How Does a Torque Converter Work?
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In this video I cover the purpose and operation of the turbine, stator, impeller, and torque converter clutch. I hope the explanation and practical give you some insight into how these parts work to not only transfer power from the engine to the transmission, but also how it drives the transmission pump and doubles the torque output of the engine when you take off from a dead stop. I've wanted to make this video for some time. In fact I've had the fans sitting in the back of the shop for almost a year. Now that I have the Automatic Transmission Dissection video under my belt I thought I would add a torque converter dissection into the mix. I hope you enjoy this video and that it gets you a better understanding of torque converter operation. Especially since I killed my air compressor cutting this one in half.
Link to compressor repair video: • Repairing A Broken Air...
Yes this is indeed 'take 2' of this video. I changed a few things to make the information more accurate. I am going to be posting the old video for Premium Members at EricTheCarGuy.com just for fun. Here's a link to more information about becoming a Premium Member.
www.ericthecarguy.com/premium...
Other useful links
Automatic Transmission Dissection (Part 1): • The Basic Parts of an ...
Automatic Transmission Dissection (Part 2): • The Basic Parts of an ...
Discussion about this video: www.ericthecarguy.com/kunena/...
Why I Pulled the first video: • Why I Re-did the Torqu...
Stay dirty
ETCG
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I'm 60 years old and I finally understand how a torque converter works. THANK YOU
I'm 70 years old and I finally under...I forgot. Uhh, Honey, can I have a Turkey Burger?
@Louis Edwards intrigued, with all your experience did you learn anything extra from this video, or is thete anything extra you can add to the subject . . . . I am interested in how to see/smell/feel the oil to make a quick diagnosis ?
@Louis Edwards Ah Ha, thanks for that. Yeah I understand PWM proportional solenoids, just the trans that blows by me. Does the lockup solenoid get its commands from a dedicate trans control module or the ECU ? Guess it maybe depends on which motor etc Anyhooo, cheers for that. Have a good one bud.
You should see his video on understanding women.
8 More years, and you will hit the nice number, Grandpa
I watched a few other videos on TC and was generally confused, but this tied it all together for me. You're a true teacher because you put thought into choosing words, examples and demonstrations that are practical and appropriate for the audience. Well done, you should consider a career in teaching.
well torque conversion means it converts torque dumb sht
If only our public-school teachers had a grasp on their subjects and taught as thoroughly as Eric.
You are so knowledgeable. You are a gifted teacher. As an engineer myself, I find your videos super informative. Keep up the great work.
As a fellow engineer: I concur. Those mechanical profs (especially from offshore )were mostly useless teats with no practical knowledge to impart. Cud U wish that Eric was one of the tutors in their labs to delve into real man's world not the beta one we have inherited today.
That fan demo was genius! Very good job explaining this!
Did no one else go "white fans, oily gloves... uh oh"?
3hoursago 7
3hoursago: *tries to make a funny comment* ArctikF0X: *is triggered*
Great love it .
I know right thats what make me think whats my car issue is.. But very well explained erick u are the freaking boss. 👍👉👉
This is by far the best instructional video of a torque converter I have ever seen. I am not a mechanic by any means, but his visual aids really lets you see how everything works. If Eric is an instructor in school, he must be putting out some "REALLY" good mechanics.
Really? I thought it was terrible. I gave up half way through as all he was doing was flipping oily bit of metal and confusing me about what way around they fitted. But I wanted to know how it worked so I searched for video. My first hit was the LearnEngineering one. Less than half the length and really easy to understand what all 4 components including the lock up clutch did. Immeasurably better.
Out of the three videos I've now seen this video comes second. This other video kzhead.info/sun/lbacdNp7oZGAg6s/bejne.html was the clearest to me by a medium-large factor.
This is 9 years old and is better quality than some modern videos I watch. Well done.
The Physics is so well done, I had a idea about this as a kid , but this is so straightforward 😊 Well done Eric 😂
Your practical gave me the "AHA!". 10/10.
