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Torque Converter Rebuilders Association
August 2009Issue 11, Volume 7
PLATINUM SPONSORS: Monthly publication of TCRA newsletter provided by Melissa Hall
TransmissionCertified
CoverImpeller Cover
BowlFront
SecondaryPump
Runner
BottomBackLid
Impelleror Pump
Statoror Reactor
Turbine
Cover orFront Cover
Correct Names Incorrect Names
What is the correct name? Part IIIn 1955 the automotive industry finally
standardized the shift quadrant on all ve-hicles. From that time forward, all shifters would read from left to right (or front to back) and the order would be: Park, Reverse, and Neutral, followed by the Drive Ranges. This concept of a uniform approach seems fairly simple, but keep in mind that the industry was already more than 50 years old when this happened. As automotive designers in-vented new concepts or refined previous ap-proaches to mechanical design, standardized naming does not appear to have been very high on their list of priorities. They some-times named the part as they envisioned its function or they may have reused a name previously associated with a similar design. Mechanics and rebuilders have added to the confusion, identifying and naming parts on their own instead of researching to learn the correct names. It is not difficult to un-derstand why the standardization of names within the automotive industry has taken so long. The torque converter segment of the automobile industry is no exception. As a re-sult, it has suffered from misunderstanding and miscommunication since its infancy.Last month we traced the origin of the
names for the four (4) main components of the torque converter: impeller, stator, tur-bine, and cover. Un-fortunately the prob-lem does not end with these four compo-nents. Torque convert-er rebuilders use many different names when referring to the indi-vidual parts that make up these main compo-nents. Many of the names used for the parts of the torque converter can be traced back to its beginning, and some even go back well before the converter was invented. The term “blade” is a good example. The “blade” was a part of early turbines, used to harness the power of falling water. In a torque converter, blade most often refers to the part that sepa-rates the individual cavities that direct the flow of oil through the impeller or turbine. The stator is also divided into individual pas-sageways and what separates the cavities in
the stator may also be re-ferred to as blades, although they are an integral part of a one piece casting. The part of the stator that contains the individual passageways is simply called the “stator housing”. On some Ford stator as-semblies, there is a band around the outside diam-eter of the part. Ford calls this band a shroud. The term “shroud” is somewhat confusing because Ford also uses “shroud” to refer to the concave ring in the impel-ler and turbine that the oil passes around as it travels through the parts. The Pow-erglide converter shown in Figure 1 used a Ford sta-tor design, with a steel “shroud” wrapped around a cast housing. Most other Original Equipment Manu-facturers (OEMs) refer to the concave ring in the impeller and turbine as a “torus ring”. Calling the band on the Ford
stator a “shroud” and the concave ring in the impeller and turbine a “torus ring” is the best way to avoid the confusion. The individual parts of a one way clutch are also contained within the stator housing. They consist of an inner race, outer race, and either a sprag or roller clutch assembly in most produc-tion units. A mechanical diode or possibly a clutch eliminator, are often used in high performance units. Located at one or sometimes both ends of the stator are the stator caps. These remov-able caps make the internal parts of the sta-tor accessible and help to absorb the thrust forces from either the impeller or the tur-bine. Stator caps may be made of aluminum or phenolic material; they may also support a thrust washer. If the cap supports a bear-ing rather than a washer, it is referred to as a bearing adapter. Most stator caps and thrust washers or bearing adapters and cor-responding bearings are not interchangeable from side to side. It is better to identify them by location such as “Impeller side stator cap and/or thrust washer” or “Turbine side bear-ing adapter and bearing”. The drive or driven portion of many me-chanical components are called “hubs”. The term is used in many areas inside an auto-matic transmission. The inner splines of most friction clutches are fitted to clutch “hubs”. The term is also correctly used for the drive or driven portions of some torque converter assemblies. The turbine hub is the driven member of the turbine assembly and the impeller hub is the pump driving mem-ber of the impeller assembly. Unfortunately, many individual parts of the main components that make up a torque converter are referred to incorrectly on a dai-
StatorAssembly
Turbine Cover
ShroudFigure 1
continue on page 2
Torque Converter Rebuilders AssociationPO Box 2546Reno, Nevada 89505
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Jeff Stuck ........................Presidentjstuck@certifiedtransmission.comEd Lee ..................... Vice President
[email protected] Lewis ......................Treasurer
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TCRA Looking for Spotlights!
Items For SaleDacco has various items for sale, large quantities available,
including:
• Turbine Hubs •• Impeller Hubs •• Billet Covers •
• Race Kits •
Contact Jody Bilbrey at (800) 443-2226 Ext. 4331
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When building the ZF5HP24, Ed Lee has devised a great way to build these
units by using six .010” shims. And I mean all six of them at the same time. If you don’t, your piston will not end up with a .010” clutch clearance. One side may have only .005” or worse. And guess what you just built? A chatter into your customer con-verter. When inserting the shim stock, make sure it is not placed under a spring or interfering with oth-
Tech tip: Shim for consistent clutch clearance
Wrong way
Right way
er parts within the unit. One additional step you need to do af-
ter adding a new clutch, O-ring and seal is to use a torque wrench to check for consistency after the piston is weld-ed. This helps to check how many inch pounds it takes to move the clutch. We hope this tip is helpful.
Mark MustardBranting Industries
ly basis. The term “snout” for example has been used for both the pilot and the impel-ler hub of the converter. When questioned about the specifics of the term “snout”, some rebuilders will call the pilot the front snout and the impeller hub the rear snout. Others will call the impeller hub the front snout and the pilot the rear snout. It seems that rebuild-ers cannot even agree which is the front and back of a converter.
As a group, we need to work at standard-izing our use of torque converter component names. Ordering parts, sharing information on repair techniques, diagnosing and under-standing problems, and executing effective rebuilds can only be made easier if we speak the same language. Think about your own habits and decide if we need to standardize our terms.
Ed Lee© 2009 Sonnax
What is the correct name? Part II continued
