S-10 Flexplate problems

Okay....here's one.... I'm not sure if I should be worried or not.

I have been given a 91 s-10 Blazer 2wd....with the 700r4. It does not currently run. The previous owner stated that it had the transmission completely re-built less than 25,000 miles ago by a "reputable" shop. One day, when he went to start it...it would not run.

I have come to discover in my troubleshooting of the vehicle that the entire center of the flexplate (the crank bolt circle) has torn away from the rest of the outer part of the flexplate....so that when I try to start the vehicle, it just turns the torque converter and does not turn over the crankshaft.

Upon discovering this, my first thought was "WooHooo!! Easy fix!!"....but I am now questioning what has caused this problem in the first place. The last thing that I want to have happen, is to have to do this again in the next 20,000 miles!

Any thoughts out there as to what might have caused this? Maybe just a stress-crack that got worse as time went on? I would think that any "reputable" transmission shop would have caught any visible cracks when doing the re-build....so I'm wondering if this could have suddenly started to occur over 25,000 miles.

Any ideas??

-James

If I was to drop a tranny for a rebuild I doubt if I would remove the flexplate from the engine..and a stress crack would really be hard to see when all the bolts are right in that area..also with just the naked eye I'm not sure you could see all stress cracks..I replaced a few flexplates on several different vehicles...several had indeed cracked loose and rotated freely...some were just missing teeth...the replacement can be done by just pulling the tranny back and not dropping it completely..Clean the bolts, use locktight and torque the flexplate bolts to specs...I would guess a tranny specialist rebuilt the tranny but the installation was not done by him...probably another helper..when seating the tranny to the engine there should be NO binding...once again clean the bolts with a wire brush, locktight and torque to specs..(ps..the new flexplate should be marked engine side...of coarse this is towards the engine) Good luck and just take your time..

put a wrench on the front crank bolt and see if the engine turns. if the engine turns with resistance (compression) then i wouldnt worry about why it happened. r&r the tranny, replace the flexplate and drive your free vehicle away. good luck and enjoy.