Is the Flywheel part of the motor or is it part of the trasmission??
The reason I am asking is because I just had a new used motor put in my ranger and there is a ticking noise , the shop that put in the new/used motor stated that the flywheel is part of the transmission and NOT the motor.
The flywheel is attached to the engine crankshaft with bolts.
So if the engine was replaced doesn’t mean the flywheel was replaced.
Tester
Some other possibilities for ticking:
Noisely/collapsed lifters
Exhaust leak at the manifold
My gut is telling me that there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Is this a manual or automatic?
Automatic
What I am getting at is should the flywheel been replaced at time of the motor was put in?? or is it a part that can “reusable” part?? The reason the motor was replaced because the crank broke…
I heard this “ticking” noise then took it back to the shop that I got the motor from and the warranty is still good on the motor I just think they are pinning it on something else than the motor. Thanks
If it has an automatic transamission then it doesn’t have a flywheel but instead a flexplate. And yes, the flexplate can be removed from the old engine and installed on the replacement engine.
Tester
@ttonknka3 from my personal experience, a cracked flexplate usually makes a very deep, rumbling sound. Some guys have mistaken it for bottom end problems.
So here are more questions?
Does the noise sound like it’s on the top end or the bottom end?
If you TEMPORARILY run the engine without the belt, is the noise still present?
Does this ticking noise speed up with the engine RPM’s?
If so, one thing to have checked out is that the torque converter to flex plate hardware was torqued to spec with a thread locking compound. If this hardware loosens up, it can cause the rotor and stator in the toque converter to come in contact with each other causing this type of noise.
This can sometimes be missed when installing an engine into a vehicle with an automatic transmission.
Tester
It’s also possible for a flexplate to become damaged if someone does not have the torque converter full seated on the splines when installing the engine. When the bolts attaching the transmission to the engine are tightened this can possibly crack the flexplate around the flexplate mounting bolts as it forces the converter onto the splines or during the initial engine startup.
A flexplate has no moving parts and is nothing but a disc basically. The part about claiming the flexplate is part of the transmission rather than the engine makes them sound suspect.
Any flexplate problem is more than likely due to something being overlooked or botched.
There’s also the issue of fitment. The truck is a 98 but what year is the engine? There’s always the possibility of a flexplate production change and whether or not they’re using your original flexplate or one that came on the replacement engine.
Take it to another shop and get a second opinion even if it costs a little money. It sounds like the original place is trying to get out of fixing something to me.
@ok4450 I mostly agree with you.
However, some of the GM small block engines are known to eat flexplates every few years. So it’s not always the result of a botched repair.
It could possibly be that the flexplate is not properly balanced for the new motor. Probably unlikely, though.
@db4690 I agree that some flexplates have been eaten on GM engines but all of the damaged ones I’ve seen were the victims of starter drive gnash due to the starter motor not being properly shimmed out.
The ones that were cracked around the mounting bolts and made noise always had a history of someone having the motor or transmission out before the problem started.
In the case of one particular Subaru, the installation error on the converter splines caused the entire center section of the flexplate to tear out. The engine would run but the converter would not spin.
I am hesitant to rip the shop here but a flexplate is either good or it isn’t and any problem is detectable by eyeball. The part about the flexplate being part of the transmission instead of the engine in an attempt to explain it away just sounds suspect to me.
With tongue in cheek, the shop might be asked how they manage to pull an engine and leave the flexplate attached to the transmission or the converter… 