Torque Converter prefill
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 933
Likes: 0
From: St. Paul MN
Torque Converter prefill
As many of you know I am in the middle of my diff/tc swap...as you might notice from the increasing frequency of my posts. 
Suspension, trans, and diff are out and I'm currently replacing the seals. Question in how much dextron III ATF should I pour into the converter (Yank ss 3600)? There isn't a handy dipstick so I'm not going to know if I'm high or low. How did you guys handle adjusting the fluid level once you swapped your converters?
Thanks!
Suspension, trans, and diff are out and I'm currently replacing the seals. Question in how much dextron III ATF should I pour into the converter (Yank ss 3600)? There isn't a handy dipstick so I'm not going to know if I'm high or low. How did you guys handle adjusting the fluid level once you swapped your converters?
Thanks!
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,283
Likes: 13
From: Akron Ohio
Just pour it in, it may take a quart or so. After you install everything while its up in the air and running remove the fill plug. Fill it until in dribbles out, put the plug back in. The car should be level by the way.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
The Yank I put in took a quart. It took a while to fill because it would settle very slowly so I could only put in a small amount at once. Filling the tranny is just as much of a pain as the car must be running. You should follow the service manual procedure on filling the tranny and on tightening the torque tube clamp. You need to run the car with the coupler loose for 10 minutes to allow it to self-center and then tighten it to the specified torque.
Are you installing a tranny cooler?
Are you installing a tranny cooler?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 933
Likes: 0
From: St. Paul MN
The Yank I put in took a quart. It took a while to fill because it would settle very slowly so I could only put in a small amount at once. Filling the tranny is just as much of a pain as the car must be running. You should follow the service manual procedure on filling the tranny and on tightening the torque tube clamp. You need to run the car with the coupler loose for 10 minutes to allow it to self-center and then tighten it to the specified torque.
Are you installing a tranny cooler?
Are you installing a tranny cooler?
I am installing a tranny cooler. I have the 14400 btu b&m cooler. Do, I want to install the cooler post factory cooler or bypass the cooler all together?
I didn't remove the torque tube, so I don't think I need to worry about tightening the torque tube clamp, correct?
So I actually have to get under the jacked up car while its running to adjust the tranny fluid?
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
I installed my in-line with the radiator, not exclusive to it. It has worked flawlessly for a year and is not one of the B&M units. Last summer it was 100+ many, many days here and the tranny temps never got above 185 F all summer. Several here have bypassed it altogether. It gets cold her in the winter so I didn't want to bypass the radiator. Here are a couple shots of mine.
This is the line I tapped into.
I just pulled my converter off horizontally with nary a drip.
Here's the filled Yank going on the tranny.
Since you didn't remove the tt, you don't have to worry about the clamp.
You do, however, have to have the car jacked up and running in PARK (follow the manual procedure as far as shifting gears back and forth first) to fill the tranny. Do not open the fill plug with the engine off - the fluid will spill out.
This is the line I tapped into.
I just pulled my converter off horizontally with nary a drip.
Here's the filled Yank going on the tranny.
Since you didn't remove the tt, you don't have to worry about the clamp.
You do, however, have to have the car jacked up and running in PARK (follow the manual procedure as far as shifting gears back and forth first) to fill the tranny. Do not open the fill plug with the engine off - the fluid will spill out.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 933
Likes: 0
From: St. Paul MN
Here is what is a bit confusing. I just removed the converter...not a drip. If I haven't lost any trany fluid yet and I prefill the converter shouldn't I be good? How much fluid did you end up adding?
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Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 23,283
Likes: 906
From: Lake Elsinore, CA
The converter shouldn't lose any fluid when you remove it. If you were just swapping converters then I'd say you wouldn't need to add any as long as you lost minimal out the tranny lines when you disconnected them. But you're also putting a cooler in and you'll need to add more tranny fluid to fill up the extra volume the cooler and cooler lines add. I used a manual fluid pump you can get at the parts store to top the tranny off.
Yank instructs to add a quart of tranny fluid to their converter before installing it. Also, make sure the converter pump is fully engaged when you slide it on - it can appear to be all the way on when, in fact, it has a ways to go.
Yank instructs to add a quart of tranny fluid to their converter before installing it. Also, make sure the converter pump is fully engaged when you slide it on - it can appear to be all the way on when, in fact, it has a ways to go.
