My 2002 GT, which has roughly 97,000 miles on it, suffers from what I believe is torque converter "shudder", which I understand is a result of internal slippage, due to a breakdown of the friction material in the converter. It hasn't been diagnosed at a shop as suffering from this issue, but I owned a '97 T-bird that suffered from that, and this car feels much the same. I had the torque converter replaced on my T-bird, and that solved the problem, which I would describe as a vibration, like driving over a washboard. If I lift my foot off of the accelerator pedal, the vibration almost completely disappears.
I realize that my transmission mount, and even my motor mounts, could be bad, and causing or contributing to this issue, and I'm going to have them checked out, but I'm probably going to go ahead and replace my torque converter, and I need some help/advice on choosing the correct converter for my car, as there's so many choices. My car is basically unmodified, and I highly doubt that I'll be making any serious performance modifications to it. It's basically a daily-driver; I don't ever race it, or anything like that.
My primary goal with a new converter would be more heavy-duty than the OE stock unit (in other words, won't suffer from friction material breakdown in the future), followed by no negative effect on my vehicle's fuel economy (which I already think isn't great!) or driveability. Any increase in throttle response would be welcome, but that's not my primary goal.
What is the diameter of the stock converter? What is the stall speed of the stock converter? How would increasing the stall speed with a new converter affect driveability/fuel economy?
Thanks; I appreciate any input on this that anyone might have.
I realize that my transmission mount, and even my motor mounts, could be bad, and causing or contributing to this issue, and I'm going to have them checked out, but I'm probably going to go ahead and replace my torque converter, and I need some help/advice on choosing the correct converter for my car, as there's so many choices. My car is basically unmodified, and I highly doubt that I'll be making any serious performance modifications to it. It's basically a daily-driver; I don't ever race it, or anything like that.
My primary goal with a new converter would be more heavy-duty than the OE stock unit (in other words, won't suffer from friction material breakdown in the future), followed by no negative effect on my vehicle's fuel economy (which I already think isn't great!) or driveability. Any increase in throttle response would be welcome, but that's not my primary goal.
What is the diameter of the stock converter? What is the stall speed of the stock converter? How would increasing the stall speed with a new converter affect driveability/fuel economy?
Thanks; I appreciate any input on this that anyone might have.