اوکی
I've taken a college course on auto trans... this was much more informative in 20 mins than the 3 months it took my teacher to do nearly the same.
college is a scam It's just a way to get you to take a student loan
College is just a way to get people into debt right when each of ya are “up to bat”... I’m not saying all colleges are scams, I’m just saying: money doesn’t buy people smarts. I know many people who are stuck paying tens &/or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans over the course of their lives- just to have jobs in the field of employment that their student loans/ a.k.a “college smarts” didn’t get them knowledge in.... they wind up settling for jobs in completely different professions.. 🤔
Example: my Autobody teacher at a vocational school: his major was to build & service x-ray hospital machines... & after he graduated college he’s been an automotive collision repair teacher... 🤣🤔😆
Some Tech schools like Lincoln Tech are good and worth the money.
No doubt, I've learned more and more of a quick study listening to other mechanics online. In a classroom I'd just fall asleep or get bored from additional info I really don't need or need to hear. It's like "get to the freakin point already!" lol
I've watched you for almost 10 years and this is one of my favorite videos I have ever seen, in forms of technical knowledge and visual aid. I understood how TC's worked but could never explain it to another person myself. Always saw it as a compontent that just needed replaced as a whole and never got into the guts of it. Eric you're a legend
Very very helpful thank you sir
There are guys that fabricate ONE OFF RACE converters to match not only the engine dyno results, but also final drive ratios 1-gear through top gear and weight of the car. I am GRATEFUL and humbled that these peoplevexist, because, "Who doesn't love cars?!" Man does not live on bread alone. Motorsports are also vital.
I am not a mechanic, i just like to know how things work. I watched this to the end and feel like i have actually learned something. Well done!
I used to have no idea how a torque converter worked, but after this video, I'm confused about fans too.
ahhaha
Mier Beuker 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
To air is human?
lmao!
Fans don't work, they pay someone else to do it for them!
Almost 8 years later this is still the best video on how these Donuts work. Thanks!
My 1993 Oldsmobile started stalling at stoplights all of sudden. Thought I had a big problem. Finally got the car home after pissing off a whole lot of drivers behind me. Turned out to be the converter lockout solenoid. Part was $20, solenoid was under the transmission cover on the driver's side. Was a fairly simple repair and car was back to normal. A very small part that caused a big headache on the road. Excellent video by the way.
People are idiots.. My transmission broke once and the car couldn't move so I put on my 4 ways and went to get help. I'm inside of the building watching people pull right up to an empty car with the 4 ways going and honking their horn.. Unreal.
How does the oil get into the converter?
I have a 95 Chevrolet Cheyenne with an auto tranny and is the only one I've been driving manual trans pretty much all my my life at one point I had a 94 dodge caravan with a factory 5 speed Haha no joke dodge built a few very rare anyway automatics are no fun
@@newvilla8115 take a look at the input shaft of the transmission, the shaft is hollow with fluid holes. That allows the front fluid pump to move fluid through the torque converter.
Simply incredible work Eric , I've been watching your channel for years. I also have taken an automotive electrical diagnostic class at a community college. Your work has been a great stepping stone in my automotive understanding In the past 5 years
"i hope this video can help you in some small ways" dude. BIG. IT HELPED ME BIG. I NEVER understand how TC works but the fan demo you showed was really genius and that contributes to 100% of my understanding. Thank you ! you're the best !
