Torque Converter
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Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Rochester PA
Torque Converter
Dumb question, but I need to know if a torque converter can go bad (as in the tranny won't engage any gear),
from sitting for a few years? It wasn't full of fluid, nor was it empty. Any help appreciated.
rk
P.S. This is a 350 turbo tranny w/a 3000 stall converter, not that it should matter what tranny it is.
from sitting for a few years? It wasn't full of fluid, nor was it empty. Any help appreciated.
rk
P.S. This is a 350 turbo tranny w/a 3000 stall converter, not that it should matter what tranny it is.
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 82
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From: California
The first thing you need to do is make sure the tranny is full (Caution - do not overfill). Failure to go into gear or to shift properly is common on all automatic transmissions that are low on fluid. If the trans is full and it still won't shift into gear, then I'd suspect the transmission before I would the TQ.
Hope this helps.
Norm.
Hope this helps.
Norm.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,698
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From: moraga ca
This can happen easily if a car is not started and moved in a long time. The valve body is iron, and most of the valves and pistons in the valvebody are aluminum. If the fluid is old and has any moisture, it can cause corrosion and seize the unlike metals within the valvebody. The result is a car that doesn't move.
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Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Rochester PA
Thanks for the replies fellows. I guess I didn't make my self too clear. It is an S-10 my son bought with a crappy 305 auto in it.
It ran but not that great, so I let him swap motors, using the Mighty little 353 that came out of my 72 Nova SS, which I totaled in 2001.
(Although the motor was in another S10 a few years ago). So we figured while doing it, we might as well stick the 3k stall converter from the Nova in too.
So, it has to be the converter because the tranny worked prior to the swap.
I just never heard of or experienced a converter going bad while sitting on a shelf, and have no idea what could have happened to it.
rk
It ran but not that great, so I let him swap motors, using the Mighty little 353 that came out of my 72 Nova SS, which I totaled in 2001.
(Although the motor was in another S10 a few years ago). So we figured while doing it, we might as well stick the 3k stall converter from the Nova in too.
So, it has to be the converter because the tranny worked prior to the swap.
I just never heard of or experienced a converter going bad while sitting on a shelf, and have no idea what could have happened to it.
rk
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,171
Likes: 1
From: Warwick RI
Thanks for the replies fellows. I guess I didn't make my self too clear. It is an S-10 my son bought with a crappy 305 auto in it.
It ran but not that great, so I let him swap motors, using the Mighty little 353 that came out of my 72 Nova SS, which I totaled in 2001.
(Although the motor was in another S10 a few years ago). So we figured while doing it, we might as well stick the 3k stall converter from the Nova in too.
So, it has to be the converter because the tranny worked prior to the swap.
I just never heard of or experienced a converter going bad while sitting on a shelf, and have no idea what could have happened to it.
rk
It ran but not that great, so I let him swap motors, using the Mighty little 353 that came out of my 72 Nova SS, which I totaled in 2001.
(Although the motor was in another S10 a few years ago). So we figured while doing it, we might as well stick the 3k stall converter from the Nova in too.
So, it has to be the converter because the tranny worked prior to the swap.
I just never heard of or experienced a converter going bad while sitting on a shelf, and have no idea what could have happened to it.
rk
I never saw such a thing before from shelving a converter either.
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Instructor
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: Madison WI
TQ is probly not bad. One of two things happened either the tq was not fully set to to the trans or you have the wrong tq. My vote is for the first one. The tq has to drop twice. The 2nd engages the pump. With out the pump you go nowhere. It's not uncommon and sometimes it hard to get the tq down all the way.
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Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Rochester PA
My son is doing all the ground work, as I am in a stupid wheelchair, but he has done this stuff before.
We even talked about this very same topic, and he says it was all the way in.
Then again, it has so be slid forward to bolt it to the starter ring.
I am assuming the tranny is a 350, not a 400. Does anyone know if 350's and 400 turbos share the same exact torque converter?
That would seem like the only possible explanation IMO. This converter is definitely for a 350. That's what was in my Nova.
Thanks to all who replied. I will post an answer, when I get one. He is putting the one that came w/the truck back in.
rk
We even talked about this very same topic, and he says it was all the way in.
Then again, it has so be slid forward to bolt it to the starter ring.
I am assuming the tranny is a 350, not a 400. Does anyone know if 350's and 400 turbos share the same exact torque converter?
That would seem like the only possible explanation IMO. This converter is definitely for a 350. That's what was in my Nova.
Thanks to all who replied. I will post an answer, when I get one. He is putting the one that came w/the truck back in.
rk
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Joined: Mar 2005
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From: Rochester PA
Torque converter
Well it has been a few days since my last post, and I have found the answer. The flex plate (starter ring to me), was installed inside out. Dumb mistake, but a lesson well learned for my son. Again, thanks for all replies and suggestions.
rk
rk