Engine ticky-ticky-ticky sound at idle (2007 Tahoe 5.3L, 135,000 miles)

[mjreynolds928]

I just took another look at your video. My hat goes off to you Mike! Uneven ground, HF transmission jack, I noticed the toque so it wasn't a nice warm day either. IF I take this on, I think I'd get this:

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1-100-lb-low-lift-transmission-jack/A-p8667875e

Did you have to support the transfer case as well? If so, how was it pulling the transmission jack and whatever you used to support the transfer case at the same time? I'm thinking I might be better off removing the transfer case anyway if I have to do the rear main seal.

If I were to undo the transmission lines as well, do you think I'd be able to wiggle the transmission back 6-8 inches? How far back do you think you would want to shove the transmission to get enough room to clean up the gasket surfaces?

How was it getting the transmission lined up again to get the bolts in again?

How many bleep words did it take to get that top bell housing nut back on?

Were you able to get this done in a day? (My bench mark is whatever it takes anyone else 1 hour, it takes me 4 hours. If it took you 1 day, it would take me 4 days.)

Yes. I am fairly certain my jack stand would not support both transmission and transfer case. So I had my rolling floor jack aligned from front to back under the transmission pan. The transfer case was supported by transmission jack, that was only because the t-case was difficult to balance. Maybe my biggest fear was the transmission falling on me.


If you want to remove the t-case just to get more room, that’s not necessary. The thing that limits the movement back are the electrical wiring harnesses and not disconnecting the coolant tubes. If you disconnect the coolant tubes you might be able to stretch it back to 6”-8”. The Tahoe has a welded crossmember at the back of the t-case that could get in the way of your jack. So be mindful of that. The two video the guys dropped in this post, the goofy funny guy shows you how to heat the electrical connectors to release the factory sealed glue.


Once the flex plate was swapped out, pushing the tranny and t-case back was fairly simple, it took maybe 30 minutes to get it lined back up. I wanted to take a bolt down to the hardware store buy some threaded rod with the same pitch and diameter but about 6-8” long. The engine block only has one 1/2” long stud that helps with lining the tranny up with the engine. That was my target and then lining up the bottom driver side bolt. The worst part was slowly tightening each bolt to make sure I got it lined up. The last bolt I installed was the hardest two, the top left and right. After that, the torque converter bolts. (Remember you can use the harmonic balancer to turn the flex plate to line up the holes on the torque converter.)


I actually didn’t bleep at all, which rather shocking. I think I got that out the week before when I found the crack and was trying to get pictures or a video. I allowed myself two separate weekends to do the work. I removed the drive shafts and lubed my exhaust bolts (just in case) in about 1 hour and set up everything the night before. The next day, a friend of mine who knows nothing about cars laid under the car with me for about seven hours. We took a break for lunch. Once I had the tranny mounted we stopped. The next day, I spent about two hours the next day bolting the starter back on, crossmember, drive shafts and connecting the battery and cleaning up was another hour. So all around about 11 hours. BUT....for the life of me, can’t figure out why I didn’t hit any problems. That never happens. I hope it goes as easy for you. If I can do this work, you can too Larryjb!


Best of luck!

 

[Larryjb]

Thanks for your vote of confidence. I looked at the other guy's videos again to see why he had so much trouble. It doesn't look like he used any penetrating fluid, didn't have a full set of SAE and metric sockets/wrenches, and didn't have an impact tool. Also, when removing the transmission, his life would have been much easier if he had removed the transfer case first. That video is good for me to look at to see what made his life so difficult, and why your job went very easily, comparatively.

A rear main seal job will probably take me 3-4 days because I will want to drain the transfer case and transmission, remove the transfer case, and also the exhaust. I will want to remove the transmission cooler lines as well. These extra jobs will add an hour to the job, in theory. That means in practice for me, another day. Also, I take a lot of time cleaning gasket surfaces, and that can add a day for me. That may be excessive for most, but I really really don't want to remove that sucker again!

Given your experience, I might attempt this next summer. We will see.

 

[mjreynolds928]

Thanks for your vote of confidence. I looked at the other guy's videos again to see why he had so much trouble. It doesn't look like he used any penetrating fluid, didn't have a full set of SAE and metric sockets/wrenches, and didn't have an impact tool. Also, when removing the transmission, his life would have been much easier if he had removed the transfer case first. That video is good for me to look at to see what made his life so difficult, and why your job went very easily, comparatively.

A rear main seal job will probably take me 3-4 days because I will want to drain the transfer case and transmission, remove the transfer case, and also the exhaust. I will want to remove the transmission cooler lines as well. These extra jobs will add an hour to the job, in theory. That means in practice for me, another day. Also, I take a lot of time cleaning gasket surfaces, and that can add a day for me. That may be excessive for most, but I really really don't want to remove that sucker again!

Given your experience, I might attempt this next summer. We will see.

Yes. He should have used sockets for transmission bolts. Also, I did not remove the exhaust. That’s a lot more time involved removing those bolts as well.
Four other observations I found on his video;
1) you can lower the transmission then remove the coolant lines
2) the torque converter bolts were metric size
3) as you suggested, removing the t-case will actually help tremendously to remove the transmission
4) he needed nearly 36” of socket extensions to get to the upper bolts

 

[Derick]

I would be leery of driving it much as I would not want it to let loose while I'm going down the road.

@Tonyrodz had at least one flexplate crack on him in his work van.
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/posts/1395065/

EDIT: Whether you do it or have someone else do it, might consider replacing your rear main seal while it's opened up.

Me too!

 

[Sam Harris]

Me too!

View attachment 239223

Damn. All these flex plates breaking, I’m wondering if I should proactively replace mine when I do my transmission swap.

 

[wjburken]

Damn. All these flex plates breaking, I’m wondering if I should proactively replace mine when I do my transmission swap.

No kidding!
Makes me wish I was still the Engineering Manager for Magnaflux so I could take my parts in and see if there are any cracks for free. Came in kind of handy for me a few times.

 

[Derick]

Damn. All these flex plates breaking, I’m wondering if I should proactively replace mine when I do my transmission swap.

I would. It's like a hundo dollah part. My trans is out and the rear main seal ain't leaking but I'm having it done.

 

[Sam Harris]

I would. It's like a hundo dollah part. My trans is out and the rear main seal ain't leaking but I'm having it done.

Yep. For sure. I’m having rear main done, because it’s going to be out. Might as well add another hundred or so to the $$$ I’m spending. So next question, what flexplate to get...? [emoji16] Rockauto just lists a few from ATP and Pioneer..

 

[Tonyrodz]

Yep. For sure. I’m having rear main done, because it’s going to be out. Might as well add another hundred or so to the $$$ I’m spending. So next question, what flexplate to get...? [emoji16] Rockauto just lists a few from ATP and Pioneer..

I bought the ATP for my Express.

 

[iamdub]

Y'all had me researching flexplates last night and I crashed with Rock Auto and two other tabs up on my laptop trying to get info on the ATP and Pioneer plates.

@Tonyrodz, did you get the standard or HD version and do you know what the difference is?