flex plate keeps breaking

[spanky50]

hi guys, I'm having a problems with my flex plate breaking? 97 4.0 4x4 ranger auto

 

[franklin2]

How many times has it broken?

 

[RobbieD]

On one of my trucks I went through 3 broken flex plates before giving up and converting it to manual. 1990 2.9 / A4LD.

All of my plates cracked at the center, around the crank bolts. The only thing that made sense to me, was that one of the two, probably the transmission, was machined out of spec which either made the center-to-center (of the shafts) not align correctly, or that the parallelism was off between the two.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Where is it breaking? Is there evidence that the starter is causing a problem?

 

[spanky50]

around the crank. this one broke in 2 days. this is number 2. i put new motor and trans in 2 years ago. 10,000 miles

 

[franklin2]

Do you suppose the dowel pins fell out that are pressed into the engine? Or possibly the engine was rebuilt and the dowel pins were removed and they forgot to put them back in place? The bolts do not align the engine and trans, the dowel pins do that.

 

[2011Supercab]

That's exactly what I was thinking, both dowel pins are missing.

 

[901wd#2]

Bad thrust bearings and crank walk?

 

[bobbywalter]

you have to replace the spacer every time you take it apart....well...if its been on there long enough to murder a transmission

 

[bobbywalter]

its made out of powdered metal....and there is the later 97 plus flexplate that is thicker....its the one that dont have the 3 weld spots. and the newer tq converters have longer snouts....

when i do a a4ld 5r55 or whatever....those are part of the deal.

 

[bobbywalter]

Crankshaft Space 6 Hole Sonnax 4R44E 4R55E 5R44E 5R55E A4LD

Ford Mazda Mercury Mcw Aerostar Explorer/sport Trac Ranger Pickup B Series Mountaineer Explorer Transit Navajo Pickup. Free shipping with minimum order.

suntransmissions.com

that is the upgraded unit that is not powdered metal.



97.....you probably need the 8 hole...

A4LD, 4R44E, 5R55E Crankshaft Spacer, 8 Bolt | eBay

A4LD Autoamtic Transmission Crankshaft Spacer, 8 Bolt (4.0L) (1985-1995) (AF235SA) (F77Z-6434AA)

www.ebay.com

 

[spanky50]

thanks guys. its fixed for now i hope. but if it happens again ill realy have to do something.