Converter won't lock when really cold?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Edgewood, MD
Converter won't lock when really cold? I've only had the converter in the car a couple of weeks now (TCS 4200). But I've noticed on mornings when it's been belowing freezing that night, the converter doesn't want to lock until the tranny temp is over 100 degrees. (I've got a tranny temp gauge, and she won't lock until that gauge moves, even 2 degrees is enough.) Once she locks the first time she's fine, after that she'll lock and unlock like she's supposed to. When she's not locking, she'll go fine through the gears, no issues there. Even if it's been cold the night before, but not below freezing, she'll lockup fine no matter what temp I'm reading on the tranny gauge. With it being winter...I do let the car warm up..and the car is nice and warm before I leave. She unfortunately sits outside overnight.
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2004
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Originally Posted by Kenafin_02TA
I've only had the converter in the car a couple of weeks now (TCS 4200). But I've noticed on mornings when it's been belowing freezing that night, the converter doesn't want to lock until the tranny temp is over 100 degrees. (I've got a tranny temp gauge, and she won't lock until that gauge moves, even 2 degrees is enough.) Once she locks the first time she's fine, after that she'll lock and unlock like she's supposed to. When she's not locking, she'll go fine through the gears, no issues there. Even if it's been cold the night before, but not below freezing, she'll lockup fine no matter what temp I'm reading on the tranny gauge. With it being winter...I do let the car warm up..and the car is nice and warm before I leave. She unfortunately sits outside overnight.
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Not sure if this helps you, but I figure GM and Ford do a few things alike.
I drove mine for the first time in 15* temps yesterday and it was locking up just fine. Excess missfires, false or not will cause the pcm to not lockup the converter. Aftermarket converters due to their lighter weight make the pcm think its missfiring at a higher rate. Have you disabled missfire detection or raised the limits. On my missfire table I raised everything below 2000 to 2000. This cured my occasional not locking problem.
The converter wont lock when the car is ice cold. It may be able to be changed with tuning but thats the way it is with the stock tune. Thos tcs converters have good lockups so no worries there.
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From: Waldwick, NJ
hahaha awesome thread, I was going to post the same thing tomorrow.
The past few days have been BRUTAL!!! 2 degrees today
The highway is pretty close to my house, so even though I let the car warm up, by the time I get to the highway I guess its not warm enough and the converter stays unlocked, then at about the same spot on the highway the converter starts unlocking.....talk about consistency!
The past few days have been BRUTAL!!! 2 degrees today
The highway is pretty close to my house, so even though I let the car warm up, by the time I get to the highway I guess its not warm enough and the converter stays unlocked, then at about the same spot on the highway the converter starts unlocking.....talk about consistency!
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That's true. The engine temps need to be above 140-150f for the converter to lock up. Just takes a little longer on really cold days, LOL!
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2013 Corvette Grand Sport A6 LME forged 416, Greg Good ported TFS 255 LS3 heads, 222/242 .629"/.604" 121LSA Pat G blower cam, ARH 1 7/8" headers, ESC Novi 1500 Supercharger w/8 rib direct drive conversion, 747rwhp/709rwtq on 93 octane, 801rwhp/735rwtq on race fuel, 10.1 @ 147.25mph 1/4 mile, 174.7mph Half Mile.
2016 Corvette Z51 M7 Magnuson Heartbeat 2300 supercharger, TSP LT headers, Pat G tuned, 667rwhp, 662rwtq, 191mph TX Mile.
2009.5 Pontiac G8 GT 6.0L, A6, AFR 230v2 heads. 506rwhp/442rwtq. 11.413 @ 121.29mph 1/4 mile, 168.7mph TX Mile
2000 Pewter Ram Air Trans Am M6 heads/cam 508 rwhp/445 rwtq SAE, 183.092 TX Mile
2022 Cadillac Escalade 6.2L A10 S&B CAI, Corsa catback.
2023 Corvette 3LT Z51 soon to be modified.
Custom LSX tuning in person or via email press here.
My old job, I worked right off of an expressway (55 limit). On days with temps below 30, I'd get off work and hop on the highway, it would take a solid 5-7 minutes of driving until my Vig would lock. This has been happening for over two years now, completely normal.
Originally Posted by Kenafin_02TA
I've only had the converter in the car a couple of weeks now (TCS 4200). But I've noticed on mornings when it's been belowing freezing that night, the converter doesn't want to lock until the tranny temp is over 100 degrees. (I've got a tranny temp gauge, and she won't lock until that gauge moves, even 2 degrees is enough.) Once she locks the first time she's fine, after that she'll lock and unlock like she's supposed to. When she's not locking, she'll go fine through the gears, no issues there. Even if it's been cold the night before, but not below freezing, she'll lockup fine no matter what temp I'm reading on the tranny gauge. With it being winter...I do let the car warm up..and the car is nice and warm before I leave. She unfortunately sits outside overnight.
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Any ideas what's causing this? Is it doing any damage?
Mine does that sometimes when it is really cold out. No worries.....and I think you will love the converter. I do! That was Hawkn's old one right?
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: Edgewood, MD
Thanks for the input guys. It was something I didn't have happen/notice in the ~2 years with various (crappy) stock converters.
Yes Jay...it's Hawn's old tranny and converter. I knew I was taking a chance with that size converter in a car that sees a lot more daily driving than track time...but the only complaints I've had so far is because I don't have her tuned 100% yet. As it is right now I'm loving driving her...even with the tuning issues. It's only going to get better once the tune is right.
Yes Jay...it's Hawn's old tranny and converter. I knew I was taking a chance with that size converter in a car that sees a lot more daily driving than track time...but the only complaints I've had so far is because I don't have her tuned 100% yet. As it is right now I'm loving driving her...even with the tuning issues. It's only going to get better once the tune is right.
Originally Posted by 2001NBMZ28
I don't have a trans temp guage, but from a cold start mine consistently won't lock until the coolant temp is 141 degrees (reading live data w/a Predator).