Just another quick update, firstly thank you QinteQ as we've discussed elsewhere I always appreciate another pair of eyes and ears on a job, kind thanks as always.

The latest is using the mechanics stethoscope my father and I managed to eliminate most of the engine block, injectors, top and bottom of engine so went back to looking at flexplate and gearbox, gearbox was silent (As you'd expect from a parked up car!) and the flexplate housing seems to be the focus of noise, so we've decided to go down that route.

Ordered a flexplate and casing from Chrysler dealership nearby (Under £100) and we're going to set about getting in there and replacing the flexplate and find what damage is in the flexplate to torque converter housing.
Going to be an involved job, at a glance it's drive shaft off, unbold the flexplate from the torque converter (By dropping the oil pan to get better view/access), drop the auto transmission box down and should then give visibility of the flexplate attached to the main crank and also the torque converter. We should then have a bit more of an idea what's going on in there and what the cause has been.

If anyone has any advice on dropping the autobox and similar please let me know, otherwise it'll be a suck it and see, following the pictures and videos we've found online.

 

Haven't done one for many many years Andy and always had the luxury of borrowing a full 4 poster and windy tools etc. There's a post on the other forum "neilgibson" who's very recently done 2 off and one on, worth asking there particularly as it includes a failing flex.

I assume you are going to drop and bench the box, inspect, reassemble.I assume you are going to drop and bench the box, inspect, reassemble.As I REM from the olden days nothing much other than hard graft and lots of other bits to remove to even get at parts when its on jacks + stands [full rebuild here]. Torque[ing] the flex should be a 3 stage in sequence whereas the bell is really not a big deal if the faces are good. Its prolly a hard work 3 man job, good socket set and TWrench, 2lb rubber hammer + pry bars, bright light and a spare jack to take the weight when its off the support crossmember. I'm hoping after this it is the flex M8. Try neilgibson for recent pointers lad, , best of luck.

 

Hi folks,

Well after a couple of days of hard work (Mainly by my father I have to say!) we got the gearbox separated from the engine to get at the flexplate, took it off and it's pretty obvious that's been the problem:



That was ready to let go by the looks of it!

I'm going to write up how, etc, shortly but briefly a few points on getting at the flexplate/torque converter:
* Took hub off, didn't need to take drive shafts out, just undid nut on driver side and allowed it to slide, gave us enough movement to get into the flexplate housing
* Most engine mounts had to come off, so engine had to be supported during work
* Gearbox separated not too bad once all bolts were removed, some nasty positioned bolts, one towards the rear upper (against the back of engine block) was tricky, couple at the top tricky but with wiper tray off that helped, couple of bolts in the wheel well were tricky as metal plate that forms the wheel well got in the way, but a few wobble sockets and it did the job
*Removing starter motor actually gives you the best view of the flexplate itself and the bolts that connect to the torque converter, so ignore going at the bolts from the bottom by the sump, go from the hole where the starter motor fits (Could have left the oil sump on in hindsight!)

It's not fully back together yet, waiting on some new bolts that join the flexplate to the torque converter as they were a bit chewed. We're suspecting somebody has been in here before and done work on this as they look like removal chewy on the bolts not damage, so replace them since we're in that region.

I'll post back once it's all back together and report on how things are!

 

At this stage you can safety predict flex not tone bars then, and it is already the whole circle. 75% of the work and 100% of the diagnosis already done. At the end hopefully you will have your chariot back and better than it was before.

Congrats to you .. .. and those who help you, additionally even though flex is an unusual 'one-off' UK forum users will benefit from this thread if ever they have to face the terror of diagnosis let alone repair.

 

I'll have another Beer to this result then, but as its getting late I'll have it tomorrow.

 

Just for complete-ness I've done a write-up of the whole saga, and all the steps I did to diagnose, try out, etc, so it might be useful to others for the future.

Andy Brown's blog: Chrysler Grand Voyager flexplate replacement

It covers:

• Balance Shaft Assembly on base of engine
• Accessory belt removal/replacement
• Oil Sump removed
• Balance Shaft Assembly removed
• Injector return leak test
• Flexplate removal (Separation of the gearbox and the engine)

 

Thanks Andy.