Flexplate Bolts Came Loose

Hello,

Initially I had posted my 'strange noise' in the engine forum believing that it was coming from the engine.

As it turns out, the noise was apparently coming from the flexplate bolts coming out of the torque converter! By the time I had this figured out, all three bolts had come out.

I pulled the transmission and that has lead me to a lot of questions that I hope the experienced here can answer.

Also, it seems as though the transmission cooler lines are dry.. which seems odd to me but maybe someone here can comment as to if the transmission pump is working is it possible that the transmission fluid wasn't being pumped through the cooler?

The fluid was very dark, not so much of a burnt smell, but very dark.

I have already determined that I need to replace the flexplate and the converter since both have oblong holes in them now where the bolts should go. New bolts too..

But, below are some photos that concern me.

This is the input shaft. I'm concerned about the splines being a bit messed up. A replacement input shaft is pretty expensive, and that means having to pull the pump (at least) .. but if I must I must. Does this need replacing?







Mostly a curious question. Can anyone tell of this is the original TC? Are there any signs of wear showing on the TC that should have me concerned about further damage to the transmission? Does anyone know the meaning of the numbers and letters stamped about the exterior?


















Here's a photo of the pan. There's some accumulation of 'dust' on the magnet. My take is that this isn't a serious amount of material, and the particle size isn't something to be concerned about. What are your thoughts? The debris by the Philips bit, I believe, is some grit that fell into the pan while we were removing it from the van.




more pan pics in a reply post.. AstroSafari says I can only have 10 photos..

Looking forward to your replies.

Thank you,