97 grand caravan sport

I have a serious nightmare on my hands. got the 97 grand sport in the air with the bad tranny out of it. picked up a remanufactured from a reputable shop in town. I can not get the torqure converter bolts to match the flywheel. I have tried every possible combination 3 will catch and the fourth is just an eighth inch off. The shop is telling me it is the right tranny and it sure as hell looks like it is. does anyone know if these 97's have something different with the flywheel and torque converters.

thanks
jkdon

if it doesn't fit, then it doesn't fit, nothing you can do about it. if anything, use the torque converter from the old tranny

I know what your problem is. The bolt pattern on the torque converter and flex plate is not symetrical. It will only allow you to bolt it up one way. What you will have to do is unbolt it, rotate the flex plate and converter one bolt hole relative to each other, then bolt again until you find the unique fit. This can be a time consuming job. It will work, you just have to be patient. You may have to do this the number of times that you have bolts.

The old mechanics trick for lining up the existing converter to the flex plate is to spray paint one bolted connection before disassembly, then mate up the painted holes first to insure proper realignment. But this doesn't work if you are replacing the converter.

The unique bolt pattern is there is allow for proper balancing of these rotating parts.

One more thing, don't reuse your old torque converter. If your old tranny shed metal in it's distruction, this debris will be present in the old converter. Use it again and this debris will contaminate and ruin your new transmission.