GT Performance Mods 2005+ Mustang GT Performance and Technical Information

Torque converters

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Old May 5, 2010 | 12:53 PM
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Torque converters

As some of u might know Ive had some tc issues and now im in the process of figuring out a diff brand to buy. I called "a place" a few mins ago and talked to a guy about Tci's. I didnt feel as if he knew what he was talking about since his answers were short w zero detail.

Im curious about the 3000/3500 stall from Tci. The 3000 is $499 while the 3500 is $1082. Anyone know why there is such a big diff in price?

Whats the pros/cons between single disc/multi disc? Will a non locking TC be lockable via tune? If so whats the diff between locking and non if its tune dependent?

Hopefully Brian and Scott will be chiming in with more answers from my new q's.
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Old May 5, 2010 | 02:19 PM
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Hey Colby,
I am sorry your luck has been so bad with the Precision Industries TC. I know I suggested them because I am so tickled with mine. They are considered one of the best but not in your case. Anyway you know I can't explain the difference in price on the TCI between the 3000 stall to the 3500. It make no sense to me. When people like Precision Industries will make any stall for the same price. I call on TCI's price difference without some really good explaination. Next you definitely want only a lock up style TC. Our stock converters are lock up style and they will give better gas mileage and keep the trans fluid temps much cooler for better trans life. The tune has nothing to do with making a TC a lock up or non locking. It is the way they are built internally. The tune can adjust where the TC locks at only.
Next a single disc lock up converter is plenty good for the power levels we run. I talked to PI about this before I ordered mine and they told me their single disc converter can hold about 600 hp while going to the triple disc up it to like 1500 hp. While you won't hurt anything by using a triple disc converter except your wallet. Their are many TC manufacturers out there to choose from. Brian sure likes his Fuddle. I love my PI. I personally was directed away from TCI in favor of the PI by others. (Including Bret) Hope some of this helped. Did you pull out the PI this weekend? Personally I think you should tell PI to send you another brand new TC to swap out at a reduced cost to help you out with all this trans pulling you have been doing. Because while I know at this point you are mad at PI I believe most will tell you they are highly respected and make one of the best TC's out there.

Last edited by 70MACH1OWNER; May 5, 2010 at 03:35 PM.
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Old May 5, 2010 | 04:51 PM
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Ya i hear u scott. I was thrown off on the lock up, non lock issue because that place i called told me a non locking TC locks. When i asked why it would be called non locking tho i got silence.

I didnt have it pulled yet as i was waiting for chris to check the data log. He was floored at all the issues in the data and said that the the duty cycle and desired slip arent jiving.

Gonna call PI tomorrow morn.
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Old May 5, 2010 | 05:03 PM
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Originally Posted by colbymh
Ya i hear u scott. I was thrown off on the lock up, non lock issue because that place i called told me a non locking TC locks. When i asked why it would be called non locking tho i got silence.

I didnt have it pulled yet as i was waiting for chris to check the data log. He was floored at all the issues in the data and said that the the duty cycle and desired slip arent jiving.

Gonna call PI tomorrow morn.

My best advise at this point is to call PI and demand a fresh,new TC sent to your door at no cost to you so when you pull the trans for the 3rd time you have something to put back in other than the stocker. PI's ..TC's are very good converters. I understand your grief my friend. But I would strongly suggest you call the President of PI converters and get this issue put to rest. A few hundred bucks on his part is well worth a trashing on the internet. That is what I would do first if I was in your position. BTW...I think you owe me a beer for all the advise these last few weeks. Want to meet halfway???
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Old May 5, 2010 | 05:16 PM
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Yeah ive yet to trash them but im not far off. Ill make some demands and see there met.

Yeah ill pick up brian and well meet u half way. lol
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Old May 5, 2010 | 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by colbymh
Yeah ive yet to trash them but im not far off. Ill make some demands and see there met.

Yeah ill pick up brian and well meet u half way. lol
Meeting you guys in like Indiana would be cool!!!!!
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Old May 6, 2010 | 03:45 PM
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Hmmm, this is getting me concerned. I am having a new PI TC installed next week I hope I don't have any issues and I have no idea what my installer ordered as far as the Lock / non lock issue but I would assume it's a locking type.

I have talked to several people who are NOT happy with their TCI converters for the 5R55S, so that is one of the reasons I went with PI.

Last edited by Casey4s; May 6, 2010 at 08:42 PM.
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Old May 6, 2010 | 04:53 PM
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What stall did u go with?
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Old May 6, 2010 | 06:24 PM
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From: New Carlisle, Ohio (20 miles north of Dayton)
Originally Posted by Casey4s
Hmmm, this is getting me concerned. I am having a new PI TC installed next week I hope I don't have any issues and I have no idea what my installer ordered as far as the Lock / non lock issue but I would assume it's a locking type.

I have talked to several people who are happy with their TCI converters for the 5R55S, so that is one of the reasons I went with PI.

