Soccerbum21

the shop that put in my transmission called me and told me that there is a very bad vibration in the car after they put the built transmission that i provided into the car.

it has a 2600-2800 stall on it now, and i'm thinking it could be a bad converter. (i know i should have spent the money and got a name brand converter but that's beside the point now) when i'm driving it gets worse with RPM, and when the converter goes into lockup, it goes away but not entirely, just less severe

the shop said that since the echaust is touching the floorpan (drivers side header), i should go get that fixed since they told me that they pulled the exhaust away from the body and the vibration went away. but i didnt have a vibration before the trans was taken out and put back in

looking at the motor while it's running, i can clearly see that something is out of whack. i dont recall it ever shaking like this.


which leads me to believe that the torque converter could be bad. would something like this be causing my problem? should i call the guy to get him to send me a new one plus the charge of labor to take the converter out and put the new one in? or is there a way to tell if the converter has been installed incorrectly?


any help here would be great as i'm confused and at my wits end about it. and really dont want to go hack up my headers to move them away from the body if it's not going to fix the vibration, it may not be transmitted through the floor, but it wouldnt be any better.

performabuilt

iTrader: (25)

Well I would definalty check the installaton first but that would need to be way out of balance and I do mean way out to shake the engine as your describing. I would look over the installation first everything wires hookup the trans install . Then contact the trans builder and or converter supplier for additional instructions.

98BlkFormula

iTrader: (6)

trans mount?

Soccerbum21

trans mount is good, energy polyurethane

my trans builder said he hasnt really seen anything like this, and it would have to be something very serious to do what he saw. ( i showed him the car about 5 minutes after i got it back)

he said look over the install, check my plugs and wires, (i got behind hte car and it sounded fine through the exhaust, and all the wires look ok) and if everything looks good on the engine then talk to the torque converter guy, the TC has a one year warranty and the shop says htey stand behind every tc they sell

performabuilt

iTrader: (25)

Oh and one note I would still get the exhaust off the floor pan It actually may not have been touching before the trans swap . When you pull a trans or change a mount the total geometry changes a little . May have just been close before but now against and yes exhaust against a floor pan can transfer alot of vibration and noise. Thats why the factory hangs the whole exhaust in rubber hangers to stop that direct contact.I once years ago got the idea to do away with the rubber hangers and use solid straps what a terrible feeling everything vibrated its smoothed some as speed got up there but still was just to anoying

Soccerbum21

i'm gonna get that taken care of eventaully, but this one i'm just refusing to believe that the engine vibrates like this. and it's almost harmonic too. some RPM's are worse than others.

when i free rev the motor in park, it vibrates worse on decel than accel

and when i was driving it back from the shop, it got better under lockup, and worse under accell and nearly went away on decel. but that's when i was driving it around


i'm playing this out over and over and trying to give as much helpful info as possible to see if i need to raise hell with this torque converter guy

performabuilt

iTrader: (25)

Honestly before I even contacted him I would get the exhaust away from the body engines do vibrate and have harmonics , I would do what the installer says first, If the mount is new it may explain the exhaust contact it may be a little higher, If its just touching a litte you could try making a small dent in the floor pan to clear it , Thats My suggestion.

Gilbert@Ace Racing

Try this if you have not already.... remove the torque converter to flex plate bolts and rotate the coverter... the goal is to see if the condition changes at all.

If it does then your converter is not balanced properly. If it does not change it still could be the converter, sometimes it works sometimes it does not.

Are there any codes stored... just curious.

g

Soccerbum21

after looking at the motor while it was sitting in park, i noticed the motor isnt shaking as bad as i thought it was


going tomorrow to get the header moved off the body (by way of a little massaging with a BFH to the floorboard, and heating up the header and slightly bending it. and i do mean slightly) i can see the engine torqing over to that side and where it would cause the header to really transmit vibrations through the body. so here's hoping it's that


and gilbert, by moving the converter to different holes on the flexplate, what would that do? the way i see it ( and i dont have near the transmission experience you do so i'm in no way questioning your intelligence) is that if the converter is out of balance, it's out of balance and moving it to different holes should, in theory, not make a difference on an internally balanced engine. am i right to think this? but by all means, i'm going to try that if moving the exhaust doesnt help.


as far as the codes, the most recent version of datamaster requires 64mb ram, my POS tuning laptop only has 32.

i'm in the process of getting freescan to work but it doesnt seem to want to connect right now to get work

Gilbert@Ace Racing

Good Question! Sometimes the condition will change if it is an imbalance... that little test is well worth the effort when compared to the time and trouble it takes to remove the converter if it is suspected of being out of balance.

Many times when I have worked on the old header / exhaust clearance mod that you are about to undertake, I have loosened the collector flange clamps and the y-pipe clamp and have been able to rotate the y-pipe just enough to buy the clearance needed... maybe so maybe no though... good luck with that one... it's a PITA fo sho!

g

Soccerbum21

well i'm running true duals with a slip fit reducer. there are no flanges on my exhaust, so me and the exhaust man are gonna have to cut the pipe, heat it up, bend it a bit, use the BFH on the floorpan a lil, and hopefully have enough clearance for the pipes.


i'll be sure to reply tomorrow when i get taht done. and if it still vibrates, i'll do the move the tc over a hole attempt. but the exhaust is what i'm banking on right now


thanks for the replies everyone, TONS more help than I expected!!!

Soccerbum21

thanks gilbert for answering the phone today!!! great help and i will def. pass your name along around here!

91redchevy

iTrader: (5)

Did the exhaust work help any?

Soccerbum21

the exhaust work wasnt the problem, although we did get it off the body, the torque converter apparently wasnt installed correctly, and after they unhooked it, and slid it on the rest of hte way, the vibration went from a 9 to a 3 (1 to 10 scale)

and now that shop wants to charge me to R & R the tranny to replace the now bent flexplate. my transmission guy said don't let them work on it anymore, and he'll put on my flexplate cuz he doesnt want to see his transmission get torn up by those guys.

jeg's SFI approved flexplate in the mail as i type this.

performabuilt

iTrader: (25)

Well if they didnt install the converter correctly and Im guessing one possibility is they did a no no I have seen many times by using the converter bolts to pull the converter o the plate causing it to **** or run off center. They should not be charging you for it thats for sure.If its been driven far like that I would suggest inspecting the front pump bushing for any sign of movment and replacing the front seal also.

FLT

iTrader: (1)

When were the poly mounts installed? If it was the same time as the transmission I would put the original mounts back on and see if it changes anything. I have experienced these mounts cause the same complaint. Might be something to address. Good luck, Vince.

Gilbert@Ace Racing

I gotta tell ya, after talking to the OP on the phone a day or two ago, I believe he is in good hands. The unit was removed at one shop and then carried to his builder, then reinstalled at the original shop. It certainly sounded to me like the were issues during the install that were not evident immediately. It may be a converter pilot to flaxplate/ crankshaft issue that caused the problems. Further the R&R shop shipped the car with the severe vibration rather than identifying the problem beforehand... most unfortunate.

I think when the unit comes out at the builders shop he'll be well taken care of! The remarks he conveyed to the OP were spot on. It sounds like he is concerned about his unit and will see that the job is done right.

Good to see folks out there who care!

Soccerbum.... feel free to call anytime bud! Good luck with your car.

g