2002 won't start up

I'd love a vid, but i'll take some pointers, too. What did you have to take off to get to it?

 

The starter and the transmission, which of course means pulling the driveshaft and anything else in the way of removing the trans.

 

Maybe the front pump bushing/bearing on the transmission was worn causing enough torque converter wobble to fubar the flex plate?

 

Check Ebay, I found one used for $59, and many new ranging from $100 to about $180...

I agree, check the transmission out and make sure the input shaft is tight with no wobble or back and forth play...also observe the mounting bolts on the broken flexplate and make sure none came loose possibly causing the plate to wobble and break...

It is going to be a bit of a job even with a helper or three...

 

That's the direction I kind of lean to. Shouldn't break unless the TQ converter wobbles.

 

X2

 

A lot of shit. #1, we disconnected the shifting linkage. #2, we took the trim out of the way around the shifters and removed the auto trans shifter assembly and the transfer case shifter. #3, we disconnected both drive shafts. #4, we removed the transmission upper dipstick tube. #5, we removed the starter #6, we removed both cross members. #7, we removed the trans mount (don't know if this will be necessary or not for your need. #8, we disconnected all the electrical connections to the transfer case and transmission. We actually removed the transfer case first because we were replacing the transmission but you should keep them married together. #9, we removed the access plate at the bottom of the bell housing and disconnected the flex plate from the torque converter. #10, we removed all the bell housing bolts. #11 finally, we were able to remove the transmission.

Don't let anyone fool you. This is a shit ton of work. Sean and I have heard people spout off they can remove an auto trans in a couple hours but thats' a pile of horse shit. With a lift, it's much easier. We did it on our backs. I fully recommend buying a trans jack at Harbor Freight. It's well worth the expense because it makes it so much easier to get the trans out and back in. Also, some long 1/2" extensions will make it much easier to remove some of the bell housing bolts and starter bolts.

If this is your second vehicle and you have some time to fix it, I think we'll get this multi-part video out in 2-3 weeks. Like I said, I wish we had the video ready to go because it would spell everything out really clearly for you. If you have any questions, you can email me:
mtbtim@sbcglobal.net

Good luck!

 

Holy shit. Alright, thanks! I'll try to take some pics along the way to help out people in the future.

Seriously everybody has been a huge help. I was feeling a bit lost after i found no codes on the ECU, but the last 24 hours have been a huge relief (now that i know what is wrong). As soon as i saw the flexplate busted to shit, i had a great big smile on my face. Time to get to work.

 

Oh, I forgot, you also have to disconnect the send and return fluid lines from the transmission.

 

I used to unbolt it and let the motor an trans wedge apart on Chevy and fords. Slip a 6 point long wrench in there and pull the bolts out. Drop flex plate and reverse procedure. Book paid like 6hrs to do flex plate or rear main on a 4x4. Knock that biaatch out in 1 hour.

 

Decided to update...
I couldn't get the bolts off the flexplate from the tc since it just spun, so I figured it was royally fucked. Went ahead and dripped the transmission and found this...



Good call, everybody. Time to put this girl back together.

 

Don't mix up those drive plate spacers. The one on the rear (between the bolt heads and the drive plate (aka flex plate)) and the one on the front, between the drive plate and crankshaft are different from the research I've done. Just something to watch out for.

 

Alright, she's all put back together. Decided to flush and full the transmission while I was at it and now it makes a whining noise. Should I be concerned? Seems to drive just fine. No hard shifting, no obvious leaks, used dex3, like the manual says. Levels are good, too.

 

You sure you didn't overfill it? I've had my second gen whine like that when I overfilled it... when I pulled the overflow plug to correct the level it stopped. My whine wasn't as loud as yours, but it was there.
Edit: did you also make sure the TC was seated all the way in before you bolted it back up?

 

I put in almost exactly as I got out. I made sure to measure how much I drained.
Also the tc was seated correctly.

Funny thing, the voice just went away.... Maybe just fluid cycling?

 

Probably, the valve body probably partially drained when you emptied the pan, probably had air in the system. I pulled the pan off a 4l60e the other day, changed the filter and added 5 quarts of fluid, per book instructions.... it showed way overfilled on the dipstick until I cycled back and forth through the gears a few times. It wasn't picking the fluid up until I cycled it through the gears.

 

That sound is definitely not right. Are you sure the trans fluid level is good? From what I understand, a low fluid level, a clogged trans filter or a failing trans fluid pump could all be culprits to that whining noise. Since you didn't have that whine before the flex plate failure, something you did caused it. How did you perform the flush? Did you use the method of draining out one quart of l fluid via the radiator trans cooler return line, stopped the motor and then added a quart and repeated the process until you were satisfied with the color of the ATF?

If I were you, I'd drop the pan and check to see if that fine mesh filter is clogged and starving the transmission of fluid. Please don't drive it like this anymore until you figure it out because you could be shortening the life of the transmission dramatically driving it like this.

Edit: Just read your most recent response. That's great the noise went away. I've never had that sound after drain and refill of the system or a DIY flush like I mentioned above. I have heard those fine mesh filter under the pan can get partially clogged after some time. It might be a good idea sometime in the future to drop your pan and either replace the filter or clean it out really good.

 

How much fluid you got out?

 

Glad you're getting this figured out and fixed up. All the power from the engine is channeling through that small amount of metal around those holes towards the center... seems like a natural weak point to me, given how thin the material is along with the large holes.

I know this isn't the hotrod V8 realm, but I wonder if there's an aftermarket flexplate with a little more heft (either thicker or no holes?) to it.

 

So after running it through all the gears, the whine (which only happened half the time i started) has now stopped. AT oil temp and pressures are good, she runs nicely. So as far as the noise.....

Thanks everybody who helped out. This was my first time seeking help on the forum and it worked out great, so I'll definitely be back.