Cracked flex plate
 

My car is a 2011 g37 sedan 7at with 95k miles at the time. About 1 week after getting my vehicle tuned I noticed I was getting a ticking noise at idle. It started feint at first. I continued to drive on it. The car drove fine, gave no signs of problems other than the ticking noise at idle and up to 2k rpm. Over 2k it would get quiet.

The noise got louder as I kept driving the shlt out of the car enjoying the new tune.

When i had time to put my car on the lift at work i was able to isolate where the noise was coming from.

You can't really hear it from looking under the hood. It wasn't coming from the bottom of the engine and it wasn't coming from the transmission area. With a mechanic's stethoscope the sound was most audible coming from the bell housing area where the flexplate and torque converter is.

I didn't even bother looking in the inspection opening for cracks. I decided to take the gamble and buy a replacement flex plate to install myself. I wasn't 100% sure it was cracked, but based on the location and sound I assumed it was.

A upgraded flex plate from fast intentions is $900 + 8 week build time
OEM flex plate is about $300 shipped
Used flex plate $50.

I bought a used $50 flex plate off Ebay. It came from a 2010 coupe with 82k miles.

Here's a video of what it sounded like. Sounds like a bottom end knock. Scary.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...4f6d8fdb2a.jpg
Original cracked flex plate still mounted on car. Can you see the crack?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...5e4039f183.jpg
Original 96k mile cracked flex plate. This is the side that faces the engine
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...f3d4374c18.jpg
This is the back side of the flex plate that faces the engine
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...1d0d4af16a.jpg
This is the front side of the flex plate that faces the torque converter. The crack was starting to make its way through.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.myg...f3400087c7.jpg
$50 Ebay used 2010 coupe flex plate


$50 replacement flex plate fixed the ticking noise. Crazy how that small hairline fracture made such a loud noise

Damn bro, good call! Got it all back together now?

Good catch! something to keep in mind when crap starts breaking down and making odd noises.

Mine was making that noise for little over a year now. Drove fine but gave out on me last week. Dealer wants $2,200 to fix it including the crankshaft sensor.

what were your symptoms was your car turning off was it jerking?