Exhaust Torque Converter

Exhaust Torque Converter

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Ticking between engine and torque converter?

I have a ticking noise on the underside of my 89 Camaro that looks and sounds like it's coming from the torque converter area. The ticking increases and decreases with the engine speed. With the engine running it looks like the flex plate has a slight wobble to it. I know that there's the possibility of an exhaust leak tick or a valve tick, but I'm pretty positive that this is my problem area. Is there a way to tighten the flexplate/torque converter to get rid of the ticking? Or could the probelm be related to my crankshaft? ?

I own a shop, and have had a transmission shop for years now. I have seen about everything concerning flex-plates over the past 40 years. There is a possibility that the flex-plate is cracked from the center out to the bolt holes the converter attaches to. In retrospect; yes this can cause a ticking noise. Another thing it can be is; the hub on the torque converter hitting the crankshaft for some reason. This rings especially true if it was an engine that had a standard shift transmission attached to it at some time or the other. If there is a pilot bearing up inside the crank, and the torque converter is pulled up tight; it may even break the flex-plate, or push the converter back too far into the pump of the transmission. Its always a good idea to bolt the converter to the flex-plate by itself to see that it fits into the crank good, and isn't tight or off center. If it is; it won't take it long to eat the front pump bushing & seal out of the transmission. Some engines has a bushing in the crank that centers up the torque converter, and if the bell houshing of the transmission is off center on the dowl pins, it can cause many problems. They make offset dowl pins for this purpose, and can be purchased from Jegs or Summit, but these are mainly used on straight drive transmissions where they use an aftermarket bell houshing.
99% of the time, a ticking noise like what you have is caused by a spun rod bearing. The noise will travel down the crankshaft, and fool you into thinking its coming from the flex-plate/flywheel area. Another thing it can be is; If you have a roller type cam, it may be walking back too far in the block, and causing a lifter to contact the next lobe slightly on the camshaft. The way to tell if its an engine problem is; to cut the oil filter apart, and see how much metal you can get from the filter with a magnet. If there is metal; then you might as well take the engine apart an install a new crank kit in it before it spins the bearing/bearings more, and it locks down on you.
Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!