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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:40 pm 
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I think his/her train of thought was that a cracked pump drive would cause lack of support and have the converter spin on a random eliptical orbit instead of on center. But agreed, that flexplate is stout, probably 12-14g

Even if one of the ears of the flexplate (or converter bolt lug) broke completely off the other three would hold the converter back out of the way. The flexplate would have to completely separate from the converter.


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:48 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 10, 2015 2:37 am
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Location: Kingman, AZ
Car Model: 1973&84 Sportsman,1987&88 D150
As far as "High Miler", 66,000 sounds low for a slant. My 65 Cuda had 200,000 and still never had problems, it was my first car and I beat it to death before I was 18. I would agree that this hub problem sounds just like you said you have experienced, it just seems strange on parts that are so low mile. This truck is in amazing condition on the inside and under as it sat a lot of years and belonged to an older fellow. It had the original Mopar hoses on it and still has original shocks and frontend bushings and ball joint parts. The alignment shop could not believe it was still in good enough shape to be aligned after I put new tires on it. I was driving it after I rebuilt the carb, put new breaks and pads, lubed everything and fixed a leaking carbon box. I had to put a smog pump on it so the ac would work and it did. I was really surprised when I pulled out of Subway and it started making the grinding noise all of a sudden!

As far as the cause to my wows, I'll tell you what I've checked so far. I can find no cracks or any other damage to anything other than the crack in the hub and tooth wear on the ring gear and starters. There is also evidence of the converter hub rocking on the teeth of the splined input shaft of the trans. The marks on the shaft dip towards the ends, if that makes sense. I can take a picture, but haven't been able to make them small enough to upload. Also the nub on the converter that goes into the pocket on the end of the crank has a shinny band around it like it was moving around. The flex plate "no cracks", crank end play "none", trans bolts "all tight", starter bolts "tight", cover plate for starter "undamaged and there", trans mount "ok", engine mounts "ok". Now that the trans is out I checked for metal in the pan "none" other than grandpas beard on the magnet. I removed the seal "that never leaked" and checked the bearing, it has no uneven wear and appears smooth other than where I nicked it getting the seal out. I thought about checking the thickness of the front bearing, but I have not ordered one yet and do not know the thickness it should be. I checked for voltage to the starter in every way I could think of with a Fluke, running, ignition on but not running, and off. looked for shorts and inspected wiring tip to tail, opened loom and rewrapped it, pulled seat and check all wiring under the dash and in the column when I changed the ignition. 3 starters, one new, one off a 65 A100 and the original all retract with a snap and seem to work fine. I even pulled out a caliper and checked for variances in the housing and clearances of the nose and gear of the three starters, all identical. Bypassed ignition wiring using battery hooked to starter and jumped ignition lug then disconnected, and it still grinded. Floor tested every starter over and over and never had one hang up or act funny. New ignition, new relay, every wire checked. Believe me, I didn't want to pull the tranny! I finally pulled tranny thinking if it was the flex plate and it gave way it could destroy the trans and maybe worse! Once the sound started it never stopped until it removed a 1/8 inch off the starter teeth on the first starter, 3/16 off second starter and 1/16 off the last. Even with ring gear worn down in three perfectly spaced areas around it, it still made the same noise but always started perfectly.The only other clue I have is that when pulling a hill or having a load in the bed, the sound would fluctuate to louder and back to normal degrees of grinding. I might throw in a A833 and say to hell with the A904! Any ideas still welcome, anyone can miss something and I'm willing to keep looking. Thanks everyone!

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PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:27 pm 
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Where you saw a crack in the converter hub, mine sheared completely off. One side of it was gone (well it didn't just disintegrate, it was floating around inside the pump) . Drove it for some time like this on a new build and gave up trying to find the noise so I started taking stuff apart until I found the issue. I don't recall any issues with the ring gear.

Scrutinize your flexplate more. Cracks can close up and become invisible if there's tension in the piece pulling it together instead of apart.

