There is history, in the last few years, of a few having problems with the heads of the flex plate-to-TC bolts having the heads break off.
You may have acquired one of these, or potentially, one that suffered a similar failure sometime in the past.
One had loose bolts, and assumably, the vibration hammered the bolts to shear.
The others have been
- assembled with improper bolts, which failed, and
- over-torquing, causing stretch-deformation between the head and the threads where they entered the TC mounting pad. The deformed section ultimately suffered tensile failure.
Some of these were discovered when the heads made bad noises during their carnival ride around inside the bellhousing.
One was discovered when the flex plate would no longer drive the TC fast enough to move the vehicle.
Another one was discovered when one bolt head was spat out the access hole above the starter, and onto his nice clean garage floor, where he discovered it like a
warning.
What ever you eventually do, make sure you use NEW OEM Mopar bolts on everything that involves bolts going through the flex plate, with BLUE threadlocker, and a good, accurate, torque wrench to tighten them.
Do not undertighten them
Do not overtighten them
Do not re-use old bolts in this application, no matter how good they look.
Do not use cheaper "they're the same thing" bolts from a hardware store or parts house, because they're NOT. IIRC Sasquatch and/or IDParts carries sets of the correct bolts.
The threads of the OEM bolts are cut in a slightly different way and engage the tapped thread holes differently than standard mm x pitch cut bolt threads. There are some aftermarket companies that make OEM or better quality bolts, but they are often much more expensive.. ARP , for example, makes sets that not only are correctly threaded, but drilled for installation with safety wire, commonly used with racing engines. Big Money...
Have Fun!
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