so i went to the gas station today and got out went in the store came back out and started my truck and i heard this tinging noise like a heat shield is loose, but it only happens in park at idle and when i start her, ive looked for the sound and i think its coming from between the oil pan and transmission. im kinda worried but it got me home just fine wont do it in any other gear or neutral so wtf ? when sholuld i start looking what could it be and how can i find and fix it ? thanks all

 

the only thing i can really think of is to check all your fluid levels. maybe check for any loose parts.

 

so catastrofic failure is hopefully not whats going on i pray

 

Could be a loose or cracked flexplate the converter bolts to.

 

X2 on the converter bolts. Just had the same thing with an 89 suburban and that's all it was.

 

I just got done having the tranny rebuilt on the wife's Exploder because the torque converter came apart inside. It had the same noise symptoms that you describe but I also think the flex plate is more probable in our trucks. The Exploder tranny is a piece of crap.

 

ok so where is the flexplate? how much is that to replace and how hard to fix can i do it in two days and what will i need to do this ? ? or is this one of those do NOT drive until fixed things or can i take it down to my friends shop about 35 miles away? thanks for all the help

 

also just did some looking online and if it is the flex plate is there anyway i can check this without dropping the transmission? i really dont feel like that this weekend and i dont know really how to hold or drop the tranny so if i can check this out any other way that would be great thanks

 

The flex plate is between the tranny and engine. You can remove the lower front plate on the bell housing to check the torque converter bolts for tightness or cracks in the flex plate. Maybe an hour or two. After the cover plate is removed you can get to 1 or 2 bolts at a time. Just hand turn the engine a little at a time to access all of them. Use a torque wrench. (23 FT-Lbs) If you find a crack I would not drive it until you can replace it. All of the engine power is transmitted by that plate.

 

thanks for the advice any idea how much a new flex plate costs if i need it and do i need to drop the transmission to replace it ? thanks btw when i started looking thru my chiltons book it has no mention of a flexplate only a flywheel ? thought flywheels are for manuals and flex are for automatics right?