What about the flexplate to converter bolts... If those back off just a little bit they will grind against the block. Only takes one. Or the flexplate > crank bolts?

Just for fun, mount the flexplate and converter to the crank without the transmission, grab the converter, and try to wobble it.


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:07 pm 
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Location: Kingman, AZ
Car Model: 1973&84 Sportsman,1987&88 D150
I will try your ideas and see if it shows anything. I already know the torque converter bolts where tight, I had to remove them. I pried on the flex plate, but I think I will take a closer look and let you know what I find. Thanks Pierre!

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:18 pm 
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Wild guess,short story. On hot days at the end of a 30 mile run my slant would make noise [like loose flex plate to converter bolts] at idle in drive.Transmission hydraulic pressure from one circuit was cross leaking into lock-up converter apply circuit,thus lock-up partly applied while stopped.My guess is this some how side loads the converter, runs at slight angle in drive. No noise in neutral.After by passing radiator cooler and going to separate cooler not routed threw radiator this noise stopped.Now that is just my story. In early lock-ups bad pumps were a known issue,along with other things that would cause trouble.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:22 pm 
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Find posts by bigslant6fan for tranny lock up problems


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:20 pm 
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Location: Kingman, AZ
Car Model: 1973&84 Sportsman,1987&88 D150
I have the cause and effect for my problem. As per Tom Hand's book "A904 & A727 How to book" When the torque converter hub cracked it ate away the bushing causing any number of clearance problems that can result in all kinds of grinding/rubbing problems. As stated before by Dart 270, cracking hubs are common, even with low miles. I will have to check every clearance in the A904 to see how much damage has happened! Thanks everyone for your suggestions and input! I will keep everyone posted on what I find and if there are any other problems found...

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 19, 2020 2:54 am 
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Location: Kingman, AZ
Car Model: 1973&84 Sportsman,1987&88 D150
Hub cracked because of know issue of idling a904 in park causes low fluid pressure to hub bushing. most kits address this. I know its been awhile, but just in case anyone has same problem.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2022 6:21 am 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
Car Model: 1982 Dodge D150
azclpherigo wrote:
Hub cracked because of know issue of idling a904 in park causes low fluid pressure to hub bushing. most kits address this. I know its been awhile, but just in case anyone has same problem.


Thank you for updating! I have a similar problem with my ‘82 D150 slant six/automatic that this thread seems to shed light on.

The truck was running normally when parked. Tried to start it a couple of days later and the starter is making a chattering noise and not engaging, similar to what you would expect when the battery is almost dead.

- Checked the battery, it’s 100%. Tried starting it with the charger on the battery, no change.
- Jumped the power and solenoid contacts on the starter with a screwdriver, same problem. So I thought the starter was done. I went and bought a new one.
- Installed the new replacement starter, same exact problem. Bench tested this starter and it’s fine. (I should have bench tested the old starter first and saved time and money)
- I turned the engine over by hand and could hear the starter turning also, and then I heard a snap as it disengaged from the ring gear.

So, this all leads me to believe that the starter gear is hitting the ring gear and getting jammed before it can extend enough to activate the starter motor. The chattering noise is the solenoid trying to hammer the starter gear all the way in.

My next test will be to turn the engine 180º by hand and try the starter again. I’m thinking that if the torque converter is cracked and causing a wobble in the ring gear, there may be enough clearance on the other side to allow the starter to engage?

azclpherigo - Did you just replace the torque converter, or was there other work that needed to be done?


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:24 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:00 pm
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Location: kankakee IL
Car Model: 80 volare, 78 fury 2 dr, 85 D150
Old post I know, but I too have a /6 in an 85 d150 with starter/ring gear issues. I don't know if mine having a 727 rather than a 904 like past posters do makes a difference/ as they are similar transmissions except that everything on a 727 is bigger .. converter hub, splines, etc on the trans side of the converter.
It would grind and kick out depend on where in the rotation the starter first caught the ring gear. Seems like it only did so if the crank was in a certain spot in the rotation when I hit the key.
I put a different starter in, still did it (but not on the car it came from)
Since then I have put a different engine in, (NOT because of this issue!) and while I had the engine out I noticed one spot of about 8-10 teeth on the ring gear that were slightly rounded, I wouldn't think enough to cause any issues starting.
I bought this truck a couple of years ago, didn't drive it much since purchase, but did have to pull the wiring harness out and replace it with a junkyard donor as it was butchered so badly by the past owner. It wasn't running when I got it, I got it without manifolds or carb mounted. But noticed the starter grind almost from the 1st time I tried to start it once I had the original engine back together.