That was well done. I started out in automotive engineering. When starting out, there is a big difference in the rpm between the impeller and turbine. The impeller is then acting like a centrifugal pump accelerating the fluid to the outside and at an angle against an opposing angle on the turbine blades which are not spinning, making them a bit like a bucket on water wheel to extract some of the kinetic energy after which it is routed to the stopped or lower velocity inner diameter of the turbine, and back toward the inner diameter of the impeller where it will be sucked in and accelerated again. However, with the large difference in velocity and the opposite angle, the remaining kinetic energy opposes the impeller so there can be no torque gain unless you redirect and reuse that energy with a stator to assist the impeller. The stator attempts to rotate backwards and it cannot because the sprag/roller/one-way clutch doesn't allow it to, and it redirects the fast-moving fluid into the direction of the impeller at to further accelerate the fluid, which is where you get torque multiplication, ~2:1. However, as the turbine rpm gains equilibrium with the impeller, the turbine now produces its own back pressure from centrifugal force, thereby mostly balancing this out. However, with the angle of the inner turbine blades plus the rotation of the turbine being almost as fast as the impeller, the stator will now rotate with the impeller and turbine to give the best flow. This point is called couple or lockup, although it is not really coupled or locked up, but it will be less than 10%, slower depending on the converter, and torque multiplication will be 1:1. Thus, max torque multiplication occurs when the impeller is turning and the turbine is stopped. If something is wrong with the stator and it rotates in both direction, acceleration will be poor. If it won't move in either direction, it will add a load on the engine during coupling and cause heat buildup. Then came lockup torque converters where they actually do lock the impeller and turbine together physically, so they tend to refer to the former as couple rather lockup. The difference between a torque converter and a fluid coupling is the stator, which enables the multiplication of torque. So are fluid couplings obsolete? No. They are used in a lot of applications to isolate vibration between driving and driven members, and even gentle startups when an engine is running at a fixed RPM like electric engines and fluid is slowly added such as to start a conveyor belt with tons of product on it. The stall speed is the maximum rpm that the engine can turn when using all of its power against a stopped turbine. Logically, that depends on how much torque the engine has. While true, with something relatively heavy such as transmission fluid, small changes in RPM make big changes in torque to make a small rpm change, so it won't vary by as much as you think, which is why they can categorize them by stall speed. You can also see that the smaller the diameter, the faster you will have to spin it to equal the same outside velocity to achieve the same centrifugal force and pumping action on the fluid plus they have less area on the blades so a 1" difference in diameter can make a substantial difference in stall rpm. The stall rpm will vary more with torque variations as well, but still not by a lot. Of course the First Law of Thermodynamics states that neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed. When the engine creates all of that high velocity fluid against a stationary turbine, the energy has to be dissipated somewhere, and it is. The engine horsepower is converted to heat, which is why the transmission cooler in the radiator, unless you have a wimpy engine in which fins on the outside of the converter and air holes in the bellhousing can do the job. Larger diameter converters are more efficient even during coupling. However, when overdrive transmissions and higher gear ratios became more and more popular, engine rpm dropped near or below where coupling would occur even at speed, so there were efficiency losses with more power going up in heat in the converter. This made the move to lockup converters compelling. From automotive engineering to aviation mechanic to military pilot, the engines made perfect sense to me right away because they use a stator to similar effect as torque converter except jet engines don't allow the stators rotate with the rotors because it is always pumping, unlike a torque converter, thus unnecessary. Another difference is the stators are where the compression is occurring when it converts the kinetic energy into static pressure, and redirects the flow direction into the rotor blades of the next stage. Torque converters don't compress the fluid but rather add to the kinetic energy to be expended against the turbine by feeding accelerated fluid back into the impeller to be further accelerated.
Excellent add-on to this video!! Funny coincidence . My background is aerodynamics-F-16 crew chief to military pilot.. Now Im trying to troubleshoot why my E4OD chatters in neutral or park after it warms up. I think it might be the pump
What this long comment (thank you) is saying is that Eric's brief comments about how the stator works is not quite right. But the video is still excellent overall.
Brilliant explanation! As an engineering student, I was not quite satisfied with Eric's explanation, but yours gave everything that I still wanted to know. It is quite obvious that you were in automotive engineering, nobody else could give such a detailed and thorough explanation. Thank you for sharing!
Yes,Eric's video was good but I have to say your summaration of the auto.was equally as good.Thank you for showing how my car can take off from the lights better than a manual gearbox car!
I knew his explanation was wrong as soon as he forgot to list the most important function of a torque converter or fluid coupling, that is, to allow the engine to keep turning when the car or load is stopped.
This was probably the most seamless explanation of an engineering concept I've encountered on youtube! Great job!
