Broken Flywheel - Need Torque Converter?

TORTANUS

MEMBER
TOYOTA PICKUP

I have a 1992 Toyota Pickup, 6 cylinder, 3.0 liter, auto tranny, 2 wheel drive.

I'd been hearing a clicking sound coming from what I now know was inside the bell housing. On the way home at 3am the truck went dead and I had it towed to a mechanic who took the tranny out and said my flywheel was broken. He's going to replace it, but suggested I put in a torque converter because there's no knowing what damage could have been done to it. He gave me a 50% chance of it being damaged. He also suggested a full tranny rebuild since a little leak was found.

Do I really need the torque converter or the tranny rebuild?

4 Replies

MMPRINCE3000

MECHANIC
133 POSTS

It's called a flexplate on an auto, manuals use a flywheel.
A couple things can happen to a flexplate, the bolts that couple it to the converter can come loose/break and damage the converter. There is a "ring gear" welded to the flexplate that the starter engages to start the engine. The welds can break causing the gear to seperate, this can also damage the converter and transmission case.
While it may need a converter, I would not tell you it needs a rebuild without removing the tranny and inspecting it (same for the converter).
The leak could be as simple as an axle seal.

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Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 AT 5:19 AM

TORTANUS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Great! Thanks for the input. I'm hesitant to put $2000 in for the rebuilt tranny, but I'll see what it costs to put in the converter as well as the flexplate. Right now they want about $850 for the flex plate install with parts ( $160 for the part). They said $2800 for the whole rebuild.

At least I can converse with them more easily.

Sean

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Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 AT 9:11 AM

TORTANUS

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3 POSTS

Can the torque converter be inspected to see that it was damaged? And if there is no sign of damage, can it still be damaged?

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Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 AT 9:33 AM

MMPRINCE3000

MECHANIC
133 POSTS

Yes, it can be inspected and tested. Call around to see who can do it.
If you need to replace the tranny, you can get a used one at a junk yard. I replaced one last year in my '91 Prizm and (so far) it works great. Cost me $400.

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 AT 5:37 AM