Auto Tragic Strikes! (definitely not for cave men.. I mean 56k)

[chaosmonkey187]

Soooo, for a good while now, my car has been making a little bit of a rough start. It was like, a clanging kind of thing, but it definitely wasn't knocking. After giving it a good listen the other day I thought that maybe it was some weird thing going on in the exhaust (sounded like it was coming from the downpipe, kind of.

Aaaaanyways, later on that same day, I'm getting ready to head to the local exhaust guru's and I come to a stop sign and the G doesn't go. Starts, runs, makes a god awful sound, but doesn't go. First reaction. FUCK! Second reaction. Okay, lets push it off to the side of the road (ironically into a cemetary). Third Reaction. It sounds like it's the transmission. I do hope to one day have the cheese to do a 5speed or a 6speed swap, but right now is not the day and I reeeeaally can't go without my G (I live in no man's land without any other cars... Soon to be a 89 camry and a 94 Celica, but that's only soon to be). Well, yesterday, after hours of trying to get somebody to take me to get some tools and to work, I got a 36mm CV socket and this morning, at 10am. I went to work with a lot of help from P@'s 5speed swap thread. This afternoon, at 2pm, I finally drop the transmission (on my hand, but she'll be okay). Anyways, here's what I found:

According to P@, the tranny should slide out, and you'll have the torque converter and the flywheel left, awaiting you to eagerly remove the torque converter. Weeell, mine came with the tranny?













So, I obviously need a new flywheel (look at those bolt holes!) and I'm very glad that the damage is 'only' the flywheel, but based off of those pictures, does anybody think that maybe the threading in the torque converter is fucked? It looks fine to me, but the bolts are nowhere to be found

Oh, on another note, some more colateral damage.




I can't get that part of the cv joint out of the transmission, and it obviously needs rebuilt now.

Couple of questions:

Can I use a Fidanza aluminum flywheel with an auto-tragic? Where can I even find a flywheel for an auto-tragic? I need to find a way to get this fixed by Thursday ( I need to take a trip to Michigan on Friday). Hell, does anybody have a flywheel up for sale? I can't find any in any part outs, and I'm not seeing anything in the for sale section.

K, so I found a flywheel:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-01...QQcmdZViewItem

The seller looks good, and everything seems good, but just to clarify, that's what I need, right?

[David99G20T]

auto's do not have flywheels

[Zohaib]

because in an automatic, the engines rotational inertia doesn't need to be increased :\

[chaosmonkey187]

k, so it's not really a flywheel, but more of a flex plate? I don't know the exact terminology, but that needs replaced.

[Jime]

It appears that the bolts holding the flexplate to the converter worked loose, baaaad.

I think I would replace both if you keep the auto which I would. However if the CV joint won't come out you have probably pooched the trans, just replace the whole thing. Car-part.com is your best friend for doing that.

[diptenkrom]

how have you tried to get teh cv part out. they ar not easy... smal pry bar, large claw hammer. it might not be stuck just hard to get out.

at any rate, you at least need an axle, flexplate., and torque conv.

[chaosmonkey187]

so, I definitely should replace the torque converter?

Is there really any damage I could have done to the transmission? I've started it a few times, but I don't think it would make sense for it to do any damage, like, if it's not spinning how could something go wrong, yah know?

on another note, does anybody know where I can get the sizes for the bolts from the flywheel to the torque converter? I'm trying to see if it's anywhere in the FSM, but no dice.

[chaosmonkey187]

Bump for updates:

Called Mark at raxles.com and I need the axle by Wednesday, he can't do it until Thursday, going to have to get one from the local Sumner automotive. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't get another raxles axle because the one I got for my passenger side was superb. But, alas, I need this back on the road Thursday at the latest.

Damage $60

I ordered the fleabay flywheel and it should be here on Wednesday, hopefully everything about it turns out okay.

Damage $80

Also, today, ordered a torque converter from Autozone.

Damage $170

On another note, neither the flywheel or the torque converter come with the bolts to mate the two, so I'm still scrambling looking for the dimensions or something.

