Transmissions and DrivetrainNeed help with your trans? Problems with your axle?
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ok, i have my torque converter wired up to a manual switch in my dash. it has been working great untill yesterday when smoke started flowing out of my dash. for some reason now, at times when i flip the switch, the torque converter locks up, but all the lights go dim, my "volts" meter drops waaay low and i get flooded with smoke. the only way to stop this is to tap the brakes, then everything returns to normal. i know the brakes have some kind of cancel switch on them for the torque converter, but why would it start smokeing like this if i dont hit the brakes after locking up the torque converter? after hitting the brakes once, i can drive around normaly with the torque converter locked up
Ummm...
If you mean the problem of the car filling with smoke when you flip the TCC switch then maybe not everyone has had that problem.
Check your wiring and DON'T USE OVERDRIVE UNTIL IT'S FIXED!:lala:
Good luck
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You may be locking up ur TC way too early. They only lock up at speeds of around 45 to 50, and thats in third (when using D), and fourth (when using OD), so dont try and lock it up in first or second, because you will screw your car up pretty bad, its meant to stall all the way up till around 50, because your torque converter is a key essential to making your car an automatic shifting car, it prevents the engine's energy from making direct physical contact with the trans (only trans fluid), until it is locked up that is. If your car did have a constant physical contact between the engine and trans, u'd need a clutch. I say disconnect the wire before real problems occur.
disconnect it?? i need it for the highway or my transmission will overheat. i was doing about 60 when i locked it up and it started smokeing. ive done even less than that before like 30 and it still didnt smoke. ive checked the wireing, its all wired up correctly. this seems to be a random problem almost. nothing is grounding out.
Why will your tranny overheat? Just as long as you keep it in 3rd it will be fine, just a little harder on gas. Better to go through a little more gas than have the car fill with burning smoke!
highway running without the TCC will heat it up the temp more then normal but its better then risking fire go back and follow all your wires to make sure there not burned thru, also checking where they run.. what gage wire did you use? did you put a fuse in line? and where did you pull the power from?
If you keep it in 3rd on the highway, you're way past the stall of the TC and not really risking much heat..
Running in 4th would be a different story.
im a little confused, are you saying its better to have it in 3rd than 4th(OD) when on the highway? i cant rerember the guage wire i used, it was pretty thick, and deffinately should be able to handle the power. the power im useing is comeing straight from the battery. i have it rigged like this: im useing a switch that supplys direct 12 volt power from the battery to a relay that closes the connection to ground one of the wires comeing from the tranny. now its "possible" the relay cant handle all the power but i seriously doubt it, because it works fine IF i hit the brakes after flipping the switch. its has something to do with the cancel switch i think that disengages the torque converter when i hit the brakes. sorry about takeing so long to reply, i apprecate the help.
im a little confused, are you saying its better to have it in 3rd than 4th(OD) when on the highway?
At least until your little problem is sorted out. You want to keep the TC much above the stall speed, and in 4th on the highway, you'll probably be close, causing unwated heat in the tranny. If you have a relay already, it's possible to wire it up to automatically lock up when you hit 4th if you wanted to.
go back and follow all your wires to make sure there not burned thru, also checking where they run.. what gage wire did you use? did you put a fuse in line? and where did you pull the power from? 
