Update , i have spent most of the day going back and forth troubleshooting between the internet and my truck. ( i found the fuel leak, seperate issue)

I have ran a stethoscope over everything and here is where i am at. All bearings on the serp sound great, nothing too loud or unusual.

moving forward. now that i have climbed under my truck this is where the problem is..

i hopped online to research. Most people say the torque conv. but they say it sounds like marbles in a coffee can when they go out. thats not this sound. My sound is a Growl. and I just had the tranny/TC replace 29k ago. Witch brings me down my next path.

Someone on the 5 forums i am discussing this on mentioned that when a tranny gets replace, if they do a poor job it can be a little misalligned to the motor and cause the Flexplate to crack. So i did a search on google " Powerstroke flexplate crack" I came across this

1997 f250 Powerstroke flexplate issues - YouTube

this is exactly what i got going on (sound wise)

So im getting more confident this is the are i need to look. I pulled insp. cover but its hard to see much, its all clean though(no oily mess) no obvious cracks. im not sure where this crack would be. And guess what, My warranty ended at 24k, im at 29k. fckn Irony. i called and they wont even work with me on this. I asked if i could at least use their shop/lift to do my own work. Nope nope he said. makes me regret the 10 other people i refered there after the did my trans work.

So i guess i got two questions
#1 where do i look for a crack/loos bolts? if its even viewable without splitting it.

#2 any "Ninja" ways to get this thing out without dropping the tranny entirely? its less than 30F out side and this Trany/Tcase combo is fckn huge.


Im soo fckn pissed, im not sure what makes me more mad, the fact i gotta fix this bitch, or the fact that i just finished hi-stter on my wheeler and now i cant tow the fckn thing up to the snow to go play.

 

um so... some dude on another forum just sugested me to tack weld the flexplate to the spacer in three even spaced spots. to see if the rattle goes away.

this would easily avoid me pulling the tranny but.. isnt the flexplate ballanced? would thre little tack welds make it off balanced enough to cause major crank dmage? common scence tells me yes but this is all new to me.

 

Well after about 6 hours labor i found the problem. Thanks to everyone for all your help especially you danr1

Unfortunatly it took me about 1.5 to get the damn 5 inch exhaust out, and i spent 2 hours removing 1 of the TC nuts that was rounded before i got to it.

todays high outside was 36F with a wind chill of 29F. I must say i am really happy this is tsuch a cheap fix for the sound my truck was making. i can think of alot of worse things it coulda been. just a pain in the a$$ to do the job.


pics

 

Hey great! well you know what I mean not an "easy" fix could have been worse "cash" wise if it turned out that wasn't broke.

So how far did you have to move the trans, hoping you didn't have to take it all the way out?

Where you able leave the cross member in place removing bolts to frame out at each end, use it as a slide rack of sorts to move it back some supporting the bell end on a floor jack? (Off hand forget what the ends of the cross member/attachment to frame look like, if that be even remotely possible start with)

If so how wide a gap between motor and trans you end up with work in?

"Cheap" fix, that's the way we like em!

 

If you have any more questions/problems you need help with post them in the Diesel Section for 1994.5-1997 Powerstroke's. You'll find lots of help.

 

Ok , got new parts, and putting it all back together. I have the bellhousing to the E40D bolted nice and tight to the block. Looking up between the Flexplate and the TC. how much gap should be there? I dont want to do this wrong and brake another flexpalte. I call ed the trans shop down town and they said there should be a gap before you bolt the TC to the FP. im just wondering how much of a gap?

 

nvm, i just read online it should be 1/8" to 3/16"

 

While you won't be able to push the TC back far enough to allow the studs withdraw from its corresponding mounting holes in the flex plate (won't go back near that far) you should be able move it back just a little bit. In inches it be very little say 1/8 maybe 1/4" max.

If you can move it back just a hair from the flex plate, it'll rotate slightly back and forth within that space on the studs, you can move it around. And the motor rotates freely (not locked right up tight after tightening bell housing bolts) that's enough to show you do have the TC fully seated into the trans and are not crushing the pump.

Go ahead and put the nuts on the TC and button it up you're good to go.

 

i just finished tightening the Bell housing bolts. It looks like im on the right track cause i got exactly what your saying. about 1/8 gap between the TC and flexplate. with a little freeplay on the TC. It took a little effort and 3 different jacks but i was able to wiggle the trans perfect into alignment and tight against the engine block without using any bellhousing bolts. oh and i got dowel pins in there this time lol.

On a seperate note . the trans shop that did this job 30k ago did cover my parts cost on a new flexplate. i was afraid i was gonna eat this whole thing.

 

exactly my words, man, i just got my first diesel and i've only owned a 5.0 f150. its a whole new world. good luck with your problems

 

Its all fixed up now, just drove the truck 300 miles. its actually sounds quiter/smoother than it ever has. I'm stoked. Thanks again for everyones help.

 

Glad you were able to fix your problem on the cheap