Joined: Fri Mar 20 2009, 02:15PM
Location: kansas
Posts: 52
i'm getting ready to install a used functional (as far as i know) converter along with the motor it matches with. i know nothing about torque converters and have never installed one. what do i need to do/check before installing it? do i need to refill/top off the fluid in it? and do i attach it to the motor and then mate both to the tranny or attach it to the tranny and then install the motor? the tranny is still in the car. it's a 727 and the motor is a 440. thanks!
You could fill it half way, but keep in mind if you try to fill it completely, it'll puke out all over the place when you try to put it in the trans - You DO need to seat it in the trans First. This can be tricky, and easily done wrong - it will look like its in, but wont be, and you wont know until you try to mate up the engine.
First things first tho - if you have the engine and trans apart, and the flex plate - that thin x shaped metal piece with 4 bolt holes on the outside and 6 on the inside, make sure you get that oriented correctly. it may look ambidextrous, but its not - rotate it and make sure all 4 bolt holes line up, then matchmark them to make your life easier later on. then bolt that flex plate to the Motor, lining it up as it too is also one way only. Once done, then lightly lube the inserted part of the torque converter (the actual name of it slips me) and guide it inside. it'll feel like it goes in, but look at it - the torque converter has to be inset into the bell-housing bout about half an inch to an inch ish - at the farthest point outward on the converter, ie the bolt mounts. play with it and work with it, eventually you will feel it slide in with a bit of a clunk. Once In, spin it, it should feel like its twisting something inside the trans (input gears and what have you), and when your happy with it, use a small C clamp, vice grips, or whatever to keep the thing in - if moved or jostled at all it'll want to slide out. ask how i know. >.>One other thing - as a personal preference, i STRONGLY recommend both Loctite (blue) and finding and using correct torque spec to both the flex plate to motor AND flex plate to torque converter - both flex plates and the bolts are hard to find and worth their weight in gold, almost literally, and will back out if not torqued down correctly. Otherwise, you may hear what sounds like a 22 being shot into your floorboards/bellhousing. again, ask how i know. <.< Goodluck.
Put converter on the trans first. Distance from front edge/face of bellhousing to converter lug(where flex plate bolts to converter) is 1/2 inch. This means that the converter is half inch recessed inside bellhousing. It will take some wiggling and spinning to get it to engage the input shaft, reaction shaft, and front pump drive. I would put about a pint of fluid in the converter and slosh it around to ensure the bearings are wet. I also put some Vaseline on the outside of the converter hub where it goes into the front seal in the pump body. This keeps from burning out the seal with a dry start. One of the hole for the flex plate converter bolt is offset and does not line up with the other lugs on the converter. Think of it as being "keyed" to the converter...it only goes on one way. Find and mark the odd one before you start swinging the engine in. If the flex plate is off the motor this would be easy to do by laying plate on converter as it would be when engine/trans are mated. If plate is still on crank, try to bolt converter to it. You should find the odd hole and readily see what I'm typing about. I think it's easier to note and orientate this before mating as opposed to pulling the motor through trying to get the holes to line up while you're on your back under the car. After the engine is bolted to the trans and before the flexplate to converter bolts are started the converter should spin. As you are getting the engine drawn together with the trans keep checking the converter for spin. If the converter is not fully seated on the trans the engine WILL crush it when drawn up against the bellhousing with the bolts. The converter will fill when the engine is started. Fill trans before startup. Driveshaft must be installed before filling or you will need more trans oil to replace what poured out back of trans tailshaft and several pounds of oil dry. If you have access to the factory service manual it will walk you through all of this in a very easy to understand series of steps.