Best explanation I've seen so far of how a torque converter works. Really appreciate how you took a complicated subject and broke it down so that a layman could understand it. Your a good teacher.
I've seen tons of TC explanation videos but this one trumps them all, easily. Well done.
I'm a geezer and throughout my entire life (thus far) I've never had a clue how torque converters work. Outstanding video, I loved the two fans demo, excellent. Thanks a ton, now I can pass my thanks through a torque converter and virtually double my thanks.. so thanks two tonnes.
Yes I took apart of four-wheel drive transmission and put it in a 2-wheel drive and now all I get is the one gear what did I do wrong???
Great tutorial! Back in the day Buick Dynaflows used the variable pitch torque converter you mentioned. Your concise explanations and demonstrations couldn't have been better. Crystal clear!
I appreciate your presentation. This is a subject that I had never looked into before, so it was all brand new to me. Before now, the torque converter was that big thing under the bell housing, between the engine and the transmission. You gave very eye opening information on precisely what is going on inside the metal shell. Thank you.
I have been a diy person all my life and worked on my own cars, I fully understood all about the engine function and how it all worked together but until now have never known how a torque converter worked and why it was needed, just took it for granted and never tried to understand it because i couldn't see inside the sealed unit and now it is exposed and the knoledge you have shared is priceless for people like myself. well done!!
This is probably the best write up I've ever seen on TC operation. Awesome job Eric. The fans are a really nice visual aid.
Dang man. That was a fantastic explanation of converters. Great job. Thank you. I bet it feels nice to still hear people getting help from your knowledge 8 years after you dropped it 🤘🏼🤘🏼
lifetime gearhead, past mechanic and auto enthusiast here. This is probably the best explanation of torque converters I have ever seen. Nice job!
Eric - you are great at presenting things in an easy understandable way.
This is amazing, your attention to detail and terminology, the clear and thorough explanations, that practical demonstration. You're an amazing educator!
What an excellent teacher. He always have the good way to explain and demontrate the ''How it works''. Brilliant man ! Thank you Eric, Merci !
Wonderful explanation. I've long understood abstractly about the need for a stator, but here I got to see one and what it's connected to. Good work Eric. Thanks.
Thank you for giving clear information with no background noise and good lighting.
Eric, this is a very lucid explanation of an automatic transmission. And showing all of the major parts makes for a great explanation. Thank you very much.
I'd just like to say thank you as your video over above all the others actually makes sense and describes in simple terms how it works and takes away the complication of the torque convertor and clearly represents a practical understanding to the novice of how it all works together.
Eric, thanks for the simple analogies and demonstrations. I'm a long time car guy and the automatic transmission has long mystified me. This video enhanced my understanding and answered my questions about stall speed. Well done and thank you!
This was the most educational video on torque converters that I have ever seen. In fact, all your videos are so clear and concise. Thank you and keep being awesome.
This video gives a fairly easy to understand explanation of how the impeller, the turbine, and the stator all work together in a torque converter transmission. Good job!
William H. Burke, Jr. 0
Great video. Lots of prep, props and construction with some fine edits. It was all worth the end product - a clear, concise demonstration of how Torque Converters "work". Thank you for sharing.
Eric, you are a born teach Sir. For the first time in my life, I now fully understand how this unit work. Thank you so much.
Awesome video! I've never really understood torque converters until I watched this video! Thank you!
Having been a motorcycle mechanic the last 20 years I have had very little knowledge in auto specific things. This is a great explanation of how this works and the potentials of issues. Thanks for the video.
I appreciate your ability to explain and in detail so that even the least knowledgeable person can understand.
Dude! The fan analogy was genius! That’s the first video I saw that actually brought me close to understand how the torque converter works
well done ,easy to watch well explained without being too technical.Im a retired mechanic lecturer and I think this is far more imformative being shown practically which is esier to understand,well done again
Eric, you're way of explaining things is amazing. You're a genius!!!
Well explain. I knew this but needed a recap. U nailed it. Thank u bro
You didn't know how it worked then you dork...ugh
Eric thank you so much, you are a top notch Car Professor for all us to learn. You make it easy to understand even the most difficult things. Thank you teacher...
