Motor wont spin after putting it back in.

[86rangerxlt]

okay so i pulled the motor. replaced the rear main seal new oil pan gasket. put the flywheel and torque converter back on. torqued them down. put the motor back in spun it before it got it all the way in to make sure the spline was meshed seemed so. dropped it in. got everything bolted up went to start it and the starter just clicks (battery is fully charged) but i can hear the gear trying to engage. i grab a socket and torque wrench and try to turn the motor by hand and it wont turn. finally it turns and its real hard but starts to get easier. i hear grinding coming from the starter area. so i pull the starter. then try to turn it by hand again back to the same thing wont spin no matter how hard i pull. even had my pops give it a try and still nothing. so im totally baffled and i have no clue what is going on. any thoughts?

 

[bigblue88]

did you put the starter on rite, i did that once and had to replace a flywheel.

 

[86rangerxlt]

Yeah same here only the flywheel was trashed before I got it. But even with the starter out I can't turn it by hand with a wrench so I don't think its the starter. It ran when I drove it into the garage a week ago right after dropping the motor back in the first time. I had to pull back out to replace the rear main seal.

 

[Boggin]

i am thinking your torque converter probably isnt seated correctly?

 

[martin]

OK, just to confirm what you did. from what I understand you bolted the flex plate to the motor, then the torque converter to the flex plate. then you bolted the motor back onto the transmission? Order of assembly is very important.

 

[polar765]

torque converter is difficult to align with the front pump in the tranny ,if not aligned it will take out the pump ,if it didn't slide together freely all the way to the engine it might be the problem ,you can replace the front pump easily ,

 

[noahkenny]

Yep, sounds a lot like the converter isnt seated properly. It should have went in three times. You should have felt three bumps when reinstalling the converter. Even if you didnt remove the converter from the tranny you could have still disengaged it when you pulled the engine and it didnt go back when when you reinstalled the engine.

 

[86rangerxlt]

OK, just to confirm what you did. from what I understand you bolted the flex plate to the motor, then the torque converter to the flex plate. then you bolted the motor back onto the transmission? Order of assembly is very important.

yeah it went flexplate converter then transmission. i even spun the motor by hand as it went onto the spline to make sure it meshed. i did this last week only i didnt take the flexplate/converter off to replace the rear main seal. last week it went in fine and started up. but thats when i saw oil pouring out the inspection plate and realized my rear main seal was trashed.

 

[Duane867]

Pull the plugs and try to spin it. Make sure its in neutral.

 

[86rangerxlt]

that was the first thing i did duane. i pulled the motor again today. the flexplate appears to be warped. gonna take it down to the mechanic that replaced it some months ago.

 

[swamprat]

torque converter must be seated on transmission first! Flex plate on engine then bolt converter to flex plate. If not done in that order you risk damaging the pump on the transmission

 

[swamprat]

did you have to force the trans to the engine? pulled it tight using the bolts? If you did then you warped the flexplate in the process.

 

[86rangerxlt]

did you have to force the trans to the engine? pulled it tight using the bolts? If you did then you warped the flexplate in the process.

yeah had to do that twice. first time it worked second time after replacing the rear main seal it didnt. so yeah tomorrow im picking up a new flex plate.

basically i put the flexplate on the motor and the torque converter in the bellhousing on the pump spindle then drop the motor in and mate the converter to the flexplate?

also today when pulling the motor the middle part of the spindle slid out as we pulled the motor like it was stuck in the converter. basically the spindle stayed but the smaller center part came out but it slid back in. is this a problem?

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I think you've damaged the pump in the transmission now. You're going to need more than just a flex plate...

 

[86rangerxlt]

how will i know if i damaged the pump?