Flexplate Inspection Question

[carluvr]

I have a 96 GMC K1500 Suburban with Vortec 350 that has what I believe to be a cracked flexplate. After spending much of the week trying to diagnose the problem and how to fix it, I've decided to send it to a shop to have the work done. Before I do that, I have a few questions:

Will removing the inspection plate to see the flexplate allow me enough access to see if the flexplate is cracked around the bolt holes and also to determine if the bolts are (visually) as tight as they should be? I realize that replacing the flexplate requires moving the tranny back to gain access, hence my decision to let a shop do it.

Also, is removing the inspection plate itself just a simple matter of removing a few bolts? (I haven't had much time this week to get under there and look for myself, but this sounds fairly simple to do before I send it to a mechanic, just to be sure I'm on the right track with all of this.)

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

 

[sewlow]

There's no inspection plate on a 4L60e, but there is a 'window' on the bottom left side. By sticking a prybar in there, you should be able to move things around enough to hear/see the break.
Undo the drive shaft & hold it up with a wire or bungee. No need to remove it. Remove the crossmember bolts, & the trans mount bolt. Push the trans up so you can separate it from the crossmember. Slide that back. Again, no need to remove that either. The trans oil lines to the cooler don't have to be undone, either.
Remove the starter.
Support the trans.
Start undoing the trans-engine bolts. The top 2 are a major PITA!!! The one on the pass. side also holds the dipstick tube. This one was the hardest one of all of them to get back in, because when you slide the trans back, it pulls the tube out of the trans a bit. Have to work it back in in order to get it to line up with the hole on the trans/engine.
From where the starter was, look in there, towards the back of the truck & you should be able to see the torque converter bolts. Have to rotate the engine by hand to get at them, one by one.
Now you can slide the trans back about 4"-6" so that you can get at the bolts on the flywheel from underneath.
Replace the trans in the opposite procedure of taking it apart.

I just did mine. But it was on a 2whl. dr. Someone else will have to chime in on the 4X4 transfer case stuff, 'cause, well, I just don't know about that!

 

[94Sierra4x4]

You may have to seperate the transfer case from the transmission in order to slide it back far enough to allow access to those bolts.
Of course, front driveshaft as well will need to be unbolted on one end and wired up out of the way as sewlow stated.

You could save yourself a lot of money by doing this project yourself.
I'll go have a look and see if the transmission and case will slide back far enough when bolted together

 

[carluvr]

I forgot to mention that the truck does have 4WD.

 

[great white]

You cannot visually check the tightness of the crank bolts. You need to put a torque wrench on them.

You can visually check to see if they have backed out though.....that will be obvious once you get eyes on them.

 

[Blind]

You will need to remove the exhaust Y pipe first, then the trans crossmember.

the transmission can slide back enough to not need to be removed, with the transfer case bolted up, the driveshafts will just need to be removed which will leak a bit of fluid out. You will probably need to remove the trans cooler lines to be able to move the transmission far enough back.

It's all very easy and straightforward to do if you have a transmission jack and a basic mechanics tool set.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[carluvr]

Thanks all, for the tips and help. I would love to be able to tackle this job myself but my biggest problems is the lack of time to do it. This is my wife's vehicle and we have 4 young children so we need it up and running ASAP. You've given me some good information to think about!

 

[sewlow]

4 young'uns? Yup! You have NO time!!!

 

[94Sierra4x4]

Yup.. to the shop it goes!
Let us know what they diagnose the problem as

 

[badazzbulldog]

just wanted to chime in on a 96 4l60 there should be a cover to remove to see the flywheel,99 was when they went to the one piece bell housing,also you can slide the trans back enuff to get at the bolts to remove the flywheel if it is cracked its tight but can be done,i've done it on 2 trucks for friends of mine