Hello! First off, thank you for even looking at this post, any advice is well appreciated.

- I have a 01 F350 7.3 automatic 4x4 CCSB.
-Almost all stock besides:
-6637
-4" turbo back exhaust
-Old superchips tune
-previous owner had the transmission rebuilt (or so he claims)

In September my flex plate broke. Took it to my trust mechanic, he took the transmission out of the truck and discovered that not only was my flex plate broke but the balancing weight on the torque converter was bent upwards. He re-welded the weight, put in a new flex plate in and I was good to go.

The mechanic also noticed that the case was once cracked and rewelded. Looks as if its structurally secure, but they only welded it on the outside.

I also have been noticing that it takes a longer time to shift in to reverse than normal. Like maybe 2-3 seconds, and not the instantaneous that I'm used to in other trucks.

The previous owner explained he had the transmission rebuilt because he was towing his 5th wheel camper up a steep grade, thought he was in 1st, turns out he was in 2nd and roasted the transmission. He explained that he had his transmission done by the best guy in town and used all great parts, and even included a shift kit in the rebuild.

Sooooooo that was all in September. Mid October came around and the same thing happened again! Cracked flex pate! I haven't towed or really beat on the truck at all really..

Before I go and spend a ton of money, I'm thinking of researching a few options..

The best option I can think of, mainly to keeps costs low would be:

Replace Flexplate and get a Torque converter ($400 from advance auto parts)

What do you guys think? Do you think this transmission is smoked? Am I just putting a band aid on the problem?

Up for any advice or suggestions.

 

Get a billet flex plate and torque converter and you wont have that issue again.

 

Don't get an Advanced Auto torque converter. At best they are OEM spec, and that is optimistic. OEM TC has been known to be a weak point which can cause premature tranny failure. Get a good HD converter from a reputable source.

 

The reverse engagement sounds normal to me, and it seems common on the forums. Slow enough that ya gotta factor it in when plotting vectors in the parking lot.

In your shoes I'd do as the others suggested and spend extra on quality TC and flex plate. Put it back together, hope for the best. But if you can swing it a BTS or John Woods trans will remove all doubt.

And if you tow a trans cooler from a 6.0 truck is a mandatory upgrade, IMHO.

 

If your eating flexplates, My bet would be that your TC is unbalanced....welded weight or not. Something banged up against that weight and tried to rip it off. hard enough to crack the housing. everything should have been replaced , not patched.... but when your on the road.....anything is doable...