stall converter operation

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Lenny @ UCC is one of the best in the business, his site has some great info on it as well. Andre @ Edge is also good and I have had good success with his stuff in some of my customers cars, his site also has some info.

myslo50 said:

how does a stall converter work.......im looking into getting a 3k stall and i want to know how they operate when giving it gas. ive had 5 speeds before and this is my first auto.

basically will the car only move until the converter stalls, at what ever stall speed?

and how does a stall converter work on the e-way? e.g 3k stall=3k rpm on e-way?

how do i know if i have a lock up or non lock up.

my new ride is a 1992 limited edition convertible 5.0 auto with 3.27 gears

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Many factors go into how a converter "stalls"

Vehicle Weight and engine size dramatically affect the actual stall of a converter. Just because it's rated at 3000 RPM, will not automatically equate to 3000 w/ your car.

A heavy car w/ a big engine will stall higher than a light car/small motor both using the same converter.
But....

In effect, the converter allows the motor to slip, (much like a slipping clutch) before locking up at or around it's rated stall. depending on how you mat the gas pedal, it will start rolling forward well below rated stall speed. The higher the rated stall on a converter, the worse that situation becomes apparent. I.e. it will slip like a bitch just trying to ease away from a light when you get a 4000 stall converter


At the track, w/ a good set of sticky tires, The converter will come closest to it's rated stall only after you stand on the gas on the green when the entire weight of the car has to move forward from a dead stop.

It is possible to be traveling down the interstate in high gear at whatever your car cruises at RPM and MPH wise before installing the converter, however the converter will "flash" to close to its rated stall when you stand on the gas pedal to go around Gilbert Grape because he's going 60, and you wanna go 75.

Your transmission will dictate whether or not your converter "locks up" Most factory converters electronically lock up after a certain MPH/RPM to avoid the Gilbert Grape passing scenario illustrated above.

You can override the electronic lock up on some transmissions as well

I'm only foggy on that because I have never owned a late model auto. All of the stuff I mess with was either a C4 or a.... gulp..... Powerglide