[chick_pleaz]

here iz wat i did to take out the cv axle...i took a flat head in between the axle and tranny to push out the axle enough...and then took a big wrench to fit around the shaft and push out...

[chaosmonkey187]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, took a good old fashioned claw hammer and pried the axle out. Didn't take much effort, worked fine.

I'm thinking (and hoping a lot) that the transmission should be fine.

K, so found the bolts (had to get them from the stealership) $6 a piece with a $10 overnight fee for a total of $35. ouch.

[jjacob]

Make sure to use a torque wrench when you put this back together. You will probably find the old bolts behind the flex plate. I would use thread lock (liquid in a tube) on the flex plate to torque converter bolts.

[2000ET1G20]

Flexplate bolts get torqued to 65 ft/lbs IIRC, and if the tq converter bolts are the same as a M/T FW then those get torqued to 16-22 ft/lbs....


I would use thread lock as stated before on the flexplate bolts.

Damn the carnage...

[chaosmonkey187]

Well, updating again:

Flex plate came in the mail today, exactly what I ordered, very happy about that. Picked up my CV Joint, aaaaand had to buy torque converter bolts from the stealership ($35 for four bolts VOR'd). The only remnants of bolts left was shredded metal, powdered metal, and all of the dings on my engine from where they fucked shit up. Luckily, no serious damage has been done to the block, just some dings and scratches.

I'll be picking up a new (remanned) Torque Converter from Auto Zone (Advance Didn't have it.. =S) tomorrow morning and going at putting this all back together. My only fear at the moment is that I fucked the transmission (although I don't see how or why it would be in any ill repair). I will definitely use some thread lock and I've got a good old fashioned torque wrench ready and waiting. The flex plate bolts torqued at 61-69 ft/lbs according to the FSM. TC Converter bolts are a little bit more than the M/T at 33-43ft/lbs according to the FSM.

I don't think I'll have time to take all of the pictures and do a write-up on installation, but in advance, I'm going to thank phatg20.net for the FSM and Pat for the most awesome transmission removal guide I've ever seen. Oh, and the thread on sr20-forums showing where the damn starter bolts are. Wish me luck, for tomorrow, I hope to drive to work.

Oh, on another note, I'm glad that I had to take off the passenger front tire, that shit is fucked up. I'll take pictures and show you guys what was going on. Pretty much, on my way to Michigan I would have had a blow out and been stranded with a fucked up G.

Total in Repairs so far: ~$500.

[2000ET1G20]

Total in Repairs so far: ~$500.

Being able to repair your own vehicle & not paying anyone else to do it:Priceless

[chaosmonkey187]

So, I wake up extra early this morning (7:30am) to get my torque converter, drop my cross member and get my ass in gear only to call Autozone to find out that my TC isn't in, yet, and my step brother (who was changing spark plugs) has my god damn ratchet. =S On a side note, the $60 core charge I'm getting is now going into the bank to cover the overdraft I thought I covered yesterday but was apparently a day too late on.

=( Sad day for me. I was hoping to drive to work.

[chaosmonkey187]

Bump for updates:

She lives!

[chaosmonkey187]

Bump for Updates:

She made a weird noise on startup before I began my 12 hour drive to Michigan. Restarted, was fine, and so I went, cruising along and enjoying the excitement of the weekend planned ahead of me. Well, about an hour and a half from home, she revs real high with little to no gas and she stops giving me any power. I'm attempting to get ahold of a towing company now. Wish me luck.

[Dane]

That blows. Hope you can get it fixed with out laying out too much cash.

[dcmystery21]

i hate to be the one to question your judgement, dont ya think driving to michigan with a car not running %100 was a little risky? im sorry to hear the bad news and i hope you get your G fixed soon! keep us posted!

[Gmac03]

Thats a pretty good deal, they are very expensive bolts, and if you ever need them again only the dealerships will have them. Because of that, go to everythingg20.com, talk with Justin.

Gmac