I think my converter went bad??

[BARRACUDA1968]

Yesterday I lost lockup on my converter and I started hearing a swish noise once in a while. Took the car home and I drove it in to work today. Tranny shifted fine just no lock up.

I had the door open and shifted the car in to gear and I could really hear the noise. Everything I shift from reverse to drive etc I hear the noise. I tracked it down to underneath the car and I think it's the converter.

I took a video with my phone and I will try and get it posted. I have a Pat's 3200 and tried to find his website. Is he still in business?

 

[notacarlo]

How's your fluid level?

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[BARRACUDA1968]

Fluid is full and looks clean. It has a slight odor to it but nice and red. Tranny has maybe 1000 miles on it.

 

[Pronto]

Website seems gone. Here's the telephone #(610) 237-6900

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I called the number and got an answering machine. I'll have a video posted here in a bit. Don't sound good.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

It makes the noise when going in gear.

 

[notacarlo]

Not what I expected, that's not good. Does it make a similar noise when shifting into higher gears under load?

Very interesting.

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[BARRACUDA1968]

Not that I can hear? The tranny shifts fine like normal. I'm guessing I broke something in the converter clutch unless someone else has an explanation.

This might explain why my boost has been shooting up so fast recently. The converter may have been loosening up. I'm going to drain the fluid and drop the pan later today. Hopefully there isn't a bunch of pieces in the pan and I can just replace the converter and move on.

The converter was freshened up back in 2005 and the car hasn't seen many miles since. The PO did smoke the tranny locking the converter when he owned it. Maybe that weekend the converter somewhat who knows. The tranny just had an $1800 rebuild so hopefully it's not hurt.

What are most of you guys running for converters, this one was a Pat's 3200 10 inch. Not sure what it was built to take originally but I found out what it took to break it.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I just drained the fluid and it clean. No metal on the magnetic drain plug. Still plan to drop the pan and check it out.

 

[Sydwyndr]

Had a similar issues with a vigilante multi disc, i thought all was well too and come to find out that some metal from the fins made it into and scored up the pump causing me to have to send it off to be rebuilt. Sent converter to Dusty and he said it was so bad that he cldnt even take it as a core. better be safe than sorry cuz i had no metal on the magnet with clean fluid as well....

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I have had those thoughts in the back of my mind.

Did you get it all back together before you had the pump issue or check it first?

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

Had a similar issues with a vigilante multi disc, i thought all was well too and come to find out that some metal from the fins made it into and scored up the pump causing me to have to send it off to be rebuilt. Sent converter to Dusty and he said it was so bad that he cldnt even take it as a core. better be safe than sorry cuz i had no metal on the magnet with clean fluid as well....

I have been looking for a converter today and have talked to a couple people. Precision industries has a great warranty. They are going to call me back in the morning with some more info. I think I'm going with a multidisc converter. I might as well spend the money and do this once.

Hopefully I can get one here by Friday so I can race on Sunday. I have a buddy who's going to pull the pump when I get the tranny out and looks things over.

 

[Pronto]

I would not be in such a rush. You should find out what broke in the converter and if garbage went through the trans and cooler.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I'll have the trans out and inspected this week. I plan to take a look at the cooler and lines.

I don't plan to use this converter again so I guess I can cut it open and take a look.

I only want to do this once.

I've been looking forward to this Sunday so if I can get the car back together the right way I will if I can't then so be it.

 

[we4Mateo]

I'll have the trans out and inspected this week. I plan to take a look at the cooler and lines.

I don't plan to use this converter again so I guess I can cut it open and take a look.

I only want to do this once.

I've been looking forward to this Sunday so if I can get the car back together the right way I will if I can't then so be it.

I'll meet you out at Earlville on Oct 6th as well if you can't make it this Sunday. Like Pronto said, don't hurry, and what you said, do things once.

If you're a cubs fan you know, there's always next year!

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

I'll try and make it but it will be tight. My buddy can rebuild transmissions so he's going to take the pump out and take a peak inside. That part of the deal doesn't worry me. I have a shop here at the dealership I use just for my cars so getting the tranny out etc is the easy part.

