Gap???

[turbov6joe]

What is an acceptable gap between the TC and the flexplate? I was told 3/8 to 5/16...does this sound right?

TIA

 

[chris718]

i like 1/8 "

 

[turbov6joe]

Would you say 5/16 is too much? I measured mine and it happens to be right there...am I going to run into any problems with this gap or should I shim it back?

 

[Fuelie600]

Most definitely shim it.

 

[Jerryl]

What about a "zero" gap? What "are/coule be" the effects?

 

[bison]

What about a "zero" gap? What "are/coule be" the effects?

Wiped out thrust bearing in the engine.

 

[Jerryl]

Wiped out thrust bearing in the engine.

What I thought. One more reason to take my TC out.

 

[turbov6joe]

Ok, I'll shim it back to 1/8"...thanks for the input.

 

[Fuelie600]

On my last convertor install, I measured .080-.090 clearance between the JW flex plate and Precision convertor. My trans builder said this was fine.

 

[Alky V6]

I agree with Chris. 1/8" is a very good target. You must have some amount of gap to make sure trans pump damage or crank thrust wear doesn't occur. Too much gap and you risk possibly driving the pump in the transmission by the edges of the drive lugs. The tighter gap assures that you have maximum contact between the torque converter hub pump drive slots and the pump's drive lugs. That's assuming that the hub length is setup correctly and the converter is not bottoming out on the input shaft or the end of the stator support splines.

Actually, you can run a zero gap since when in operation the torque converter is pressurized and pushes forward away from the trans. The flexplate bends under the pressure slightly to allow this to occur. The thing that makes this scary is that if for any number of reasons this becomes, even the slightest bit, a negative number gap, things will wear. The 1/8" gap is a safety cushion.

 

[turbov6joe]

Shimmed it to 1/8" last night.
I also did some other measuring...there is approximately 1/2" gap between the flex plate and converter if the converter is bottomed out back towards the tranny...does this sound correct? The converter is a Pro Torque 9" billet unit and the flex plate is stock.

 

[Dusty Bradford]

One of our cars had .050 gap and wiped the thrust when we started leaving on the transbrake. We ended up having to mill .075 off the converter to get the gap I like to see.

 

[Alky V6]

Shimmed it to 1/8" last night.
I also did some other measuring...there is approximately 1/2" gap between the flex plate and converter if the converter is bottomed out back towards the tranny...does this sound correct? The converter is a Pro Torque 9" billet unit and the flex plate is stock.

You shouldn't have to shim any converter that much.