Drain the Torque Convertor????

[dieselrealtor]

Years ago,(pre-lockup days) I knew a transmission rebuilder that would drill & tap the convertor on every trans he rebuilt so almost all of the fluid could be changed when it was time for service.

Seems like a good idea, any input?

Has anyone done this?

Location of internal fins, clutch, etc? :eek:

[Billman]

I'm a Fluid Change Freak and that is an Excellent Idea. I wish my converter had a plug. I'm afraid to drill it though. I believe you can drill & tap between the fins and install an 1/8" plug.

All if not most of our Fords at work have it from the factory. When it's time for a Transmission Service, I measure the fluid that comes out of the converter. Between 7-8 quarts.

That's more than you get out of the pan.

[rjschoolcraft]

I know a guy here in town that does this. I haven't tried it, though.

[CareyWeber]

Wouldn't have to be re-balanced?????

Don't you have to refill the converter?

It does sound like a good idea.

IIRC someone posted how to pull a trany cooler line and just keep adding fluid till clean fluid is coming out.

Carey

[AndyL]

Just like drilling the crossover, I believe it is impossible to remove 100% of the shavings. I think it is a bad idea.

I realize that several quats of fluid are likely to pour out, but many times when you drill steel, there is a "cap" or large burr that will someday work its way free.

[grape]

my converter has one, along with 22 pounds (not as much as we'd hoped for) less total weight than a stock 4l80 converter, can't wait to try it.

[DA BIG ONE]

Originally posted by CareyWeber:
IIRC someone posted how to pull a trany cooler line and just keep adding fluid till clean fluid is coming out.

Carey Yes, a properly maintained tranny can be drained by pulling tranny cooler line and attaching a transparent tube to it feeding used fluid to a pail, running the motor at idle, and refilling with fresh fluid. The transparent line aids visually to see the fresh fluid after all old fluid is flushed. "This method changes out all fluid in entire system!"

I know some will question about pan screen/filter changeout too. So, you can drain pan first, drop it, R&R screen/filter, put back pan, then do above flush.

An inline tranny filter, canister type helps in keeping fluid cleaner than normal.

[damork]

I recall in the past (pre-lockup converter days) there were plugs used to drain the converter, but I wouldn't do it today.

I've flushed my 4L80E several times. Drop the pan, install a new filter, then complete the fill and flush routine.

I usually add 4-5 quarts to bring the fluid level to full again, then take the return line from the cooler off at the transmission and run it to a white 6 gallon pail (clear hose/tube).

After that it's pretty simple, run it until the fluid level drops off, add a few more quarts and keep doing it until the fluid comes out nice and bright red. I usually end up with my 6 gallon pail nearly full of dark old fluid after 25-30k miles. I usually top off the whole procedure by adding Lube Gard transmission additive to the mix. I've never had any trouble with this and have 210,000 original miles on the trans.

[dieselrealtor]

I like the idea of using the cooler lines to pump it through. The downside to that is that I can make a mess just opening a bottle of water, this will work, but the potential for greazing my floor is high.

Then the downside to drilling the convertor is to hit a fin & well ......

I don't think the convertor would have to be re-balanced, I believe that a 1/8 or similar hex plug will have about the same mass as the metal pulled out, if not, there will not be a significant difference.

As far as shavings, that is what I am concerned about most. I figured that I would drill very s l o w l y & place a retrieval magnet on the convertor after it drains & take a small curved pic (along with the magnet) to pull the burr shaving that is still attached toward the top.

question about the f**ds convertor drain plug, was it threaded all the way through? Pipe thread? Locktite? Teflon? ???

Ron, would it be Sam that drills & taps the convertor here in town? He has done work for me in the past.

With just changing 5 quarts, my ittermittent shutter seems to be gone. The fluid looked & smelled good on the stick, but when it came out of the pan, that is a different story. :eek:

[Alf]

The drain plug on a ford conveter is placed so as to have suficiantly deep threads to support a pipe plug.
Drilling into an assembled converter is scary proposition at best, I'd doubt that putting a pipe plug in the converter shell would result in more than 2 or 3 threads to engage the threads of the plug. Plus,, The risk of over insertion of said pipe plug could result in all kinds of fun.
All that being said, if you can get a custom converter guy to install a pipe plug in the shell of a converter during the rebuild process, with ample deapth of threads in a non critical location, and balanced. Go for it.
Just thinkin out loud.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

I bought a used tranny pan from a tranny shop for $20. I put a drain plug in it.* When I did a tranny splash & replaced the filter, I installed this drain pan. Then, every time I changed engine oil for 5 or 6 changes, I also drained & refilled the tranny - maybe 5 quarts. If you do the math, by the time you get to 5 or 6 changes, the fluid is 99% new.

I did this because I never got around to following my own advice. I bought the pickup with ~ 80K miles, & did NO tranny maintenance until > 210K miles. Before I started, my tranny fluid looked like really dirty engine oil. (It didn't look that bad on the dipstick, but was real ugly-looking when I drained it.) I was concerned that, with a complete change of fluid, maybe the new fluid would dissolve crap in the tranny, which would break loose & plug something that shouldn't be plugged. So far, > 10K miles & no problems.

I had this fear because, on an 84 6.2 Sub I used to own, I put a tranny flush product in the tranny, intending to have the tranny flushed & refilled, & within a week (B4 I got to the flush/refill) the tranny died. I always wondered if the flush product broke something loose... :(

Blessings!

* I turned a piece of steel in a lathe at work, & tapped it for the same drain plug as the engine - if this drain plug gets ruined, I don't have to remember what drain plug I used.

[BrentN]

I basically do what Moondoggie does.

My 99 actually came with a factory drainplug-yeah, go figure! I recently changed my filter a few thousand miles ago, the fluid was dark, but not too bad. Knowing that I got only about 1/2 the fluid out, I have been pulling the plug, draining and replacing. Each time you get cleaner fluid. I tend to err to the change fluids often plan..."oil is cheap, especially compared to the price of a new engine or tranny".

Having a drain plug also allows me to get an extra drain and replace cycle in, especially if I have had the trailer on for an extended tow.