I have had the ACT 9.5" converter for about 2 or 3 months now and it has made a few dragstip passes and 3 runs on a dyno. Then one day, the TCC quit working. There were a couple of times where it took a few seconds for it to apply, then it just quit working at all. I'm going to check the solenoid, make sure its energizing and not leaking, I was just wondering if anybody else has had problems or if there are known problems w/ the TCC.

P.S. and I did take the checkball assembly out of the end of the input shaft.

 

UPDATE: I tested the soleniod, it was OK, but replaced it anyway. No change. I made sure that the TCC L/U valve in the pump moved freely, it was OK, so I put the stock TC back in and now I have L/U. Reason #1 why you should not buy anything that does not have a warranty. It will be going back for repairs

 

If you are having problems with the A.C.T. then call me and send it back for the repairs. It will be covered under the warranty.

 

is it a defect or just a lemon?

 

Probably a defect.

 

I heard the ACT 9.5" 2800 STall converters do the following (is this true?)

#1 under light throttle its as if you have stock stall. the rpms do not shoot up and you dont waste fuel.
#2 when you step into it the converter flashs up and you go flying forward. this is the nature of the converter itself.
#3 the lockup ACT can be made to lockup as soon as 15 MPH in 2nd gear. this helps save fuel, and does not damage the converter in any way.
#4 the ACT was not made to lockup during a WOT pass, and on the highway should be unlocked before any torque is applied to the wheels.

is all of this true? I want to buy a high stall ACT but afraid the 2800 Stall will eat my fuel up. question #1 is the most important to me, please enlighten me.

 

I'm sure Pro-Built could answer these questions... Since he does sale them and I bought ACT 9 1/2 2400 lockup with my new Pro-Built 700-r4 Street/Strip, which I absolutely love both of them.

1) From what I noticed with my 2400 flash with a 3.27 gear. It's completely streetable. Half the time I forget I even have a different stall in it. For average stop and go traffic I have no problem, just as long as you ease into the gas but heck I use to do that anyways. It will only flash to high rpms if you give it a lot of throttle.... I can leave 1/4 or so no problem in town you might feel a little slippage but I can still keep up with cars next me... once I get to 1/2 starts getting a little more aggressive (slightly turns them), and if you stomp it watch out for the cloud of smoke... hehe But I'm only using a pretty much bone stock 350 tpi.


2) like I said if you stomp on it your going to flash the stall... or in my nature I just sit and spin... damn 245/50 r16 tires....

3) I don't really have much clue I always thought lockup mainly for OD... aren't 350 computer controlled to lockup at 45 or more mph then disengage under throttle or something like that.... I've heard if your running some power like 300+ hp if you just do a switch and leave it on all the time in lockup you can actually burn out the lockup feature in them

I do remember reading something about 1 wire TCC wiring harnesses in trannies without computer lockup in 2nd-4th gears.

4) I have no clue on this one....

I noticed with my 2400 though it liked shifting a lot more.... when I shift at wot it stays at least 3500 or so rpms everytime. I don't get any more of that shifting at 5k+ then front end dropping back down then springing back up again when it hits powerband.

Another thing to remember is aftermarket stalls put off more heat than stock one from slippage.... I put a 26k cooler on mine which I got from Pro-Built it worked great.

In my car I noticed a slight decrease in gas mileage maybe 2 mpg... nothing big but I live in the sticks out here where it's stop and go traffic all the time... damn amish... and wicked blind slow turns that you can only take at 25 mph at times, probably my driving too I love flashing stall in town just for those ricers. Major thing to remember is Lockup is good for a street driven car. You will see a little better gas mileage over a none lockup style on the highway.

Course I'm no expert... I recommend you wait for Pro Built to reply back or give him a ring.

 

#1 is true to my experience with an act 2400
#2 is true to my experience with an act 2400
#3 is dependent upon the vehicle electronics/PROM, not the tranny (presuming you have electronic TCC). a 700R4 is fully capable of locking the TCC in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, at any speed. It is NOT capable of locking the tranny in 1st - the hydraulic circuit which supplies fluid to the TCC, does not supply fluid when you are in 1st gear.
#4, the first part (not made to lockup during WOT) is true to my limited knowledge of the ACT. Some of the (twice as expensive) vigilantes have multiple discs internally and are made to withstand a WOT lockup. With regards to the second part, I have no clue.

The stall won't eat your fuel provided you drive for mileage. What eats your fuel is the v8 under the hood and the lead in your foot. If you get into burning your own PROM's, you can easily modify the behavior of the TCC lockup to suit your own driving style. For example, mine is set to lock up around 35mph under light throttle acceleration.. but at heavy throttle (say 40%), it won't lock till well past 55mph, and at full throttle it doesn't lock at all. You can also control the unlocking behavior when you get on it after cruising at steady speed (at least - on the 90-92 '730 systems you can, don't know about others). basically you control how much throttle it takes to unlock it. But even without modifications, I don't think you'd see any real-world mileage differences.

 

The 2,800 rpm stall will eat some gas mileage, the 2,400 rpm stall is a lot better in this regards. Depending on how much duration the cam has at .050 lift, will partly determine the stall of the TC.