Getting the converter is another story. Do I go with another single disc with lock up or go multidisc with lock up. I talked with the guy at Precision and they are expensive but probably worth the investment. Talked with Dusty and he sells the PTC for $500 which is a good price but didn't discuss any other option with Dusty. He was going to watch my video and call me back??

I need it to be streetable since the car is 95% street. But I want the thing to hold up if I ever decide to make more power.

The 6th of October will probably work better to be honest. That will give me enough time to make the right converter choice and take a better look at things.

 

[Sydwyndr]

I'll try and make it but it will be tight. My buddy can rebuild transmissions so he's going to take the pump out and take a peak inside. That part of the deal doesn't worry me. I have a shop here at the dealership I use just for my cars so getting the tranny out etc is the easy part.

Getting the converter is another story. Do I go with another single disc with lock up or go multidisc with lock up. I talked with the guy at Precision and they are expensive but probably worth the investment. Talked with Dusty and he sells the PTC for $500 which is a good price but didn't discuss any other option with Dusty. He was going to watch my video and call me back??

I need it to be streetable since the car is 95% street. But I want the thing to hold up if I ever decide to make more power.

The 6th of October will probably work better to be honest. That will give me enough time to make the right converter choice and take a better look at things.

The only reason for multidisc is if you wanted to lock it up at WOT. if your not then go with Dustys PTC. The 9.5 NLU from Dusty cruises great on the highway as ive only seen abt 200 rpm diff when driving normally at highway speeds and if you wanted to race the car it is definitely IMO the best bang for your buck. I personally wont go back to a lock up however I did leave the solenoid inside in case I ever wanted to. 95% street driven would be a no brainer for me and that's the PTC lockup converter....

 

[we4Mateo]

I'll try and make it but it will be tight. My buddy can rebuild transmissions so he's going to take the pump out and take a peak inside. That part of the deal doesn't worry me. I have a shop here at the dealership I use just for my cars so getting the tranny out etc is the easy part.

Getting the converter is another story. Do I go with another single disc with lock up or go multidisc with lock up. I talked with the guy at Precision and they are expensive but probably worth the investment. Talked with Dusty and he sells the PTC for $500 which is a good price but didn't discuss any other option with Dusty. He was going to watch my video and call me back??

I need it to be streetable since the car is 95% street. But I want the thing to hold up if I ever decide to make more power.

The 6th of October will probably work better to be honest. That will give me enough time to make the right converter choice and take a better look at things.

It's hilly here and that's why I stay with a lockup. I 95% street drive too. To get the best ETs from a LU though it needs to be locked in 3rd at the track. If this is your scenario too, then get the Precision. PTC NLUs are the best street/strip converters. IMO if you are not split 50/50 on those duties, than a Precision multi-disc is the answer. Locking the tc at wot in 3rd is like grabbing nitrous. Just make sure you have the tranny to handle it too. The ptc lu's are good still too even when left unlocked, but they shouldn't be locked at wot either; no single disk should be locked unless it's some space age clutch material.

 

[BARRACUDA1968]

You both make good points. I do want a lock up converter for street duty. Don't know that I will lock up a multidisc at the track but want the option for down the road. I only want to do this once. I would rather over build it.

The tranny has been rebuilt with the good stuff so if I decide to lock it up in 3rd it should hold.

The reason the tranny had to be rebuilt is because the PO locked the Pats converter up with the chip and smoked the tranny. I'll have to look at the receipts again but I believe the Pats converter was freshened up before he took the tranny out meaning if the Pats converter is single disc it may have hurt the converter at that time and I managed to finally break it. If I could get ahold of Pats I could find out what converter I actually have? I know stall speed and it's 10" but that's it. The car went 80 mph in the 1/8 and 100 mph in the quarter so I'm wondering if the converter was getting weak hence my horrible ET and MPH. I know I have some tuning to do with my combo and I was only running 18 psi but the car was still slow.

The shifts are firm and precise so I'm not too worried about the tranny at this point.

I'm going to do my homework and get the best converter available for my set up and future goals.

 

[Pronto]

You could also look into Pro Torque. Several vendors sell them too.