Alright, jacked the 56 up this morning to try to figure out what is exactly is the cuase for the unholy noise that's coming from the flywheel is.....after getting under it I was dissapointed to see that theres no inspection covers on these things, so I'm trying to figure out how I can tell exactly what the problem is. Is dropping the transmission the only way? There was one inspection hole next to the starter, but I can't tell **** from looking in there and I can't start driving this thing until I figure out what this severe rattle is! It only does it when I'm cranking and at idle, it fades away when the rpms increase. If it's the flywheel I'd like to just throw a new one in it, but I don't have any means to drop the transmission myself, if it's just loose I'd like to try tighteneing back up or replacing the missing bolt(s) and see how it does. I'm ****ing lost here!
Sounds like loose convertor or flexplate bolts. Could also be a cracked flexplate where it meets the crankshaft. Check the conv bolts first tho. DAVE
I've experenced the same on pulling the ******..I used 2 all threads..putting them at the top side of ****** replacing 2 original bolts...remove the rest of the bolts and gently slide the ****** back about 2 inches..for the inspection..I did it with a floor jack under the tail shaft..worked for me..
Also consider a weak spring on the starter solenoid not pulling the gear back. Shifts is also correct in that there is no flywheel, but just a flexplate, thats provides teeth for the starter.
I also vote for the converter bolts... Has car been rearended anytime?? I've had two Novas that had recurring powerglide converter bolt probs after being cell-phoned in the back...I kinda think that in an accident the weight of the converter causes it to slam forward and crack the flexplate, after which the plate spends all its spare time unscrewing those bolts.
I pulled the starter off this morning, gonna check it out in a bit to make sure it's returning like it should. I'm fairly sure it's something to do with the flexplate (I've got a habit of calling flexplates flywheels, when I worked in a parts store almost every customer called them flywheels and it rubbed off), but it's hard to nail down exactly where the noise is coming from even when I'm under the car. It's just coming from that general area....I probaly won't be able to get back to the car until monday since the place I'm storing it right now won't be open again until then. I'm just trying to figure out my plan of attack. There no indication that the car has been in any accident that I can tell, nothing looks like it's tweaked, cut & rewelded, bent, or full of bondo. I've never dealt with a powerglide before so this is all greek to me. One more question though, when I was under the car, I noticed a hole in the bottom of the transmission, it was threaded and pointed straight down. It looks like the plug to drain the fluid was pointing towards the driveshaft, and it's holding fluid, so what is this "mysetery hole" and what's supposed to be in it? I meant to snap a picture of it, but forgot to before I left.
The Jalopy Journal
