Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Hexagon shaped rod between motor and tranny?????

I replaced the motor in my 98 V6 tour. I pulled the motor from a 99 wreck, that had the MTX. Mine is an ATX, so I used the tranny from my car, motor from the wreck. When I was hooking the ATX up to the motor, there is this hexagon shaped rod that appears to just float inside the tranny input shaft..... Anyone have any idea what this is for? The reason I'm asking is that I'm getting a metal-to-metal grinding high pitched noise when the engine is running, and it is definitely coming from between the engine and tranny. I was 99% sure that the flywheel was somehow rubbing the aluminum spacer plate between the motor and trans, but on the weekend I seperated the two as far as I could while leaving the motor and trans in the car, and I could not see where it would be rubbing. So, I'm going to pull the motor again this week, and pull apart the motor and tranny, and see what I can see! Any heads up or ideas on what to look for would be greatly appreciated!

DO NOT RUN THE CAR ANY MORE!

u did not put the toqure converter in right u need to pull it apart and take the trans to a shop so they can show u how to instal it the right way.

How could I of not installed the torque converter correctly? I bolted the flywheel to the crank, torqued the bolts to spec, then bolted the torque converter to the flywheel, again torquing to spec. Is there something I'm missing?

when u put the converter back in the trans u did no put it in all the way

The hexagon shaped rod fits inside the the ATX input shaft. This rod fits into your torque converter. When you install the torque converter onto the atx, spin it around and work it down until you here a slight grinding noise. This is the spline on the input housing hiting the inside of the torque converter. This is how you know you have the torque converter down all the way on the the atx. When you abut the atx to engine, you should have to slide the torque converter forward to the engine to bolt it down. This provides enough clearance when you do this.

Make sure you have the hexagon rod in all the way. You should see wear marks from how far it was in previously.

Bob

Bob,

Thanks very much for your educated reply. I have read your write up on the rebuild, neat stuff! I'm pulling the motor/trans assembly this week, hoping to have it back together by Sunday. Will let you know if I need any other advice!

Thanks!
Jeff

Well, had the motor and tranny out yesterday, seperated the two, unbolted the flywheel, and voila! The flywheel was rubbing the thin aluminum spacer plate. I must have bent it a bit last time I put the motor in. So, I fixed the plate up, put everything back together, got the motor and tranny back in today, and she runs like a champ! I was really worried about the trans after the other guys posts, but turns out it was a fairly minor problem, just involved me pulling the motor/trans assembly again!

Curious, how long does it take you to pull that motor & tranny?

Glad to hear it was something so minor! Did you drop the subframe with the motor and pull it out from underneath the car?

Regards,
Bob

I pulled the complete assembly out the top. Thought about pulling the subframe, but I don't have a hoist, so it would be tough to get the car high enough to clear the engine. Pulling it out through the top took me about 3 to 4 hours, putting it back in took about 3 hours as well. Really not that bad, but not something I would want to do every weekend!