Torque converter won't spin

[lebon29]

How come when I have my engine completely bolted to the tranny my torque converter won't budge but when the bolts are backed off just a hair it's fine

 

[hotrodssnova]

If during the disassembly, the flex plate got bent, that could cause a bind.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

There is another out of the box answer and yes that could happen, they aren't very thick.

 

[hotrodssnova]

Sometimes that bellhousing will snag the flex plate and pull it out in a flexing manner.

 

[bryanwheat]

Flexplate is on right the bushing is just fine and and I put grease on the tq input shaft and in the bushing. Everything is back together the same way it came off and it worked fine then

So why did it work fine before you took it apart? You have a bushing that you installed the wrong way, took a grinder to, removed and installed a different way and now the converter pilot is binding in it. Seems pretty clear cut to me. I could buy another bushing that hasn't been molested and install it properly.

 

[hotrodssnova]

Updates?

 

[lebon29]

2 starter plates and it runs fine

 

[hotrodssnova]

Just keep an eye on your flex plate. If you start hearing a a clicking, Jack it up and look for cracks around the flex to converter bolts. If they start to develop, that means there is an alignment issue. Just a heads up.

 

[lebon29]

Ok thanks for the tip

It doesn't look like they flexed to much when I tightened em down

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

We had a flexplate break and thought we had a rod knocking, only to find the flexplate broken when we tore it down and that was all that was wrong, didn't need a rebuild but got one anyway! Two plates shouldn't have to be used tho but glad it worked.

 

[lebon29]

I no i dont know what else was binding it up tho I tried everything

 

[hotrodssnova]

I personally would have liked to have seen the crank bushing with the flex plate installed. That would have shown the depth of the bushing and scratches on the plate where binding was going on.

 

[lebon29]

I'm telling you there was no scratch marks

 

[92GVR4SC]

That is weird. I just installed an auto trans in my car. I did the kiggley flex plate, made sure the TC was seated all the way into the trans pump. when I bolted the trans to the motor I had about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch from the flex plate to TC pads. I was able to spin the TC and the flex plate to get the bolts in. My TO bearing was new and installed the correct way. Nothing was in a bind, so I'm wondering what's going on in your situation.