Relax Casey. PI TC's are are known for their quality. I have no issues with mine. It is 3000 stall. I assume you meant to say that several people who are "NOT" happy with their TCI TC'ers? Colby is going to get his issues solved this time!!
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Old May 6, 2010 | 08:46 PM
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Originally Posted by 70MACH1OWNER
Relax Casey. PI TC's are are known for their quality. I have no issues with mine. It is 3000 stall. I assume you meant to say that several people who are "NOT" happy with their TCI TC'ers? Colby is going to get his issues solved this time!!
I edited my post, LOL yes I meant to say that people are dissapointed in the TCI performance. My tech recommended the PI and I remember you had a PI too Scott so I put the deposit down and hope to get it installed this Tuesday or so.

I went with a 3K stall to begin with, if I can afford more hor$epower later I can re-stall it.
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Old May 6, 2010 | 10:57 PM
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I can tell u this. Terry (owner) of P.I is a good guy. Ive had probs with both 3500 tc's so i had them build up a 3000 and made sure the parameters were spot on this time. Its my belief that they sent me a off the shelf tc this last time as its been a problem from the jump. Butttt they want me happy and are trying to get me there.

You will love ur car once its in. Its like going from sports car to muscle car.
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Old May 9, 2010 | 06:13 PM
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Colby, I hope 3 times is a charm for your TC. PI does have a great reputation. TCI has such a bad reputation in the Mustang world. I wish I knew why Fuddle Racing went away as I really love my converter from them. They were quite well known in the GM world and had just started doing Ford stuff when they vanished.

The big price jump you noted from the 3000 to 3500 rpm converter is simply due to one being non-locking vs the other being a lock up converter. Gotta get the lock up for 3 important reasons: 1) better fuel economy at cruising/highway speeds, 2) less heat to cook your trans fluid, and 3) stronger pull at the dragstrip for higher trap speeds.

My 07 GT is working so well at the dragstrip now. A friend took a video of my GT at the dragstrip a couple weeks ago. Launch is drama free w/o any tirespin, then about 100 feet out the car just blasts off super strong as the boost really kicks in. Click here if you want to see that video. Not my fastest run ever, but a 12.25 @ 112+ ain't bad. I ran a 12.07 a couple days ago. My trans and converter are working great and I hope the same for your car!
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Old May 9, 2010 | 06:20 PM
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Ya me too Brian. I ended up having them setup a 3000 stall since both 3500's were crap. It came yesterday and will go in tomorrow. Looking fwd to a good working tc. Ill check that vid out now. Who is ur tunet and what tire setup are u running in rear?
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Old May 9, 2010 | 11:01 PM
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Originally Posted by colbymh
Ya me too Brian. I ended up having them setup a 3000 stall since both 3500's were crap. It came yesterday and will go in tomorrow. Looking fwd to a good working tc. Ill check that vid out now. Who is ur tunet and what tire setup are u running in rear?
My tuner is John Garner at the Horsepower Ranch in Maple Valley, WA. I'm running BFG drag radials (275/40/17's) on the rear. 20 psi works perfect for me at both of our local tracks. FYI, John does email tunes. You can look him up online, if interested. He is very well respected in the Seattle/Tacoma area.
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Old May 10, 2010 | 08:29 AM
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So Colby did you get the new one installed yesterday?
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Old May 10, 2010 | 11:05 AM
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Going in today. Wasnt thinking at the time that Sunday was mothers day.
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Old May 10, 2010 | 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by colbymh
Going in today. Wasnt thinking at the time that Sunday was mothers day.

Good luck. I'll have my fingers crossed for you.
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Old May 10, 2010 | 05:49 PM
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Here's hoping for a good outcome today!
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Old May 10, 2010 | 11:17 PM
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Well it's in...and the outcome issssss...good news..Shifts perfect, no flares, etc. One odd issue though..O/D light flashes after really hitting it hard. Put a monster code reader and it came back with a FLG_OTLK, P1783 code which is...Tranny over temp lockup mode. No check engine light, etc tho which I thought was weird. Why in the hell would the O/D light flash for that code? We checked the fluid level again, everything was good..Not to full, otherwise it would vent out. Not low, otherwise it would slip hard core, sooooo I dunno.

It would be just my luck that I would need a bigger tranny cooler. Haven't looked into those yet as I figured I wouldn't need to.

Only main diff I really noticed in performance was that at WOT, it backs down to about 4600rpms vs 5000 in the other one. So I was in the meat more so with the 3500 stall. But it still has no problem spinning like crazy with just a pedal of gas and no brake...
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Old May 10, 2010 | 11:58 PM
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Colby, I fear that the code you're getting for hi temp on lock-up is potentially because your converter doesn't have enough clutch to hold full lock-up at WOT. Hence, it's slipping and generating heat. At least, that's my first guess. One of the reasons I bought my Fuddle converter was the clutch area that is twice as much as the factory converter so it can hold full lock-up at WOT - even behind my blower. I don't know enough about PI converters to know how much clutch surface area they have. Worth looking into, though.
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