Bill and I replaced the flexplate on my 928 S4 this weekend. Bill had
replaced his rear main seal last year and had documented the ordeal at

http://www.billsworkshop.com/P928S4/seal/seal.htm .

We used that as a starting point, made a few changes to accommodate
removing the flexplate collar. Here is a photo of the broken flexplate
after we removed the bolts that held it to the collar and flywheel:


Here are the exhaust pipes and shielding that had to be removed:


By unbolting the bell housing, moving the tranny back, removing the flywheel,
we were able the get the driveshaft low enough to slip off the flexplate
collar:


The project should have taken 6-7 hours, but we bent the shifter bracket
while raising the torque tube:


It took us a while to figure it out and how to fix it, but we got it all done
this weekend:


Thanks Bill for all your assistants, and Marc and Susan at DEVEK for
the parts and advise.

By the way, Bill's lift is great, a real time saver:

 

Nice piece of work guys! Good to see Bill doing precision work with the revered BFH.
Recall Constantines thread https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=collet
concerning the collet clamping piece as a replacement for the OEM pinch bolt clamp: I'm thinking that you've demonstrated that there is adequate room to attempt such a replacement without TT removal. That issue, IIRC, was a roadblock to easy installation - any thoughts on feasibility?

 

Garth,

We were able to replace the collar without removing the torque tube or dropping the tranny
and rear suspension. We had to separate the flexplate from the clamp, or we couldn't have
done it. Loosing the bell housing, moving the emergency brake cables, moving the tranny
back, removing the exhaust, and shielding, removing the flywheel, and loosing the shifter bracket
all have need to be done also. Not an easy job, but should be doable in about 6+ hours.


George

 

May be i missed it, but how do you think it broke and how did you know it was broken?
Im due to head under the car soon to release the pinch bolt..Ill keep a closer eye out for cracks..

 

Tony,

I heard a rattle when I turned off the engine. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, so
when Bill came over on the 23rd to help install the hood, I had him listen for the sound. He
suggested we go to his house and use his lift, since it wasn't obvious where the sound was
coming from. Once on the lift, we determined it came from the bell housing. We removed
the lower bell housing cover and found the crack. As for the cause, I don't know. We did
find a few hand tight bolts holding the flexplate to the flywheel, but that could have happened
from all the vibration. Or it could be the extra power on an old flexplate? I did replace the
torque tube about 2 years ago, but used the original flexplate. I hadn't released the pinch
bolt until last week. I did move about 2-3 mm, but probably not enough to cause the crack.