plate thickness

[DFulton]

Hey guys im doing the auto tranny in my 98 ranger. I'm putting a 2004 transmission in when i install 2004 tranny i can't turn the engine over by hand to get the bolts on the flex plate for the torque converter. does anyone know if the shim plate in-between the tranny and the engine block is different between these two years?

 

[G8orFord]

Sounds more like you didn't get the torque converter seated in the front pump on the trans and it's bound up. If you're coming from a manual, you also have to remove the pilot bearing in the end of the crankshaft so the snout of the TC will have room.

 

[DFulton]

I'm 99% sure that the torque converter was seated properly. i looked in to that yesterday when i installed the first time and then removed but when i put it back in same problem

 

[G8orFord]

Are you aligning the TC studs to the holes in the flex plate prior to bolting up the trans? If not, that's your problem. Otherwise, it's almost certainly the converter binding up on the pilot bearing or the pump.

 

[DFulton]

ya i had all the bolts going through the flex plate. maybe im binding on the pilot bearing i will look into that. thanks for info

 

[RonD]

There is no pilot bearing when using automatics, so if your 1998 had an automatic then there won't be a pilot bearing

The torque converter has to slide in to the bellhousing to line up the pump drive slots and the input shaft splines
You turn the torque converter while pushing it back into bell housing you well feel and SEE it slide back two times
Once torque converter is in all the way it will be fully inside the bellhousing touching or almost touching the bellhousing in the back
Then you can mount transmission to engine
If you accidentally tilt trans forward then redo the seating of torque converter to make sure its still aligned

Yes there is a Block plate between engine and bellhousing, this is to align starter motor with ring gear, and manuals and autos use different block plates in most years

Flex plate does have a front and back, but if it was never removed then no issue there

Long shot is that your input shaft is too long, although I think you could still install it
There were 3 different input shaft lengths over the years for the A4LD/4R and 5R
Image here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sonnax-dev/uploads/mercury_image/image/1943/figure4__7_.jpg
You input shaft should only stick out 1" as shown in fig4

 

[DFulton]

ya i had the torque converter on properly and there is a small chance it came out but its a small chance. when i pulled the tranny again i put torque converter on and shook the shit out of it to see if i could n
knock it off the pump and it took quite a bit of movement to do so. both trannys are 5r55e so shafts should be the same length. been in and out twice now with same problem. very frustrating.