 

Pro-Built : My cam has 212/216 @0.050 what do you recommend?

Will order spring -03......

 

No more than 2,400 rpm stall for daily street use.

 

Ok.

I've read that you could add the HD input drum, this will make it good for about 625-650 HP. How much and must I specify it when I order?

Upcoming news :mirror finish steel ? whats this? price? good?

 

Probuilt... others...

<b>No more than 2,400 rpm stall for daily street use.</b>
I have a 2400 Stall 12" on my TH350 right now.
My camshaft is 303/313 with a .050-.050 at 234/244 and .556 lift after 1.5's.

I do not make very good power below 3000 rpms... so when i stomp it, It takes a couple seconds before the car really starts to pull.

However, I drive on the street all the time. daily driver.
You recommend I simply change my cam to suit the 2400 better?

Can I, Conceivably, use a decent gear (3.42) and decent stall (2400) decent tranny (700R4) with this cam? (3,200-6,200)
Or is it simply better to swap in a much more mild cam?
wookie what do you recommend?

 

Here's my opinions, for whatever ya think they might be worth.

If you like your cam (idle quality, drivability, etc.), but don't like the converter and the lag before the motor pulls, then go to a higher stall, smaller diameter converter. The higher stall speed will let the motor jump into it's power band faster, so you won't wait a couple of seconds for the motor to wake up. A lot of guys seem to like the 2800 stall as a good street&STRIP stall. and further the smaller diameter converters will just overall be much better than your big 12".

If you don't like your cam, but like the converter, then keep the 2400 stall and get a smaller cam.

Are you truly a daily driver, never see the dragstrip?

 

<b>then go to a higher stall, smaller diameter converter. </b>
Tried that. I went to a TCI 10" Street fighter.

it didnt exactly work out. Lets just put it this way:
With my 12" I run 12's in the 1/4 mile, 14 MPG
with the 10" I was running 14's in the 1/4 mile, 3 MPG

Why why why oh *** why?
Mismatched drivetrain components... I currently have a 2.77 geared 9 bolt... Thus the high stall of the converter would just cause it to slip and slip and slip and My engine would spin up and the tranny would heat up but i wouldnt go anywhere...

its not the converter's fault. its my fault. I assumed I could use a proper cam with a proper converter, but without the proper gearing. i was wrong.

I love my cam, but im not going to let it ruin my fuel economy by deciding what converter to get. it takes me 4 hours and $116 to change my cam. Ill prolly do it this weekend.
Yes its a true daily driver. it has been to the track like 2 times in its life, once with the 10" and once with the 12". I G-tech it all the time though, and race it around empty un-populated parts of town.

 

The 10" TCI torque converter with 2.77's might not work out well. The 9.5" A.C.T. would do ok with 2.77's, but then again what stall were you getting with the TCI?, and was it a lockup?

 

According to summit's web site, the 10" TCI street figher stalls between 3000 and 3500.

dana is completely on the right path here. I forget which site it is, but one of the 4th gen sites has several 2.xx geared 4thgens running VERY impressive 60-ft times. it's all in the converter. I'm guessing the TCI converter is probably "old school" in it's design and technology and very slippy and ineffecient.

It's also entirely possible the TCI converter was defective. TCI and B&M and the like don't exactly enjoy a sterling reputation around here They work for some people but there seems to be an abnormally high number of people who have problems with them, especially the trannies.

 

You are right, it's all in the torque converter. The TCI converter is "old school" in it's design and technology and is very slippery and inefficient.

 

Not to mention most of the B&M and TCI ones figure you have what like 400 tq or something. When you order from Pro Built Dana figures in everything. When I ordered I had to provide motor size, cam specs, estimated tq output, rear end gear... then he helped me pick out the right one. I've heard of people trying to get ones from mail order places and once they get it the stall won't even flash up to the amount they advertised because they picked the wrong speed or various other problems. My 2400 act worked out nicely. In fact I kind of forgot to tell my local mechanic that I put one in... hehe he found out. He guessed it at 2200-3k, he knows his stuff he runs a chevy with a big block that has gone 6.6 in the 1/8 carrying both wheels 2+ feet or so off the ground from the line.

 

yep yep. TCI sells them as a fits-all.

we all know how well fits alls work

 

so maybe theres hope for my 2.77 after all?
<b>but then again what stall were you getting with the TCI?, and was it a lockup?</b>
It was in a Th350, not a 700R4. the higher 1st gear (2.56??) of the TH350 didnt help much either with my launches. I would pull like 2.3-2.4 60' times... worse than my 305 L03.

Now i pull 2.1-2.2, and it feels much better (2400 12" B&M)
but its still sluggish as all hell. I may experment with a cam swap and the stock stall speed of my 700R4.

 

you need to find someone with a modern 9.5" converter in the 2400-2800 range and drive it. I think you'll like it. Take a look at the archives on this board, from people who have bought and driven/raced modern design converters (hint, they don't come from TCI and B&M). Traxion, Ed Maher, and others have all posted good "results" posts.

