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Torque Converter Rebuilders Association
September 2006Issue 12, Volume [email protected]
www.tcraonline.com
PLATINUMSPONSORS:
Monthly publication of TCRA newsletter provided by Melissa Sneath of Melyns Print & Pro.
Ford
Chrysler
Meet the challengers in our heavy-duty expo
Mercedes has used the 722.6 transmission in a number of different vehicles and in
combination with different engines. To accom-modate these different vehicle and engine com-binations, different converters were needed. Many of the converters were similar in appear-ance and only differed in their bolt circle or di-ameter. This could be especially problematic if a converter wasted out and a replacement core had to be found. It was not uncommon to try to line up the converter bolt holes to the flywheel and find that the bolt circle was one-quarter-inch off. Even worse was when the pilot, bolt circle and overall height matched up, but you had a performance issue because the replace-ment converter was almost an inch different in diameter. The latest Dacco catalog does a good job of identifying these converters. In 2004 Daimler-Chrysler Corp. started using the 722.6 transmission in the Chrysler 300. By 2007 there will be 11 part numbers to cover the range of Chrysler 722.6 converters. Torque converter rebuilders may find they never knew how easy they had it when they only had the Mercedes versions to identify. A chart on the TCRA web site shows which part numbers were used with which engines and the years they
were produced. The major outward differences between the Chrysler-made and Mercedes-made converters are the pilots and the bolt circles. The pilots on all of the Chrysler converters are about .040” smaller than the Mercedes convert-ers. The Mercedes converters are available with 9”, 9-1/4” and 10-3/4” bolt circles, while all of the Chrysler converters (with the exception of the 3.0L diesel, which will be available in the Grand Cherokee in 2007) use a 10-3/8” bolt circle. The 3.0L diesel converter is also unique because the bolts enter the converter mounting pads from the transmission side. Chrysler has made it easier to identify its converters. If the bar code tag is missing for whatever rea-son, the part number is also dot peened into the impeller. The 10 digits contain the part number and the build date. The first three numbers and two letters are the last five digits of the con-verter part number. The first four dot peened digits after the part number show the converter build date. Again, referring to the chart you can see that in 2007 the clutch in converter num-ber 5137631AA changed from a two-stage to a single-stage apply and changed to part No. 4752580AB. You can tell because there is only one number in the Newton/Meter rating of the damper (28.5 NM/Deg). The previous years had
two numbers (20 and 70 NM/Deg). Some of the Mercedes-built converters also have Chrysler part numbers. These converters will have Mercedes-size pilots because they are usually found behind Mercedes power plants. The Sprinter vans and Chrysler Crossfire are good examples of these. The Sprinter convert-ers were first used in 2002 behind the 2.7L diesel engines. They evolved with the 2.8L and 2.9L engines through 2006. The Chrysler part number is 5104567AA and crosses over to Mer-cedes part No. 9032500002. The Crossfire uses two different converters: the 3.2L non-turbo is part No. 5098047AA and crosses over to Mer-cedes part No. A2102500702. This is also Dacco part No. MC18. The turbo-charged 3.2L Cross-fire uses part No. 5137842AA, which crosses over to Mercedes part No. A2112500302. One nice feature of having Mercedes-built convert-ers used in Chrysler applications is the Chrys-ler identification numbers on the outside of the converters. Special thanks to Lou Darling, senior special-ist at T/C Engineering DCX for his technical as-sistance in writing this article.
- ©2006 Sonnax Industries Inc.
GM
More on 722.6 converter identification
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By Ed Lee
¤Factory furnace brazed¤Roller burnished impeller hub¤Available in both single and multiple clutch¤Available in multiple stall speeds and torquemultipliers¤Easy to rebuild¤Many improvedreplacement partsavailable from Sonnax and Tri-Component
¤Factory furnace brazed¤Capable of high-torque capacity¤Durable turbine hub and clutch drive¤Harden flanged-typeimpeller hub
¤Factory furnace brazed¤Roller burnishedimpeller hub¤Heavy-duty bearingdesign¤More than adequatelydesigned liner¤Strong roller clutch and stator design¤Multiple designs fornumerous applications¤High core accessability
¤Prone to bearing failures¤Weak turbine-to-clutch engagement¤High rate of complete converter failure(unusable)¤Weak front cover (thin clutch surface)¤Excessive wear on the front cover (clutchengagement surfaces) on multiple clutch units¤Turbine hub rivets prone to failure
¤Poor roller clutch design¤Poor torque capacity(diesel version)¤Clutch piston prone to excessive wear on o-ring surface¤Multiple clutchunavailable¤Front cover suseptable to pilot cracks and leaks, and poor mounting pads¤Needs heavier designed bearings¤Cores hard to locate
¤Poor torquemultiplication¤Front cover failure around pad welds¤Available only as asingle-clutch unit limiting its torque capacity¤Expensive core, hard to locate
The heavy-duty converter mar-ket is quickly expanding on
the rebuild side of the industry. To assist in rebuilding these types of converters, review the positive and negative features listed for three of the most com-mon heavy-duty units available. Even with the different converter designs, becoming familiar with the similarities aids in rebuilding larger units. Heavy-duty units differ from their passenger car counter-parts in many ways: one, the mere size of the converter and components creates a rugged design; two, expensive replace-ment parts drive the resale price of each unit higher; and three, converter core costs can be sig-nificantly higher while the core failure rate also increases, de-manding a proper first-time re-build. While the demand for more fuel efficient vehicles increase, and the sale of heavy-duty SUVs and pickup trucks may decrease, there will always be demand for heavy-duty rebuilds. Many industries rely on the capabili-ties of a workhorse engine and drivetrain, which will be present in the industry for many years to come. Establishing familiarity with these units now will prevent costly mistakes during rebuild and choosing the correct re-placement unit.
