Engine to Transmission Bolt Factory Setup

[kdenmcfish]

Hey guys, hoping somebody who has worked with multiple 2.9L motors can give me some knowledge.

I've got a 2.9L with a FM146 5 Speed Mitsubishi Manual transmission, I replaced the starter last week and realized:

1) The metal plate between the transmission and motor is bent, guessing this is from me using a jack to support the trans to replace the mount. Haven't had any issues with leaking fluid from here, but I am not super knowledgeable on this scope of work.

2) There is (what I thought was) a missing bolt opposite of the starter. More specifically, the passenger side on the very bottom of the mating point. Pretty much exactly mirroring the location of the bottom starter mounting bolt.

Today I was watching another person's restoration video and they did a starter replacement, but I noticed that they also did not have a bolt where I had previously suspected one was missing. Also noticed that the metal plate between the trans/motor on theirs was also a bit chewed up.

I will provide photos if needed, but curious if anybody knows off hand if this is actually the way these came from the factory?

Also, would you say that the now malformed plate between the two is something I should be concerned about at this point.

TYIA.

 

[franklin2]

Yes, the starter bolts are threaded into the bellhousing. No test running this engine on a stand without a bellhousing to mount the starter.

The thin plate has two jobs, to be a spacer between the transmission and engine, and more importantly, to locate the starter position. The bolt holes in the starter itself are large and too sloppy to properly position the starter in the exact place it needs to be. But the large round hole in the plate should be a snug fit for the starter and locates it to the flywheel. if you ever have problems with the starter scraping the flywheel and not turning the engine, the large locating hole in the plate can be the culprit, along with a few other common causes.

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

The plate between the engine and transmission is just a dust cover, to make sure nothing goes in-between the engine and the transmission as your driving.

There a category of this site all about problems with each of the transactions in our truck.

Go to the upper right corner of the home page and open the site categories bar.

Then go to forms in that list.
Once you open that look for the transmission section.

Good luck.