All these mechanics are confusing the hell out of me.

The "pressure plate" is the one from the automatic, and the "flex-plate" is from the standard ??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Seemingly, in this particular 1987 Auto Raider, the pressure plate that was used in this truck is seemingly, in fact, a flex-plate, ... and thus all the confusion as to why the "new" parts look so very much different then the old ??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

The pressure plate that came out is a very flat disc. The new parts that show up look like plates, ... with curls around the edge. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Is it at all feasible that the prior owner could have used a flex-plate, instead of a pressure plate, and that the truck would have run 10,000 km in that form ??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

The mechanic showed me the old pressure plate, ... it was actually torn, ... and he said he'd never seen that before. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Quite the puzzle for those of us less literate. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

FLEX PLATE


PRESSURE PLATE


No, I do not think that that is possible, I think your mechanic is taking you for a ride.

Auto has a flex plate.
Standard has the pressure plate.

There is no possible way to mix up the two.

Auto has a flexplate
Standard has a FLYWHEEL.
These are what engage the starter to crank the engine.
On the standard, the flywheel also serves as the mating surface for the pressure plate, which is actually part of the clutch.

find a new mechanic.

This is helpful so far ...

It has confirmed that in fact the "plate" that came out of this automatic truck is in fact the one in the bottom of the two pictures, ... only the one we took out is visibly torn.

I guess this is why none of the plates that have arrived look anything like the old, ... because the new parts are the right parts, and the old part is in fact the wrong one.

This would mean, ... that the automatic ran on the "plate" from the standard transmission, ... until it eventually broke, ... roughly 10,000 km after we bought it.

Hmmm ??? So the guy that owned it prior must have used the wrong parts to fix it initially?

Raider Enigma.

Further, ...

That would explain all the mystery around what actually went wrong with this truck, ... as anybody following the prior posts knows, ... this truck just quit on the highway, shortly after it's first day of easy use of the 4X4, ... the first mechanics to go at it found that the starter had shorted out, ... this was fixed, ... and then they found that something was wrong with the "clutching", ... we moved to an import shop that we have used for years, ... they pulled the tranny and showed us the "old plate", ... it is in fact the plate in the bottom picture, which now we know is in fact a "pressure plate", ... and should have been a "flex plate".

This truck is automatic, ... was put together with the "plate" of a standard, ... and did run for 10,000 km without issue, ... unless you've got the pictures backwards, ... which I doubt. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

This truck was purchased in Buckhorn, Ontario. This is a small town near the Peterborough / Lindsay. Anybody ever sell parts, or advice, to Norm Windover? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Just curious! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

So, that figured, ... this truck could have been on the road weeks ago, ... as we've now sent the "right parts" back 3 times in 4 weeks.

Its not possible to use the pressure plate in an auto. It wont fit, there is not way of hooking it up... Cant happen.

You would have a better chance of bolting a toaster in than a pressure plate.

Kevin

Kevin's right.(of course <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />) There is no way that a pressure plate was bolted into the motor in front of an auto tranny. Add to that- there's also no way that the truck could ever start without either a flexplate or a flywheel.(those are the only parts here that are interchangeable!!!) There are gear teeth that mesh with the pinion on the starter to crank the engine. The pressure plate has none of these. The pressure plate BOLTS to the clutch of a standard tranny. In use the pressure plate slips/grips the FLYWHEEL, which looks very similiar to a flexplate, but has a thick, machined steel surface, and weighs much more than a flexplate. These both bolt to the back of the crankshaft via the holes in a circle near the center.

Now, were you actually there during dis-assembly? There's just no possible way <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

I smell at <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rodent.gif" alt="" />

that's supposed to be a rat, yes we know it looks like a beaver. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I was hoping you were not saying I smell a beaver <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />