28 GEARS March 2009

T
he converter was from a ZF
5HP19 with a captive clutch,
fitted to an Audi AWD. Wed
overhauled the converter about a month
before and now my customer, who was a
transmission rebuilder about 350 miles
away, claimed the converter shuddered
during the regulation phase. As always,
my first question was, What fluid are
you using?
Dexron 3, he replied.
So naturally I suggested that he
switch to either the factory fill or an
equivalent. He did so and reported that
the shudder was gone.
About three weeks later he called
again to tell me the converter was shud-
dering again. I decided I needed to get
the unit back and check it. There was no
evidence of any problem, so I suggest-
ed he check the transmission carefully.
We reassembled the converter with new
lining and extra care on the clearances.
He installed it and reported that the
shudder was once again gone.
About a month later he called to
tell me that his customer was once
again complaining of a shudder. He
tried another valve body and was now
sure it was the converter. He suggested
that perhaps he should send the con-
verter to another rebuilder, because it
appeared we werent having any luck,
and the competitor assured him that
he would be able to fix the problem.
I was reluctant to allow this as hes a
good customer. So after asking around
and hearing that often the fault could
only be cured with a factory converter,
I offered to obtain a factory unit for
him.
The factory unit arrived and was
fitted; vehicle drove well with no shud-
der. About another month goes by and
the customer is back once again with
the same complaint. I was out of ideas;
the only way that I could help was to
look at the car. Thats no problem for
us, since were also a transmission
shop.
That Converter
You Just Did!
Figure 1
by Martin Brooks
Aceomatic Transmission Services
Christchurch, New Zealand
28-mbrooks309.indd 28 2/10/09 3:24:34 PM
GEARS March 2009 29
The car arrived and sure enough, it
had one of the worst shudders Ive ever
felt. We checked the obvious external
causes such as engine codes, etc., and
then removed the pan. This is where it
got interesting: The technician noticed
the fluid had a strange look to it. Not
pink or discoloured, but just doesnt
look right.
At the last TCRA seminar there
was a brief mention of testing for water
using a drip coffee maker with a paper
filter (Figure 1). A drop of the fluid hit
the hot plate and it sizzled: a sure sign
of water (Figure 2 and 3).
Then we had a professional test
performed. It revealed the fluid had 2%
water contamination. It turned out that
the radiator was leaking coolant into the
fluid; not a lot, just enough to change
the frictional characteristic of the fluid.
Of course each time the fluid was
changed the problem was gone until
the contamination reached the critical
level again.
We rebuilt the converter once
again, with new converter clutch lin-
ing. And the transmission was rebuilt
again using new clutches, and the cars
radiator replaced. Several months have
passed without any further problems.
The moral of the story? Think
outside the box, dont take anything
for granted, and remember this quick
and easy test for water in the ATF. Just
put a drop on the hotplate of your cof-
fee maker: If it sizzles and spits, its
likely contaminated with water; if it
just smokes the fluid
is okay.
Remember: the
fluid can look good and
still be contaminated.
And this test wont
identify all types of
contamination. Its pos-
sible to have a coolant
leak that wont show
up with this quick and
dirty test. I strongly
recommend that you
invest in a commercial-
ly available test kit to
check for coolant con-
tamination.
Of course the best part of this
whole story is that I retained my cus-
tomer and was paid for all the convert-
ers and the transmission job as well
as a radiator!
Figure 3
Figure 2
If you have questions, We have
"Proven to work" answers!
The kind of answers that can save
you time, headaches and most
important money!
Transmission Specialties carries a
complete line of street and high
performance torque converter kits
as well as individual components.
Contact us today to get started.
DO YOU WANT TO GET I N THE
hl0h PkF0kH4h k0ll0lh0 0SlhSS77
610-485-9110 Fax 610-485-9356 www.transmission-specialties.com
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