Torque converter baked?

[fast.asleep]

Brother in law recently bought a 1988 auto with very low mileage. The first thing he noticed is that it is nowhere near as fast as it should be. (It can't spin the tires without a foot an the brake)

My mechanic said the tranny fluid stunk so bad it must have been the original fluid from '88! He thinks the torque converter needs replacing. Since I know jack about them I thought I'd post the question here.

Does that sound right?

Will

 

[Hib Halverson]

If the trans needs a fluid and filter change, do that first, then have a trans. repair facility further assess the condition of the automatic.

If this 87 has the 2.59 axle, it won't spin the tires off idle. You'll have to brake torque it. Even the cars with the 3.07 axle, depending on what tires were on the car, what kind of traction was present and what the atmospheric conditions are, may not spin the tires w/o brake torquing.

 

[fast.asleep]

thanks for the reply,

I was comparing the car to mine when it was stock. (It has the 3.07 axle and similar tires)

I can't tell him in good conscience to take it to a shop. Years of experience have taught me that if he takes a Corvette to a Transmission shop and says "I think something is wrong with my automatic could you check it please?" He'll need a tampon to stop the bleeding when they're done.

I'm not saying every shop is like that, just all the one's I've been to :ugh

I was hoping that someone would know if running a car with old transmission fluid would primarily damage the torque converter .

 

[1995 RedVette]

I had a 93 Mazda 929 that stopped pulling one morning. I had to have it towed to the transmission shop, where they did a fluid and filter change. The filter was almost completely clogged. I drove the car for about 40,000 more miles and had the fluid and filter changed again. This time I had the filter cut open and found a lot of metal. That is when I sold the car at auction and bought my first Vette. The moral, is that I saved $3000 and drove for 40,000 miles and had no problem. The seat of the pants feel of the car was better after the fluid change too. IMHO I would take it to the dealer and ask for a fluid and filter change and see what difference it made. It should cost under $100 bucks and give a little peace of mind.

Brett

 

[fast.asleep]

I should have mentioned that the fluid/filter change was done.

I just don't want to see him spend a lot of money on mods to get the car to perform the way it should out of the box. (and have to do transmission work eventually anyway)

 

[74bigblock]

If the converter was not functioning properly, you would know it immediately. You would experience slipping and inconsistent acceleration within a single run. Sounds to me like you are good to go. When it does let go.. thats when you should get a higher stall converter. Until then... don't forget to

 

[Mad-Mic]

did you run your fingers down the dipstick? if so did you feel metal flakes? if so the tranny is toast. if its toast make sure you tell the builder to build it BACK to 86 and newer corvette specs!


i seriously doubt it's the converter. even when the trans takes dumps usually the converters are still good as long as you clean the metal out.

BTW Hib mine spun them over alittle when it was bone stock so it *should* light up from a dead romp. it is however very tricky to do. ya sorta gotta hold the brake for a split second while nailing the gas. takes alot of practice to flash the converter just right. with alittle mods she'll spin thru 2nd gear and lay about 100 yrds of posi marks

 

[jmccloud]

bad torque convertor

Freqently when a torque convertor goes, overall acceleration will suffer greatly. And the car will have little or no 'pull' in reverse. Park on a down slope and see if the car can back up rapidly or at all.
I've had many cars (and even two boats) that really benefitted from a transmission oil change; smoother shifts, softer engage from neutral to drive; but never noticed much acceleration improvement.
Two cars had bad convertors and wouldn't back up even a slight slope. So we never parked facing down-hill.
My '95 with a 2.59 won't spin either but it's quick enough.

 

[fast.asleep]

thanks all

 

[Vettefan87]

when the shop did the filter and fluid change did they hook a machine up to it and flush all of the old fluid out? If you just drop the pan you will not get all of the fluid out. The shop that I took mine to, to get flushed charged me around 100 bucks, which isn't bad considering it takes almost 16 quarts to fill the system.