Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Anyone Blown Up A Torque Converter Before?

[AGibson]

Has anyone blown up your TC before? What are the symptoms? I was on my way home from work and had a rice burner trying to beat me off the line and BOOM! I could not even put it into park. I had to shut down the motor to put it into park but it kept rolling. Parking brake worked! Before I shut it down it was making all types noise. After I put it in park and restarted the motor there was no noise until I tried to shift it into gear. I have a Suncoast single disc TC. With an Edge EZ and RV-275 they said it would be fine. Does my description sound like a toasted TC?

Thanks!

Alan

 

[snowracer69]

Sounds more like a toasted flex-plate to me.



I know Suncoast also makes a stronger flex-plate, but for your power level a stocker should do fine.



Or, if you plan on going real big with more power, call up DTT and get their new certified flexplate.



Josh

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Output shaft sounds more like it. But then again the flexplate could have taken a dump.

 

[Bova]

Flex plate, Do what snowracer said and get the heavyduty Suncoast flex plate. After my third flex plate I got smart. Hopefully It didnt do too much damage in there.

 

[Chipstien]

Agree with everyone else that it is not a TC. The fact that when you restarted it and it didn't make noise untill you put it in gear leads me to believe that TMTT is correct. Unless somehow the flexplate snagged the TC while going around untill there was resistance. Must say that at your power level it is rare that you would lose a output shaft. Thinking about it... ... . Flexplate.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Originally posted by ToolManTimTaylor

Output shaft sounds more like it. But then again the flexplate could have taken a dump.

Yep, if it was the flexplate, park would still work. bg

 

[AGibson]

Why is an education so expensive? I dropped the transfer case and transmission. Flex plate was good. Disassemble the front end of the transmission, valve body, and the overdrive tail stock, all shafts and parts looked good. Next, went through the transfer case. I had rebuilt it about 10K miles before. No problem. The rear drive shaft is good. I was told that maybe my transfer case could have jumped out of gear into neutral. I must say that the noise was an extreme bang when it happened. It felt like I got rear ended. Has anyone had their transfer case jump into neutral and what did it feel like?

I am sorry if I do not thank enough people or get back with you faster. I am building my own house, working 50 hours a week, and drive 4 hours a day back and forth to work.

Thanks again for your responses!

Alan

 

[1FSTDSL]

Yeah, I just "blew up" by ATS triplelok. I am getting it replaced under warranty. If someone wants to buy a brand new Triplelok I will sell it to them and save them a couple hundred bucks.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

1FSTDSL: Since you lunched an ATS convertor, whose converter are you going to go with now?



On edit: Most of the 'blown' convertors I have seen were the result of people using mystery switches that cause the TCC to lockup when it shouldn't be locked, etc. Gotta love looking at a extra crispy TC where the front cover is all blued from the heat.



Once the friction material from the wasted TC goes through the rest of the transmission... then you're in for TONS of fun.



Matt

 

[1FSTDSL]

The reason I went with ATS is because that is what my local shop offered. I would have preferred a DTT, I feel they have a much better product. My nearest DTT dealer is 45min away so I went with convenience and paid the price. Before I lost the torque converter I lost my overdrive clutches because they like to run low line pressure. That whole ATS stuff is B. S. Needless to say they dealer that installed my ATS transmission no longer sells them and is tired of all the warranty work. I am getting a new transmission under warranty and I will not be using ATS. I would prefer DTT but I will be using the Suncoast triple converter. My dealer says he has used them for many years and has had excellent luck with them, so we shall see.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I think you'll be happy with what Suncoast offers... I've heard good things about them.



This issue goes to show that everything isn't glitter and gold with anyone's auto transmission products...



Any of the aftermarket products are better than OEM and that's a blessing.



Matt

 

[rrausch]

1FSTDSL, Name the transmission shop. Location also please. Also what's your name, if you don't mind.



You have 17 posts on this board... I think if you are going to trash a well-loved Performance Transmission Vendor like ATS you had better back up some of your "facts".



Lets see... I just called Bellflower Transmission, in the So Cal. area and spoke with Larry the owner. They've been doing ATS Installations since Sept. 02. I asked him "Have you ever had a TripleLok TC come back?" He said, "NEVER!" Bellflower Transmission has done around 50 ATS installations. He said he has met Clint and that the people at ATS "are great people and have a great product. "



Perhaps you have heard of TST Products of Columbus, Ind. The owners of TST Products took a trip out to Denver to tour the ATS facilities 14 months ago, and loved what they saw, and became ATS Affiliated Installers. I just called them. I asked them how many ATS Installations they have done. "2-3 every week, it has been that way since we signed up with them over a year ago in Feb. " That is 100 to 150 ATS Installations. I asked if they had had any problems with ATS Trannys. "We had one guy from Alaska who had a problem, and that turned out to be a Valve Body problem. We fixed him up and sent him on his way happy. " He also said, "We were very impressed with Clint's operation when we drove out there".



Perhaps you have heard of Sheid Diesel. They too are an ATS Affiliated shop.

