How Much Does Flexplate Repair Cost? [Labor & Parts]

Repairing a broken flexplate is one of the most complex procedures in car repairs. The main reason for this is that this flexplate resides inside a complex system of parts. You have to disassemble the parts, repair the flexplates, or replace them and reassemble that entire part once again.

The average cost to repair a flexplate is $1495. This price includes 12 hours of labor at $100 per hour. The actual flexplate cost between $50 to $200. Alternatively, if you are handy and have a small shop you could save that labor cost.

The cost of repairing a flexplate or replacing it also takes a similar amount of time and has similar labor costs, but the only difference here is the cost of parts. As flexplates are used in the latest automatic transmission vehicles, they are quite complex and more expensive as they require more effort. 

Due to this complexity, it is known as one of the most expensive procedures. Automotive mechanics who would do this kind of job are highly trained and they usually charge a lot more.

This further adds to the overall cost of the flexplate repair. Below is a complete guide about flexplate repair, replacement, and how you can save on flexplate repairs.

Factors That Impact the Cost

Here are some of the factors that impact the price of parts for the flexplate and the overall cost of the repairing, replacing and labor of the flexplate.

Type/Model/Make of Car

The most important thing here is the type of car you have and if your car has an automatic transmission or a manual transmission. This is one of the major differences that would impact the overall cost.

The model of the car and the make of the car would also impact the price as almost every brand has its own specifications and prices. Here are a few examples of prices and costs.

Cost of Parts

As mentioned earlier, the cost of parts would impact the overall cost of the flexplate repair. These parts are made by different brands and each brand charges differently. You should pick the top brands as they are more reliable.

Keep in mind that top brands cost more as compared to others. According to some websites, a flywheel replacement only costs $331, which includes an entire transmission kit including the clutch, flywheel, cover assembly, and multiple other parts that come with the flywheel.

Between the cost of labor and the cost of the parts, this averages between $1,229 and $1,419. The overall cost depends on the type of car, model, and brand that you are using. This whole process takes about 7 hours to complete and that can boost costs to around $500+.

There are two types of flexplates, one is for automatic cars, which is known as the flexplate, while the other one is known as the flywheel. Repairing, fixing, or replacing the flywheel is cheaper as most of the flywheels are used in older cars and are readily available. They are also easy to use and that is why they only cost a proportion of the flexplate.

Cost of Labor

Another thing that impacts the overall cost of flexplate repair is the cost of labor. There are a lot of mechanics who charge about $90 to $110 per hour.

The flexplate is a difficult part to get a hold of, so the whole job can range around almost six to seven hours of work. That means it would cost you about $1,200 in labor costs for this procedure.

Additional Charges

Additional charges may also occur as there can be other parts that may get broken and require a switch out or repair. Taxes and fees are always something to take into account.

Also, Just in case any other minor issues might be discovered from the flexplate repair or replacement, make sure you have a budget that surpasses expected costs.

You can see the difference between the prices of these flexplates. The cost of a Chevrolet Silverado flexplate is significantly higher than a Dodge Journey’s flexplate because of the overall make-up of the car.

How To Save on Flexplate Repair

You can save a lot of money on these repairs and the replacement of flexplates with these tricks. First of all, it starts with saving on the parts. There are cheaper parts available related to the flexplate, oil, and all the other components that you need. You should talk to your mechanic about getting a discount if it is possible.

You can also check online for other mechanics who may be offering cheaper services.

What is a Flexplate?

First of all, you need to know about what a flexplate is and what it does. A flexplate is a part of the transmission system in a vehicle. If your flexplate is broken or damaged, your transmission would not function as it should and a faulty transmission system means the overall performance of your car would not be up to par.

This leads to serious problems for the driver as it is not safe to drive a car with transmission system issues. Flexplate is also known as a flywheel in some vehicle brands. Most of the time, a flexplate is seen in automatic transmission cars and the flywheel is seen in manual transmission cars.

The actual flexplate inside a transmission system is a disc made of a very strong metallic alloy. It has holes in specific places and this allows a connection between the crankshaft and torque converter. Here it does one of the most important jobs as it stores energy that an engine generates, and it delivers it to the vehicle smoothly.

The rotation of the crankshaft generates energy in the form of rotation and this energy goes into the torque converter but it passes through the flexplate. After that, energy reaches the gearbox inside the vehicle and it allows the driver to drive the car or move it. Flexplates move a little and adjust while the driver changes the gear, this helps in the adjustment of minor misalignments while doing so.

To do this job in the right way, flexplates are made slightly flexible, and less rigid. This is what causes the problem most of the time for flexplates as this less rigidity can cause them to crack and break at some point. That is not good for the car and becomes a serious problem of transmission for the driver as well. When this happens, you will need to change it or repair it.

How To Check The Flexplate

Before thinking of replacing a flexplate, it is better that you know about the problem. You can do this by learning about checking the flexplate. You can easily identify any type of issue with your flex plate by paying close attention to when you start your car. When the motor in the engine starts, it would create a whining noise if the flexplate is broken or damaged.

Otherwise, it would remain silent and smooth. The most common reason for this noise is when the teeth on the flexplate are damaged and are not able to properly hold the place. Sometimes, this is what causes a high pitch or a low pitch noise. According to the noise level, you can identify the severity of the damage to the flexplate.

Apart from moving the car, you can also identify this by putting the car in park or neutral mode and listening to the noise. This time, it would create a rhythmic noise instead of a screeching sound. There are multiple reasons for this issue.

The screeching sounds, vibrations, and repetitive knocks are caused when the flexplate is broken, damaged, or cracked and it grinds with other metals inside the transmission. This is a serious situation as it can cause other parts in the transmission to get broken.

If that happens, you will not only have to spend money on the flexplate but also on the other parts of the transmission as well. To avoid this type of situation, you must check your flexplate regularly and if you see any faults, visit your local car shop for professional insight.

Common Causes of Flexplate Damage

If you keep these things in check, it reduces your chances of having flexplate damage.

Conclusion

Flexplate repair is one of the more expensive procedures as the parts and labor are more costly. Many of the smaller attributes only add up to the final price. It is an important part of the transmission of the car and needs to be taken care of properly.

Therefore, finding a trustworthy mechanic is one thing, but having the budget to follow through is another. Try reaching out to your local community, you never know who might be with.