possible torque converter problems after tune

niceguypmp3

Original poster
Member
Oct 31, 2020
60
iowa
I had read somewhere that the TB has a very weak design for the TC clutches and that supposedly having it tuned to where the TC locks at 100% everytime will inevitably cause it to fail in short order. Is there any truth in that? I thought the reason to have that change done with a tune was to extend the life of the TC, not shorten it. Now i'm worried about the life of mine...
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Nope. Never heard that before. I had several done, no issues here. If anything, it extends its life by not slipping during engagement. Also lowers temps.
 
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gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
If anything, I would speculate that either your TC clutch was badly worn prior to the tune, or you may have a pressure leak somewhere.

First order of business would be to have a pressure test done. Slight PITA to reach the test port but heard it's possible.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
This article from Sonnax will likely mean more to those of you who know these transmissions better than I. Which is likely all of you !!


That was interesting. That is more for an actual mod to the valve body where full pressure is applied to the clutch, which would be higher than designed. When modifying the programming in the tune, what that does is bring it to the 90% engagement right away, which is usually the max. That's how I have programmed it in my Avalanche. So instead of starting at 20% and gradually increasing to 90%, it engages at 90%. Line pressures are not increased as per the article.
 

TJBaker57

Member
Aug 16, 2015
2,897
Colorado
That was interesting. That is more for an actual mod to the valve body where full pressure is applied to the clutch, which would be higher than designed. When modifying the programming in the tune, what that does is bring it to the 90% engagement right away, which is usually the max. That's how I have programmed it in my Avalanche. So instead of starting at 20% and gradually increasing to 90%, it engages at 90%. Line pressures are not increased as per the article.


Ahhh, I see now. And we have PWM not the EC3 they speak of as well, correct?
 

limequat

Member
Dec 8, 2011
520
I had read somewhere that the TB has a very weak design for the TC clutches and that supposedly having it tuned to where the TC locks at 100% everytime will inevitably cause it to fail in short order. Is there any truth in that? I thought the reason to have that change done with a tune was to extend the life of the TC, not shorten it. Now i'm worried about the life of mine...
Not hard parts, but some electrical parts are not supposed to be run at 100% duty cycle because the current can cause them to overheat and fail. For that reason when "disabling TCC PWM" I actually set the Mininimum pwm to a high value that's less than 100%. It still feels like on/off but there's no danger to the solenoid.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON

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