OK guys, dumb question here. I should know this. I don't know which way my flexplate goes on. I got this one from TA about 8 years ago. It is the black one without any holes. I believe it is a JW. Does the smooth side (without any weights), or the side with the weights go towards the engine. Thanks! Tom Jenkins
I can't tell you about the weights, since my motor is internally balanced and the flexplate doesn't have any weights. I will tell you that the flexplate bolt holes will only line up one way, so that should make it simple. A word of warning though. Make sure the side with the "lip" at the edge of the ring gear is the side facing the motor. JW made a bunch of them incorrectly (with the "lip" facing back towards the trans) and a lot of people (myself included) installed them anyway. If it's one of those "incorrect ones" , it won't give the starter gear enough bite into the flexplate ring gear. It'll still crank it over, but it won't engage completely. I killed two JW flexplates in a row for that reason. You could see by the wear pattern that the starter gear was only engaging the flexplate ring gear about halfway. Eventually, it tore up the ring gear. If you got one of the bad ones, send it back! JW is aware of the problem, so it shouldn't be a hassle to exchange it. Good Luck!
Yes that is correct. The ring gear lip side goes towards the motor and i have seen the weight be on either side. Some flex plate company's do that? Either side the weight is on it will clear the motor or the converter with no problem.:TU:
Flywheel I just put a JW on my car a couple of weeks ago(after the weight flew off the stock one and broke the trans. case) and the weight went to the engine and also the ring gear. Charlie told me about the problem with some being made wrong. Hope you have no problems. Jim N.
It would be nice to see the serial numbers on the bad lot. I am putting one on now also. I just installed it and stripped a torque conv. bolt. The thicker flexplate should logically require a longer bolt to maintain thread engagement. Summit Racing says they are not made longer so ....So much for logic. Does anyone know the torque requirements of the torque converter to flexplate bolts? Dan
