question about automatic trans + broken driveplate

[mspiegle]

Ok... so I pulled my tranny off last night and found some bad news.


I have 3 main questions... more details below if you want to read:

1) If my torque converter was off-center on the drive plate and causing alot of vibration - would it be sufficient to check the end-play on the crank to ensure that no damage to the engine was done?

2) Does the center splined shaft on an automatic tranny have play in it? Mine seems to have play, but the outer splined shaft (closer to the tranny) does not have play in it. I seem to remmeber this shaft having play, but i wasn't certain.

3) Are kickdown cables on automatic trannies replaceable?




You know how there is a triangular flex-plate that attaches the torque converter to the driveplate? Well, the flexplate attaches to the TC in 3 places and I broke all 3 of those mount positions. My car was probably driven 50 miles in this condition (very bad vibrations at 2K rpms, but driveable).

Anyways... since the TC was no longer perfectly centered on the crank and causing a strong vibration, is there a good chance that the crank could be messed up? I tried jiggling the drive plate in different directions, but it seemed pretty solid. I guess the proper thing to do would be to check the end-play on the crank - right?

Also, I wasn't sure if this crazy vibration damaged my tranny or not. When I pulled it out, the center shaft seemed to have some play in it - but i'm not sure if this is normal or not. The outer shaft (with the splines closest to the transmission) did not seem to have any play in it. Here is a pic for reference:



Also... can the kickdown cable on a tranny be replaced easilly?

[AdamF 88iS]

1) Since the drive plate broke, I doubt any damage was done to the motor since that drive plate is the only direct connection to the motor in there. You can check end play if you want, but I doubt it will tell you anything.

2) That center bearing is where the majority of that vibration would have been felt. It's hard to say without feeling it for myself, but it may be looser than it should be due to that beating.

3) That cable can be replaced. You can get to it by dropping the oil pan on the tranny and reaching up to it.

[mspiegle]

1) Since the drive plate broke, I doubt any damage was done to the motor since that drive plate is the only direct connection to the motor in there. You can check end play if you want, but I doubt it will tell you anything.

2) That center bearing is where the majority of that vibration would have been felt. It's hard to say without feeling it for myself, but it may be looser than it should be due to that beating.

3) That cable can be replaced. You can get to it by dropping the oil pan on the tranny and reaching up to it.

I decided to start swapping transmissions around (check out my sig), but THANK YOU for the reply.