Smoked Converter?

05 Stroker · Nov 24, 2013

I think I smoked my stock torque converter today.

I was merging into traffic rolling on the throttle when my truck completely free revved to the limiter, I pulled off the road, put it in park to let it sit for a second. Then I shut it down, restarted it and put it in drive... nothing. Tried reverse, nothing. Tried manual 1st, 2nd, 3rd, nothing. If I rev the truck up in any gear it'll slowly creep around

Prior to this the trans was shifting with no issues, My trucks in the 600 hp range on a stock rebuilt trans (25k miles so far) and its been holding up well. I had some of the usual 5r110 stuff, like a small flare or shift delay under certain part throttle situations, but It always shifted very strong when I was hard on the throttle.

I'm hoping I only hurt the converter? what are the chances of me getting away with upgrading the converter, changing the fluid and filters, and being on my merry way?

There are a few used 5r110's in the area claiming under 100k miles for 750 bucks including the converter,is this a better option? I'm not a huge fan of trusting craigslist sellers on the health of a transmission I cant really test at all until I pay the money and slap it in my truck.

I'd just like to continue to enjoy the truck while I save for a fully built trans in the spring..

What's my best option?

Powerstroked162 · Nov 24, 2013

hmmm. It revs to the limiter in every gear with little to no movement? 600hp is a lot for a stock trans. I guarantee that the direct clutches are smoked as is

05 Stroker · Nov 24, 2013

Yep, I was very close to home so I thought I would try to limp it, well after going half a block and reaching a maximum of 5 mph, I pulled off and called for a tow.

Mark Kovalsky · Nov 25, 2013

I doubt that it's the converter. It is possible, but it is more likely that something inside the trans broke.

Usually when a converter fails the truck will still move, but it very sluggish.

05 Stroker · Nov 25, 2013

It broke so suddenly that at first I figured I snapped the input shaft.

But wouldn't I hear some noise inside the trans if I did that?

I would imagine if I snapped a shaft it wouldn't move at all?

Mark Kovalsky · Nov 25, 2013

You might hear a snap if you had your ear inside the trans when it happened. Otherwise you probably could never hear it over the engine noise.

If you snapped the input shaft it isn't going anywhere. If you wiped out a clutch you may get some movement. Same thing if a planetary gear was destroyed, or a spline stripped, or a shell fractured, or.....

05 Stroker · Nov 25, 2013

I also don't think that half throttle acceleration calls for a snapped input shaft.. I suppose anything is possible.

Please excuse my ignorance, I'm not very good at power flow.. If I burned up a clutch or chewed up a planetary, isn't there a chance I could still get reverse, or manual 1st, 2nd, or 3rd depending on which clutch I burnt up?

I'll have a chance to drain the fluid tomorrow night, I'll let you guys know what I find in it

05 Stroker · Nov 25, 2013

Also want to mention, although my truck is 600hp, it's a regular cab with 4.30 gears on 33"tires, And a big single, so I'm not seeing real high torque numbers.

Sill pushing it, but a less abusive setup then typical on some of the other builds

Mark Kovalsky · Nov 25, 2013

05 Stroker said:
I also don't think that half throttle acceleration calls for a snapped input shaft.. I suppose anything is possible.

I once broke an axle shaft in a 9" axle. It broke coasting to a stop light. The engine was at idle. How did it snap like that? I analyzed the failed part.

It was a classic fatigue failure. It looked exactly like the failures that were in my engineering text books. You could see where a crack started. Subsequent cracks went deeper and deeper into the shaft until the last part broke. The last part of the shaft that had been holding on was 1/8" in diameter. Something like this could have happened to yours. It could have been failing for weeks.

05 Stroker said:
Please excuse my ignorance, I'm not very good at power flow.. If I burned up a clutch or chewed up a planetary, isn't there a chance I could still get reverse, or manual 1st, 2nd, or 3rd depending on which clutch I burnt up?

If you chewed up a planetary you're not going anywhere.

As for the clutches if you failed the OD one way clutch and burned the coast clutch you won't go anywhere, either. There are other failures of shafts, drums, etc, that can do this.

05 Stroker · Nov 25, 2013

Looks like I'll be picking up a stocker and sending mine out to be built..

Thanks for the help.

Pwrcummins · Nov 26, 2013

How much can these trans hold hp wise?

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05 Stroker · Nov 28, 2013

Pwrcummins said:
How much can these trans hold hp wise?

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Mine was rebuilt with all oem ford pieces when the motor was built.. My truck put down 633/997 and lasted for about 3 years of abuse.. Given my truck is light with 32" tires and 4.30 gears, big tire guys most likely won't last nearly as long.

05 Stroker · Nov 28, 2013

Picked up another stock trans and swapped in in last night, just need something to get me over until I can afford to get a built one.

The water bottle on top is a sample of the trans fluid that came out. I spent a lot of time flushing the lines out...

Pwrcummins · Nov 28, 2013

Iv got 102k on the truck with same trans on 40s.

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Powerstroked162 · Nov 28, 2013

05 Stroker said:
Picked up another stock trans and swapped in in last night, just need something to get me over until I can afford to get a built one.

The water bottle on top is a sample of the trans fluid that came out. I spent a lot of time flushing the lines out...

Pull your filter and cut it apart. See what is inside