I just spoke with Rick at Sheid's main shop. He said Sheid builds a LOT of performance trannys, and they used a "Lot of ATS converters". I asked if they had every had any come back. He said "Nope". He said ATS does "Excellent work" and the few times they have had small problems. Clint has "Bent over backwards" to fix the problem quickly.



If your "transmission shop" is really "tired of all the warranty work" (with ATS) then it is because they are not a very good shop. These transmissions are complicated things, with multiple variables which affect the transmission operation. ALL of the other 280 Reputable, Professional shops in the U. S. A. affiliated with ATS have hardly ANY warranty work.



If indeed your TripleLok was trashed as a result of a Manufacturing Defect, then CONGRATULATIONS... you are 1 out of about 20,000.



Oh one more thing. I drove 1,200 miles to get my ATS Stage IV Installation, and I'd do it again in a Heartbeat. And you say won't drive 45 stinkin' minutes to get that DTT Trans. that you "prefer".

 

[1FSTDSL]

Originally posted by rrausch

1FSTDSL, Name the transmission shop. Location also please. Also what's your name, if you don't mind.



You have 17 posts on this board... I think if you are going to trash a well-loved Performance Transmission Vendor like ATS you had better back up some of your "facts".



Lets see... I just called Bellflower Transmission, in the So Cal. area. They've been doing ATS Installations for over 2 years. I spoke with Bob and asked him "Have you ever had a TripleLok TC come back?" He said, NEVER! Bellflower Transmission does about 10 ATS Installations EVERY MONTH. They have been an ATS Dealer for years and have been doing this kind of volume for years. He said they DID have one disgruntled customer in all that time who had had his trans. installed by someone else.



Perhaps you have heard of TST Products of Columbus, Ind. The owners of TST Products took a trip out to Denver to tour the ATS facilities 14 months ago, and loved what they saw, and became ATS Affiliated Installers. I just called them. I asked them how many ATS Installations they have done. "2-3 every week, it has been that way since we signed up with them over a year ago in Feb. " That is 100 to 150 ATS Installations. I asked if they had had any problems with ATS Trannys. "We had one guy from Alaska who had a problem, and that turned out to be a Valve Body problem. We fixed him up and sent him on his way happy. " He also said, "We were very impressed with Clint's operation when we drove out there".



Perhaps you have heard of Sheid Diesel. They too are an ATS Affiliated shop.

I just spoke with Rick at Sheid's main shop. He said Sheid builds a LOT of performance trannys, and they used a "Lot of ATS converters". I asked if they had every had any come back. He said "Nope". He said ATS does "Excellent work" and the few times they have had small problems. Clint has "Bent over backwards" to fix the problem quickly.



If your "transmission shop" is really "tired of all the warranty work" (with ATS) then it is because they are a BAD shop. Most likely they are not completely flushing out the Trans. Cooler, which if not done right will allow bits of metal and debris to contaminate the new trans. Or else they are not doing something else right. Because ALL of the other 280 Reputable, Professional shops in the U. S. A. affiliated with ATS have hardly ANY warranty work.



If indeed your TripleLok was trashed as a result of a Manufacturing Defect, then CONGRATULATIONS... you are 1 out of about 20,000.



Oh one more thing. I drove 1,200 miles to get my ATS Stage IV Installation, and I'd do it again in a Heartbeat. And you say won't drive 45 stinkin' minutes to get that DTT Trans. that you "prefer".

Here we go. :-{} What the hell does the amount of posts have to do with my transmission problems. Are you calling me a liar? I did not post to cause a war, if you are having good luck with your ATS, well then I am happy for you. All that stuff about never having a problem with a Triplelok converter is B. S. You should not beleive everything you here. Would you like me to send you pictures of all the "purple converters" on the shop floor? I know of three people that drag at the track with me that have had problems. This is first hand information, not talking to salesman on the phone. PM and I will give you the phone # of the shop that used to deal with ATS. He no longer recommends their products and is tired of doing their warranty work. Don't take my word for it, PM me and I will give you his phone #, straight from the horses mouth. I guarantee he will have nothing good to say about them. Also the reason I did not want to drive 45 minutes is because this shop is 5 minutes from my house, and I use him a lot. I have a good relationship with him, but he is not a DTT authourized dealer. He has always used Suncoast and has good luck with them. We both gambled with the ATS transmissions and LOST! This was my experience, maybe yours has been better. I can only speak for myself and the few others that I have personally witnessed. I lost my overdrive clutches TWICE, because of that damn low line pressure. All I can say is good luck, my luck was not as good as yours.

 

[jrandol]

Can we close this thread moderators? Yes, I own a ATS transmission but that has no relevance on the subject. Where's the value in the bashing here??

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I've deleted a number of bickering posts from this thread. 1FSTDSL had a problem with his transmission and he's given his side, rrausch gave the side of a happy customer of that vendor. Both sides have been told - it's time to drop it.



-Steve St. Laurent

Lead Moderator