bad converter?

[dusterbd13]

ive been working on a 68 hemi roadrunner all day, trying to finish the EZ EFI swap. it starts and idles great, but anytime you pull it into gear (automatic), it lurches and dies. the idle is set at 1000 RPM. it feels like when you are sitting at idle in a stick car and let out the clutch. just lurches and dies. if you start the car with it in gear, about the time it starts running, it starts moving. then dies out, like its being bogged down by being in gear.

after talking with FAST for a long time, and trying everything from relearning the computer to fooling the IAC, to having the idle set at 2000RPM, they said the car had a bad torque converter. does this sound right? is there any definate way to diagnose a bad converter without dropping the trans?

thanks
Michael

[sam 74]

check your trans fluid, if its borwn of smells burnt you have trans issues, its the easiest way to see if there is a trans problem short of tearing stuff out of the car, also is the trans shifter cable and arm adjusted correctly? thats where i'd start looking first.

[alfatwin]

I agree, even if the trans is locked up solid you should be able to idle in gear, but if the internals of the torque converter come apart it acts just like a clutch that will not release. oh yeah, does this trans have a torque converter lockup clutch (TCC) in it? that will do the exact same thing if it sticks...

[dusterbd13]

no tcc.

due to my various threads on this topic, ive got some ideasd to try.

the car had started to die out when coming to a stop at the end of last summer according to the owner, and hes never had a good idle.

first step is going to br checking his base timing and seeing where thats at. get it set correctly if its not, then relearn the efi setup.

also going to check for good spark.

already confirmed no vaccuum leaks.

if the car still dies out when put in gear, jack up the rear end,put it in gear, and slowly apply the brakes and see if it still stalls.

the fluid in the trans is burnt, so im not putting trans out of the question. i just want to make sure that its not my EFI install that he just paid me to do screwing up.

am i missing anything in my checkup?

i rarely work on cars with automatics. so the engagement into gear stalling problem is new for me. the last 3 cars i converted to fuel injection
were all stick shift, and 98% of the cars i work on are as well.

is there anything else in the tuneup that i may be missing, or the diagnostic chain?

Michael

[alfatwin]

Short of having a dead miss at idle, the thing should idle when you put it in gear. if you set the idle at 2000 rpm it should be able to pull it off, but if the torque converter is trash (low or no stall) it will not be able to. If your trans fluid is burned it could be caused by the torque converter overheating, and heat is not good for a trans. does it have a cooler? if it does pull the lower hose and drain some of the fluid out (engine off!), look at it and see if it has any gook, black rubbery/clutchy parts or metal flakes in it. if it does, just pull the trans and have it gone through, buy a new torque converter (hey you can put a high stall one in!) and clean out the cooler lines and cooler.