TCRA thanks all gold and platinum sponsors!
Gold Sponsors:
Questions or comments? Con-tact the TCRA newsletter by e-mail at [email protected], visit the web www.tcraonline.com or contact Dennis Sneath, board member and newsletter committee team lead.
Torque Converter Rebuilders Association4615 Aircenter CircleReno, Nevada 89502
Contact InformationJoe Rivera .......................President
[email protected] Lee ..................... Vice President
[email protected] Lewis ......................Treasurer
[email protected] Mann .....................Secretary
[email protected] Cluck
[email protected] Jaussaud
[email protected] Mustard
[email protected] Randolph
[email protected] Sneath
[email protected] Stimmel
[email protected] Wack
[email protected] phone/fax .... (802) 885-2292
2007 TCRA SeminarWhere ........ Yet to be announced
When ....................... May 2007
Be sure to watch for seminar up-dates throughout the year, includ-ing location, speaker appearances,
facility tours and more.
Also, check out www.tcraonline.com for additional updates, speak-er bios and pictures from this past
year’s event.
Become a Sponsor
Fourth code cracker identified
Fifteen years ago Jeff Lehmann and Bill Spratt started a torque converter rebuilding company
called Precision Converters of Ohio. Jeff was a third-generation transmission technician and had worked in his father’s shop for many years. Bill’s background was in sales, and together they made a great team. Being a start-up company and having to go head to head with the major players in the area proved to be quite a challenge. To meet this challenge, Jeff and Bill had to be creative in their marketing. Some large converter rebuilding facilities were warehousing converters in their area, and they knew they couldn’t compete with the daily deliv-ery offered by the local distributors. To overcome that edge, Jeff and Bill decided to place a consign-ment inventory in each of the shops they dealt with. They would call every shop two times each week and replace the converters that the shop had taken out of stock the following day. The system worked well as long as the transmis-sion shop properly identified the converter being replaced. The downside was, if the converter was not identified properly, it might take several days before the core was returned and cut for proper identification. This was particularly important in determining the correct friction material on GM converters with the FLHB code. (Where have we heard this before?) It was a good guess that FLHB converters that
had the early part numbers (the seven-digit part num-ber that started with 86)
would have paper linings. But any identification beyond the early paper was just a
guess. In 1998 J e f f
and Bill s t a r t e d notic ing that all of the FLHB
converters with the large four-digit number 4741 on the I.D. tag had woven graphite friction mate-rial on the clutch. This heightened awareness of the large four-digit number allowed them to identify a second number that was also found exclusively on con-verters with woven graphite linings. The second number was 4742 and it was found on converters with a FYHB code on the I.D. tag. Soon they had expanded their I.D. system to cover as many con-verters as possible. They educated their custom-ers on the system and kept them informed of any new information. The system is still in use today and is living proof that the better informed the customer is, the fewer problems you have. When the Torque Converter Rebuilders Associa-tion Board of Directors received this information for verification, their first reaction was generally, “Wow!” along with the realization of having looked past the forest without seeing the trees. The large four-digit numbers have been ignored for years. Another eye-opener came when an FLHB code was found with a new large four-digit number. This new number was 9827. This converter was very similar to the FLHB con-verter with the 4741 number except that it had a 21-vane stator. The converters with the FLHB code historically have had a 14-vane stator. It’s very un-characteristic for GM to use a different stator in a converter with the same code. The good news is that this FLHB converter with the 21-vane stator has a different large four-digit number. Is it pos-sible that the stator can also be identified by this number? This information also raises questions about the identification of other components of the converter by the large four-digit number. After much research and many long hours the TCRA Board has compiled as complete a list as possible of the information learned about the four-digit number. The list will undoubtedly con-tinue to grow for some time. Jeff Lehmann and Bill Spratt have opened the eyes of our industry, and their findings will un-doubtedly be an inspiration to the rest of us to look at things a little more closely. They whole-heartedly deserve to be the fourth winners of the Sonnax “Help Break the Code” contest. Special thanks to the TCRA board of directors for judging this contest.
- ©2006 Sonnax Industries Inc.
By Ed Lee
Transmission and con-verter industry friend J. Farrell Larsen passed away on August 21, 2006. The founder of Intermountain Trans-mission Exchange, es-tablished in 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah, will be missed by many. We at the TCRA send our sin-cere condolences to Larsen’s family, friend and colleagues.
Become a sponsor of the Torque Converter Rebuilders Association. By becoming a gold or platinum sponsor, you’ll earn extra cover-age on our web site, and attract the business you are looking for. Platinum Sponsors appear on all printed material, including mail-ings, handouts and magazine advertisements. Each sponsor also receives web space exposure to thousands of tcraonline.com
guests.
Both tags have the FLHB designation, but
have differentnumeric codes
