NOISY FLEX PLATE, KEEPS CRACKING AROUND MOUNT ING SCREWS (3) , WELDED UP CRACKS AND REPLACE SCREWS, IN A WEEK STARTS GETTING NOISY AGAIN WE HAVE WELDED THESES CRACKS 3 TIME NOW, HAVE REPLACED NEW FLEX PLATE ONCE AND IT CRACKS, GET LOOSE AND NOISY (HAD TO REMOVE ENGINE) HOW CAN THIS BE FIXED SO IT WILL LAST LONGER-RON

Neither it uses a flex plate and the ring gear is welded to said flex plate, any parts store can get you one or go to a salvage yard and get one.

Three most likely causes are: #1 You forgot to tighten up all the torque converter to flex plate nuts/bolts. #2 You cracked the flex plate during the transmission change. #3 You forgot to swap one or both of the alignment dowels from the old transmission to the new one during the change. These are hollow dowel pins. They go between the bell housing of the transmission and the engine block. Failure to have both dowels in place will lead to the flex plate cracking [see #2]

• sounds like the upper plastic intake is leaking coolant into the combustion chamber. when you crank it it causes a hydrolic lock and break the starter. common problem

take the transmision cover plate off the bottom and check your flexplate for cracks or loose bolts between the flex plate and the torque converter..also chheck your motor mounts.. you may have a broken mount allowing the fan to rub on the shroud..

take it to a welding shop or a body shop,, it needs a plate welded

Noises are very hard to diagnose without actually hearing it. If it sounds like it is coming from around the tranny you may have a cracked flex plate. The flex plate is bolted onto the end of the crankshaft and is between the engine and transmission. It connects the crankshaft to the torque converter of the transmission. It also has a gear around it that the starter uses to turn the engine over. Have you noticed the starter sounding different when you start your car. A cracked flex plate will cause that or you may have a faulty starter causing your sound. Flex plates get cracks around the bolts that hold it to the crankshaft and can make a clicking noise. You may be able to remove the cover off of the bottom of the bell housing of the transmission and inspect it. Look for cracks or rust trails which is evidence of a crack. Not sure if you will be able to see far enough up in there or not. Rotate the engine around a little so you can get a look all of the way around it. It could be an engine or valve train noise also. Noises can ressonate through other components and make it hard to pinpoint. You may need to get some kind of stethoscope to help locate it.

The broken flex pipe can easily be fixed with a generic flex pipe for less then $100.
The catalytic converter is after that, so has nothing at all to do with it.
But cracks can also brazed or welded to fix.
However, the reason flex pipes break is from excessive engine movement.
That almost always means a loose bushing on a motor mount.
So do that first.
Should be less then $50.
Never take a car to a dealer unless you absolutely have to.
They charge twice what it should cost, because they want to sell new cars, not fix older ones.

You have a grinding noise when it's running or when you try to start it?
There is an inspection cover just behind the oil pan of the engine. If you remove it you can see the teeth on the flywheel. Chances are that the flywheel may still be good and the starter drive (part of starter) may be failing. If so and you leave it that way it will damage the flywheel. On automatic cars it's called a flex plate. And yes if you have a chrysler trans on there the converter may have the ring gear welded on.

Have the transmission mount checked. Also have them show you the damaged flex plate. ticking noise may be the dust cover rubbing the flex plate.

1997 Honda Passport 4wd
Make sure you have the correct factory Honda starter in your car , if its an aftermarket starter they may have replaced with cheapo starter,sometime the teeth that engauge starter to your flexplate will not mesh properly,because there different,causing the flex plate to fail. I had the same problem. I went thru 2 before I found this out..Hope this helps.
Please rember to rate me on my help. Thankyou!