Good quality TC for stock daily driver

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GRWeldon

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Howdy. Anybody have a recommendation? Completely stock 96-97 4.6 application with a 96-97 rebuilt transmission.
 
For most intents and purposes you won't notice much difference during daily driving, but when you get on it you will notice the improvement in acceleration. No difference in fuel economy as they are all lockup converters.

If all else is equal (price, availability) get the Marauder/GT/MarkVIII converter and flex plate.
 
GRWeldon said:
Another stupid question... what difference does the stall speed mean to me? Why should I prefer a 2100 stall vs. a 1500 stall?
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You want a stall to be closer to the power band. Higher horsepower tends to be in higher RPM, and to use that you want a converter to slip until that RPM. That way it grabs in or closer to the power band.
 
I have a 3000 stall, but it needs the lock up clutch repaired. any converter shop can fix it.

$100

its a dirty dog converter
 
Transtar is a good brand for normal use. That is generally what I use for my rebuilds.
 
Thanks for the recommendation on Transtar. I was on board with the Marauder converter for our car, but there are so many different rebuilders out there. If you look long enough they all have extremely negative reviews, by some pretty angry people. I don't need anything much more than a stock converter for the type of driving our car sees.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Thanks for the recommendation on Transtar. I was on board with the Marauder converter for our car, but there are so many different rebuilders out there. If you look long enough they all have extremely negative reviews, by some pretty angry people. I don't need anything much more than a stock converter for the type of driving our car sees.
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That was ultimately my decision way back in 2009, I’m not at the track often so I picked a stock marauder converter I bought from the ford parts counter. No fuss no roll of the dice and no bs allegiances to one favored vendor or another.
 
Does Ford still offer the marauder converter over the counter anymore? I haven't asked in a long time. I've purchased rebuilt Marauder converters from Transtar from my transmission wholesale parts supplier. You just have to know what to ask for.
 
supergordo said:
Does Ford still offer the marauder converter over the counter anymore? I haven't asked in a long time. I've purchased rebuilt Marauder converters from Transtar from my transmission wholesale parts supplier. You just have to know what to ask for.
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I think mine was a reman from Ford, they may have used an outside vendor like them.
 
I don't know if I ever followed up on this subject. I went with an Autozone rebuilt TC for my stock 4.6. It has a 1 year warranty. It's now 17 months later and the TC is failing. Just thought y'all might like to know.

I suppose this is going to damage the rebuilt transmission, huh?
 
Failing as in slipping through all gears under moderate to hard acceleration.

Although not impossible I don't suspect the transmission because I rebuilt it 11K miles ago using quality parts.
 
GRWeldon said:
Failing as in slipping through all gears under moderate to hard acceleration.

Although not impossible I don't suspect the transmission because I rebuilt it 11K miles ago using quality parts.
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Others are far more knowledgeable than me, but...if I think torque converter failure, given that it's a fluid coupling plus a lockup clutch, the only thing I can imagine to fail would be the clutch. And given that that clutch normally only engages in 3rd and 4th, a "slipping through all gears" seems unrelated to me.

I guess a torque converter can fail in other ways than the clutch. Bearings, fins, leaks, etc.? I've never seen one from the inside, so I wouldn't know.

And now I'll stop speculating.
 
Couple questions I have as I consider your situation.

The TC only locks in 3rd and 4th, so it's going to be "always slipping" in 1st and 2nd because it's unlocked and acting as a fluid coupling should. The amount it "slips" is dependent on its stall speed - a figure determined by the design of the pump, stator and impeller and not really subject to change unless the metal vanes inside are breaking and bending as a result of use. :eek:

When you say your driveline is slipping in all gears, are you seeing higher than usual stall speeds in 1st and 2nd? Then the TC is not staying locked in or holding torque in 3rd and 4th?

Do you have a way to log live data? Our PCMs have a PID to log slip across the TCC; this would be most useful to pinpoint whether it's the TC or trans internals acting up.
 
In LiveLink the two I use are TCC_ABS_SLIP and TCC_DUTY_CYCLE.

Duty cycle tells you the lockup percentage. Absolute slip is the RPM of slip across the converter.

When TCC_DUTY_CYCLE is at 1, full lockup is commanded. After lockup has occurred (within a few seconds of the full duty cycle being commanded) you should see < 10 RPM on the TCC_ABS_SLIP PID. Consistently higher values means excess heat, wear, and lost energy!
 
In the OBD Fusion app, I can find a PID for torque converter slip but not for duty cycle. Some features in that app require extra purchases, which may explain that.

I'll check on my next drive if that PID produces useful data.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.
 
I have read all of the posts questioning my diagnosis of a bad TC. I'm leaning toward another cause, possibly bad a bad coil pack. I am about to write another post about an incident I has yesterday. Thank you for your helpfulness. Y'all are great!
 
GRWeldon said:
I have read all of the posts questioning my diagnosis of a bad TC. I'm leaning toward another cause, possibly bad a bad coil pack.
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Funny you say that. I had a bad coil pack earlier during my ownership, where there was arcing over the pack during wet weather. And I initially attributed it to torque converter shudder because the sensation was almost identical.
 
Inspected my coils. Nothing visible on the outside. I pulled an aftermarket set from one of my parts cars that somebody tried to make faster. I'll exchange them sometime next week and see if there is a difference.
 
While we're on the topic of spark/misfire... how old are the wires?

(If the TC issue only presents in 3rd and 4th, yes it could be a bad TC, personally I'd drain and fill with fresh MercV just to rule that out - $50 worth of fluid is way easier to stomach than a new TC and/or new rebuild; and if the fluid is not the fix, you've got enough "decent" fluid to do a PS system flush on a few cars! :))
 
theterminator93 said:
While we're on the topic of spark/misfire... how old are the wires?

(If the TC issue only presents in 3rd and 4th, yes it could be a bad TC, personally I'd drain and fill with fresh MercV just to rule that out - $50 worth of fluid is way easier to stomach than a new TC and/or new rebuild; and if the fluid is not the fix, you've got enough "decent" fluid to do a PS system flush on a few cars! :))
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Sorry for the late reply...my wires are about a year old. Silicone. Replaced at 95K miles, now have 114K. I gave them a cursory look when the problem happened, pulled and repeated the coil ends. So now about 3 weeks after I started this thread, it is definitely missing bad. Haven't checked plugs yet, it's on the list, just have to get there!
 
FWIW, I was working on a Subaru earlier this year. The owner changed the plugs and had been through 2-3 sets of parts store wires, but was still getting a misfire. I narrowed it down to a bad plug wire and installed OEM wires and the misfire went away. Don't always trust parts store plug wires (or any plug wires for that matter).
 
Drop the pan and look at the magnet; a slipping tc clutch, or other clutch. will cover the magnet with black crud.
 
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