Worn Flex Plate. What now? 1998 Civic Sedan

[kyledlin]

Son was driving so this info is a paraphrase description of events. I already new that the CV axle had gone bad and was planning on having it repaired this week. As my grown son was using the car while visiting for the holiday he was in the process of making a U-turn . He stopped short of the curb and put it in reverse and nothing. Put it in drive and nothing. Was told that it is probably a flex plate. $20 part and a 10 hour job. Any thoughts from the smarts?

 

[ReedMann]

The flex plate takes the place of a traditional clutch and flywheel in automatic vehicles. So a loss of power would make sense since it is part of the driveline. I can understand it being a $20 part because it is literally just a thin metal disc. It would be a lengthy job because the flex plate sits between the engine and the transmission meaning one or the other has to removed to access it, most likely the transmission. It probably wouldn't take 10 hours for someone familiar with the car, but the shop you took it to probably gave you the standard estimate on time/labor.