98 LS with Auto trans. separated trans from block. auto plate remains. does it just pop off? or am i needing some special pressure tool?

i understand on manual, there are bolts = give away. yet with auto. no evidence of any.

anyone with experience removing this part?

thanks in advance.

 

are you talking about the flexplate? flywheel?

 

yes. flexplate. because its an auto. flywheel would be a manual.

 

the flexplate is part of the torque converter

 

yepp flexplate is part of the tc as u can see it is welded on

 

uh what? The drive plate (aka flex plate) is not even shown in that picture above. It's #7 in the diagram below.



It's not like the manual transmission flywheel with the starter gear teeth. The starter gear teeth is on the torque converter housing itself, with the drive plate as a separate piece.

 

Your suppose to unbolt the flexplate before even unbolting the tranny. You can mess up the tranny otherwise

 

oh i am? yikes. thanks for the heads up. i just saw the little 10 mm bolts on the back, under side of the flexplate. however, they are not even connected to the same part. thanks for the help!

and THANK you DRIVE PLATE is really what i needed.

 

To be clear, the drive plate is bolted to the crankshaft in the center, just like the M/T flywheel. However the drive plate is also bolted to the torque converter via small bolts accessible with the lower drive plate cover removed (#2 in the diagram). When removing the A/T assembly, you have to rotate the crankshaft a little at a time to remove those small bolts, then remove the A/T (torque converter comes out with it).

Leaving the torque converter bolted to the drive plate and yanking the A/T main shaft out of the torque converter is not a good idea. The reason is that the torque converter is a heavy object, normally supported by the transmission itself. The drive plate is a relatively thin piece of metal. If you yank the trans out and leave the TC on the drive plate, then you have the TC hanging off of that thin drive plate.

Conversely, the M/T flywheel is relatively thick, and the clutch pressure plate is light, so the pressure plate bolts to the flywheel (instead of the other way 'round) on M/T cars.

But yeah, as I stated above, the drive plate is not shown in your picture at the top.

 

I really appreciate that. I was able to take out the whole engine and put it on a table before taking the transmission off, so it was not hanging there, the transmission was supported from above and below. there was not pressure on vital parts. i see what you mean exactly about the little bolts below the plate. i never noticed till you just told me. again i appreciate the insight, A LOT!