Big Dave

I recently noticed a noise that appears to be coming from the torque tube/bell housing area. It sounds like a rattling, almost like something is loose. It is most apparent at idle and seems to go away when rpm's increase.

I pulled the bell-housing cover off, hoping that it was just something loose. No luck. Even with the cover off, the noise is still there. The stethoscope sounds the same on the bell-housing or the torque tube. There's no noise on the engine or oil pan.

Any thoughts? I'm hoping it's not a torque tube bearing. I don't have the time or motivation to replace the TT, so this may be the thing that make me sell and upgrade after 11 years. Anyone in the market for a relatively clean '85?

SQLGuy

Do you notice any additional noise or vibration from the central tunnel at high RPM (6000+)?

Bill Ball

How does the stethoscope sound on the torque converter housing? Could be the infamous loose rivets on the rear flexplate. Also, check the rear TT clamp bolt torque

Considering all you've been through, a TT swap or rear flexplate fix is a pretty small job.

Big Dave

Not that I'm aware of, but I'll check. It seems to go away once the rpms get into the 2k range and higher.

Big Dave

I'll have to check the rear. The TC was replaced with the transmission (new...not rebuilt) about 5 or 6 years ago. I had a wrench do that job, so I don't know my way around the tranny or TC.

I know I've tackled bigger jobs, but I just don't have the time to replace a TT. I've not done any real big work on the car in about 3 years.

dcrasta

Bro, I hate to break the news to you but I drove with this sound for over a year trying to deny the obvious.

Unfortunately auto's have a damper that will come apart. On my car this happened and I ended up having to pull the torque tube. The only 'correct' way to do this is to drop the front upper bellhousing, torque tube and trans as a unit. This will require you to remove the rear x-member. It's a labor intensive job, and I cannot imaging trying to do this without a lift and a transmission jack (80 $ unit at Harbor freight works great).

In my case, when I removed the torque tube from the rear flexplate/cover the last 2 bearing carriers and the damper fell out. This was the source of my problem. I had a rebuilt torque tube ready to go in and this resolved my issue.

The write-up I followed had the steps pretty well documented. The procedure I followed kept the axles with the hubs, and dropped the xmember with the axles and shocks still attached (remove the toe- eccentric).

I do not recommend trying to do this job by 'tilting or moving the transmission back several inches' . I have seen write-ups that seem to indicate removal of the torque tube without removing the trans, (or cutting the bellhousing) however I think its easier to handle as a unit (heavy, but easier as far as re-installation).

The most difficult part (aside from the weight) was access to the upper bellhousing bolts (all from below except the driver side upper bolt (from above).))

-Dont forget to remove the fender brace (the motor tilts once you take the bell-housing off and you may end up breaking the oil filler neck if you do not remove the brace).

Good luck (Pm me if you have question..).

killav

Dave,

If it is the rivets in the rear flex plate (like it was in my car), here is a good way to test for this.

1. Get the car up in the air, turn the engine over until the allen head screw in the torque converter is pointing down towards the ground like you are going to drain the converter.
2. Get the proper size allen wrench and seat THE LONG END up into the allen head bolt. Make sure it is really seated.
3. Now, you want to tap on the allen head wrench with a rubber mallet/hammer. Not hard, just enough to make the converter move clockwise/counter clockwise as it would if it were getting pulses from the cylinders firing. Tap on the side of the Allen wrench with your finger pushing up on the wrench so it won't fall out when you tap on it. If the rivets are loose, it will rattle and make a very audible noise. This is what I did and it worked great.

Also, if it is the rivets, placing the car in gear would make the noise all but dissapear (on my car anyway), as long as the converter was under a load it wouldn't rattle. But when coming to a stop from speed again, it would make noise until the engine would put a load back on the converter and rivets again...

Good Luck!

Mongo

What about the actual carrier bearings in or behind the torque converter? I have a rattle noise with a growl/grind. Car runs fine and the transmission is smooth. It was diagnosed as TC carrier bearings just being noisy and need replacing.

Big Dave

I'll find some time this week to prop up the rear end and listen to the back of the torque tube and the converter. Got my fingers crossed that it's something simple. Mike (killav) describes behavior similar to mine...the sound goes away under load and comes back when decelerating at low/idle speed. I assume the stethoscope will be much louder at the rear if it's a TC rivet other rear issue.

Mongo

Symptoms are different than mine. My noise only occurs when the car sits at idle in any gear.