I"ve pulled a best of a 1.98 with my ACT 2400 on a stock motor (never had the intake, valvecovers, or exhaust manifolds off). And that's launching at only 1/2 - 2/3 throttle..anything more and I get wheelhop and/or wheelspin. Oh yes, and that's on old, very hard, all season touring radials. My gears aren't much better than yours, I'm running 3.23s. And, it's not sluggish at all. It will flash past 2000 in a heartbeat (way more than my tires can handle), but at the same time I can drive around town all day below 2000 and have very good drivability. With some decent tires (even just a good performance radial like some dunlop SP 8000's or RE730's) and maybe some LCA relocation brackets, I could easily be in the 1.8's.

One thing to keep in mind, is that tall gears like your 2.xx's will make a converter feel slippier, than the same converter on, say, 3.73's. So it's more important to get an efficient converter that doesn't feel too slippery around town. That's why it's so important to get a modern, efficient converter.

 

<b>That's why it's so important to get a modern, efficient converter.</b>
im with you, all the way. question is, just how much worse is the 2800 stall against the "slipperyness" of a 2.77, and how much worse is it for your MPG? You would think it wouldnt kill it too much, but that TCI man... wheww 3 mpg! with 2.77 gears too! *** it didnt last 50 miles in my car before i said screw this...

and another quesiton ive posted, i think, about a stock 700R4.
my other RS has a 89' 700R4 compltelly stock.
Im a firm beleiver in having SOME gear to back a healthy engine up, thus the RS is getting some 3.42's in its 10-bolt shortly.

question here is, with a cam swap (of course, to bring down idle speed), how long can this stock 700R4 live behind my 355 with a blower when i drop it in?I also heard gearing takes stress off the tranny... is that true? I DO daily drive this thing, just how much gearing should i go for? assuming a 700R4 of course, and a very very mild cam. probably dinky (close enough to work with stock stall speed) and the blower should carry it well above its "normal" rpm range. is the need for better than 2.77 erased because of my super-low powerband?

 

my knowledge in that area (tranny durability, rpm ability) is very limited at best. from what I remember, there are some springs that are too weak and allow one of the gears to drag at high RPM...dana's the man to talk to about that one. i think he sells a transgo kit that can be put in by dropping the pan, and if the tranny isn't already slipping/messed up, it will help it out. but check with him, my memory is foggy at best.

 

Well, here is an update:

Its been a month since I started having trouble and I finally got my converter back. When ACT recived my converter, they called me and said that it was working to specs on there dyno. So now I'm in a pickle. I know the tranny is OK, because I put the stock converter back in and TCC works like it always did. So ACT said they would put all new internals for the TCC in just to be sure. I DID NOT ask for a stall change, but the guy asked me. He said "now is the time if you want one" since its apart. So I told him what mods I have done since I originally ordered it. He reccomended 100 RPM more, making it a 2900 stall converter. So I said sure, make the changes. I didn't mind paying the shipping out to California, after all, all I wanted was the lockup to work again, and I didn't mind using up my "one free stall change" while it was apart for warranty repair, but now that they sent that fawker COD, which means I just ate $70 round trip shipping and a lousey 100 RPM stall change because of a warranty repair that was needed after 2 months of use, I think I just bought my last ACT converter. It has NOT been installed since being sent back to me, so its basicly "NEW, IN BOX" so if anybody wants to buy it so I can get a Vigilante or Yank, let me know... Its an ACT 9.5" 2900 stall converter.

 

How much? Im interested, somwhat. Email me, Ill email you. Will it work with a stock 700R4?

I really need a 2400 Stall though....

 

I know this isn't the classifieds, but since he asked...

Let me reiterate that it HAS NOT been out of the box since being shipped back to me, so you may as well consider it NEW (they said they put all new internals in it, put it back together, re-balanced it and re-painted it). Since after taxes and such, a NEW one would cost you almost $600, I'll ship mine to anyone in the 48 states for $500.

 

ouchy. cannot afford it...

 

Attention: 4L60bliss, If the torque converter has been repaired as per agreement (and he said he found no problem with it), and the $70.00 has got you upset, then put the thing back in and I will refund the $70.00 to you. Do you think that Yank or Precision Industries has not had lockup problems, and when they got the TC back to inspect it and found nothing wrong with it....., what more do you want them to do?

 

Whether PI or Yank does or does not is not relevant. The fact is, your website boasts the "1 year warranty", however the site failed to mentioned that shipping was not included. This leaves the consumer to beleive that they will be taken care of if a situation arises. To know for sure, you'd have to search for ACT's website, since there is not a link, and look for the disclaimers, which most people won't, or even know to do.

Secondly, when I asked you on the phone, if ACT would refund my shipping cost out to California, your response was "they probably will". When the converter arrived, not only was there no mention of a reimbursement, but a COD charge to send it back to Georgia.

Whether the converter is bad or not, I guess we will never know. I don't know what ACT found when they took it apart (if they did). However the facts are compelling. The stock converter/tranny combo worked just fine for several thousand miles. The new converter worked for 2-3 months, then stopped. Items that pertain to the TCC apply circuit were either tested or replaced with no change, however it seems odd that putting the stock one back in works just fine, and still does as I type this. So if the tranny is working as designed, that only leaves one thing left...