hold the flexplate to the flywheel and that did the trick.
The pressure on the flexplate had shifted the plate at its fixings and that was holding it in the
bowed position. The concluding advice was to release and retighten the six fixing bolts as well
as the clamp bolt.
I'm working from memory only so can anyone confirm this?

Landseer

It makes sense to try to loosen the periphery bolts, pry, and retighten.

I have one which probably wasn't released ever. It had sat the last 10 years unused. Had a bend. I pulled it back, loctited the bolt and it seems to be holding after a 1000 mile check. Need to add a clamp, though, for peace of mind.

Mrmerlin

Brian i like the color of your car, I think it looks good with wheels you have.
When or if you loosen the 6 bolts also look for cracks in the flex plate. mark its position as well to the flywheel