I replaced the converter while the engine was out, because of the damage I saw on the ring gear.
Upon startup of the new engine I notice occasionally that the starter sometimes wants to "kick out" just before the engine starts, but no grind.
I hit the key the next time and it fires up seemingly before it goes a whole revolution. When it kicks out, I haven't cranked on it all that much. It seems like just a "weak" starter bendix at this point. I've had that before, on other mopars I've owned in the past (never had any other brand of vehicle in my life!!!)

When I first went to fire up the fresh engine /though I did crank on it a good bit before I hooked up the gas line to the fuel pump to get the oil circulating on my remote gauge before allowing it to fire//and never got this kick out, then.... Now that it has spark and fuel I think that may have something to do with it kicking out now.
It doesn't do it every time , probably every 3rd or 4th time I hit the key.

It was brought up earlier, about cross leaks in the trans, messing with the lockup converter.... This trans is a lockup version but in the 150 miles or so I did put on the truck before the engine swap, the lockup never worked. once. Trans shifted and worked just great otherwise, and fluid was as clean as new, I did drop the pan and changed it out because I had to reseal the pan anyway.
I haven't tried to drive it yet with the new engine and converter but if the lock up still doesn't work I may not worry about it sonce it otherwise shifted and worked great.
Though I do like the sound of the old Mopar starter better I do have a couple of good mini starters off of newer vehicles sitting here and I might try one of those and see if it makes a difference.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 03, 2022 8:57 pm 
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:00 pm
Posts: 2798
Location: kankakee IL
Car Model: 80 volare, 78 fury 2 dr, 85 D150
Well/ I swapped in a starter that I had here, that I pulled about a month ago out of a 91, 318 Dakota that I junked out. While I am already hating the sound of the "new" mini starter, no more kick out so far. Don't know if the op ever solved anything, but hope some of this info may help someone.... Seems like there are a few starter related issues on these things. And no, I didn't swap the engine because of a starter issue, I did swap the converter (while I was in there anyway) because of it.
I've seen the cracked converter hub a few times over the years but don't remember it causing a grinding starter.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2022 9:35 am 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
Car Model: 1982 Dodge D150
So… nevermind.

It turns out my starter issue was not a major mechanical issue affecting the ring gear, it was a simple electrical one. The connection from the battery ground cable to the cylinder head was corroded. Cleaned that and the it started right up :roll:

When I first heard the starter clicking, I checked the battery connections, checked the positive cable from the battery to the starter, the solenoid wire… didn’t think about the ground to the engine. :oops:


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2022 10:47 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:00 pm
Posts: 2798
Location: kankakee IL
Car Model: 80 volare, 78 fury 2 dr, 85 D150
Yeah ground issues cause more problems than they are given credit for.
Thanks for letting us know..
My son has a ramcharger that went "click click" on him this last weekend. All he had was a fluke meter and he told me "the battery says 12.89" granted this wasn't under a load.
I ain't the best at electrical issues they give me fits.
But I went over and got that fluke meter and went from battery hot to the ground at the engine block end
Less than a volt.
He has the wingnut type battery terminals usually I see them on marine stuff. He was getting nothing from the battery post to the threaded stud on the terminal.
I took the ground cable off at the wingnut and bolted it to the thru bolt that holds the terminal to the battery. Truck started right up.
I have had problems with OEM factory cables losing connection to the terminal within the lead, jiggle cable at the crimp and "fix" a bad connection many times over the years.


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