Torque Converter bench test

[fmugur]

I have a spare TQ that came from a transmission with 200k km. The guy had no tranny issues but I am not sure if he had the tranny or TQ rebuilt. The engine was seized on this car. I am not sure if I the TQ got damaged when the engine locked up but I am at the point I need to replace the TQ on mine as well when I finish the work on the tranny. The best choice is to buy a new TQ ($600) but is there a bench test that can tell me the TQ I have is good enough for the next 100k?

[RRPhil]

Unfortunately there’s no way of testing a torque converter other than by installing it.

There’s no reason to suspect that a seized engine might damage the torque converter, however the torque converter lock-up clutches start to fail on these Sachs W260S models at higher mileages (100,000 miles onwards) and this would involve another 5 hours work to remove & replace if it turned out to be the case.

The biggest issue, though, is whether the fluid in the transmission that it came out of was contaminated in any way because, if it were, what fluid is left in the converter will re-contaminated your new rebuild.

Also, you need to be sure that the donor vehicle was a 4.4i as the 4.6iS uses a different converter - as do all the other BMWs and Jaguars that use the 5HP24 (except the Range Rover). The converter should have either F38 or A85 marked on it.

Careful attention should also be paid to the area on the oil pump drive sleeve where it acts as the inner race for the needle bearing to ensure that it isn’t damaged/worn and similarly for the area where the input seal sits.



In my opinion it’s too big a risk to just ‘try’ this one. I would use it as the core for getting a re-manufactured unit so you could have the re-manufactured one sat waiting ready to swap your old one out with.

Phil

[fmugur]

Thank you Phil. I will get a new reman TQ. What do you mean by 'contaminated'? How should I avoid this with the new TQ, tranny I will put in other than flashing the heat exchanger and hoses?