Hey guys, i just purchased my first third gen last night, 88 IROC (http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/car/637729983.html) for only $2900 because my dad is a 22 year chevy mechanic and went with me when i had the money and the kid didnt know about cars, so i consider it a great transaction. The body is bondo free, newly painted and rust/dent/scratch free. Interior needs work (wiring was done to the car since instead of a radio or head unit there is a prism plate for a ignition switch?)

But sorry to babble on (im excited), i didn't understand my dad's explanation of a stall converter, my car has a 2800 satll conv. and i was wondering what it did for an automatic, and i know a certain amount about cars trust me, but i have to plead totally noob on this one, what exactly does it do?

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter.htm

how stuff works has a relitively simple explanation in simple terms that even the least mechanically inclined people would understand. so check it out. if there is something that you dont understand after reading the article provided on the link, ask a few more questions.

 

thanks!

 

Welcome to the board and congrats on getting a 3rd gen.
The higher than stock rpm torque converter does 2 things. If you hold the brakes and open the throttle with it in gear, the rpm of the engine will come up to the "stall" speed. The higher the rpm, the more torque the engine can put out. This lets the car take off from a stop faster. It also affects the city mileage because the engine turns faster when it takes off from each red-light.
The second thing it does is make it easier to put in gear if the engine has a performance camshaft that doesn't idle well. If the engine doesn't idle well below 900 rpm, it keeps the car from jumping when you put it in gear or killing the engine.

 

Hello, sorry to jump in but I also have wondered about this issue.

So let me get this straight, if I had a 2800 stall converter, I would have to rev engine up to 2800 rpm before tranny engages and I start to move? Every time? Does throttle position affect this (farther I depress pedal, higher it revs before engaging)?

 

Not the rpm that it engages, it is the rpm when it is in a full stall condition. It is the rpm when the brakes are locked and the engine is at full throttle. (don't hold this condition for longer than 10 seconds).

 

i think you all are a little confused. you will never know what your combo will stall without a transbrake . with the brake engaged you can stall the converter to where it will stall.
if you combo is low tq a 2800 converter with a brake may only stall to 2400 while if you put it behind a build big block it might stall to 3500.
my truck has a 5500 tci group 6 converter. its specs are 5400-5800 its actual stall on the brake is 5500. but if i try to do this on the foot its only at 4000.
most converters are rated behind a 280-300 lb ft of tq engine.

 

Ok, this might sound stupid, but what I would like to know or understand is, what do you mean by stall? Meaning, whats happening when my converter reaches "stall" speed?

My thinking is I could understand this more if I understood what it is I am trying to understand, if you can understand that...lol

What I am thinking now is 5500 rpm stall would mean if I stopped at a red light, and wasn't trying to run a 10 second pass, I would have to rev engine to 5500 rpm before I start to move?

Say I was just going to go get a loaf of bread. Every time I stop, I would have to (damn near) redline engine in order to go?

 

When the transmission is in gear and the brakes are locked so the car can't move and you floorboard the gas, the torque converter is in a stall condition.
The engine is pulling as hard as it can but it isn't going anywhere because the brakes are locked. The rpm that the engine is up to in this "stalled" condition is the stall speed of the converter. (higher stall speed converter or bigger engine =higher rpm)
Choosing the right stall speed converter depends on the setup of the engine in front of it and how it will be driven. (street-only, street/strip, strip-only, and a really good question to post) There will be lots of opinions.
Matt's truck has a 5500 stall in it for dragracing.
My car has a 2300 rpm stall converter in it (a little above stock).

 

I have 3 different pages all about torque converters.

http://www.hardtail.com/techtips/sel...converter.html
http://www.hardtail.com/techtips/torqueconverters.html
http://www.hardtail.com/techtips/converter%20stall.html