Eric, you are a great teacher! That double fan setup made everything so understandable!
Brilliant explanation with the two fans! This is exactly how a turbine shaft engine works on helicopters. The Compressor section and turbine section are only connected by hot air. The expanding gases force the power turbine section to turn and power is transferred to the main transmission.
The world of turbines. They need a FLUID (Air and liquid are both defined as FLUIDS, one is less denser than the other) in order to TRANSFER the mechanical force needed to extract its energy into function. In a fan jet (not a turbo shaft) engine the rapid expansion of the combustion gases are “routed” into the turbine section, that turbine turns (torque) just as the fans do in the video. That turbine, as it rotates, causes a shaft to turn, and that turning energy then is transferred (thru a driveshaft) to the main fan up front of the engine (compressor) that would then move air to the rear, compressing it in the process. How that energy is EXTRACTED for utilization in the engine makes the difference in what TYPE of turbine engine it is. There’s another video, a lot shorter, that uses video animation to explain how torque converter works. It took me a few replays of the video to get MOST of the hang of it. But this video (longer) explains it a lot better, specially with the use of air fans. Well made!!!
Love the breakdown of the internals and how they work. Just amazing
Illustrating your explanation using the two fans is brilliant. Many thanks for this most informative video.
No BS. Clear, concise, articulate, no jokes or talking to the dog. Well presented with fan analogy. Thanks for your effort and thoughtful presentation. Thanks for not wasting my time. You Tube channelers need to learn these techniques. I am subscribing.
I think Eric fully understands how a torque converter works, and made a good effort to communicate that, to the viewer. And his 2-fan analogy was good. However I think there are a goodly number of ways in which his language could be improved. A good number of places where where his language is ambiguous. He tries to make things understandable by repeating himself, using a slightly different sentence structure, but the repeated sentence, or phrase, is not any clearer than the original.
Talking to the dog/cat. You hit it dead center.
Great job on your video. Simple explanations and visuals yet detailed enough to really grasp the concept of the torque converter. Love all your videos.
Thank you for walking me through that properly. I kinda knew but you made it make complete sense. You're a good teacher man
Brilliant explanation and an excellent practical analogy with the 2 fans. Great stuff!
I love the video I've never seen inside of a torque converter and understand fully how they worked you did that just like textbook classroom perfect thank you
Love how you break things down and make them simple to understand
I live in the UK and used to work in the Borg Warner in the transmission division in South Wales, I have built 1000s of the those converters and the stators and also put them on the dynormometer for testing. Brings back a lot of memories.
Excellent as usual, Eric! Clear, easily understandable on a somewhat (for some of us) complex piece of automotive technology. The fans are a great analogy. Thank You!!!
Eric you always teach me something of great value on every video! Keep it up ! It was great the way u used fans for a simplified visual.
And your example with the fans in EXCELLENT!
The amount of ingenious engineering that goes into stuff like this will never cease to amaze me
By far, the best explanation I have ever seen for this. AWESOME!!!
Bloody brilliant. Everything I wanted to know. And I was asking myself about stall speed when you explained it. Cheers.
Great demo with the fans.
+Jeff Keith I agree !
Jeff Keith lemon
Thanks Erick,very informative.A friend of mine had a Plymouth that he built an engine for.I think it was 400 ci,cam and a big carb.I remember when it was idling it would want to go.He said he believed he had put the wrong stall speed converter in it.His nephew totaled it before he got around to it.Your article was very easy to understand thanks.
I have watched four vids hoping someone would touch on stall speed. Thank you for remembering to throw that in. Helped me a whole lot, especially after 4 vids worth of learning about the stator's function. Well done
One of the best explanations in KZhead
I have a big diy job on this I need to get finished asap and not looking forward to it at all but after watching this video I feel much better about it thank you so much for doing this. You're an amazing teacher and have a new subscriber for sure.
for not having a program or CGI to help u show what ur talking about. u did a great job explaining how a torque converter works. showed me something i didnt know. but wanted to know. thank u for ur time in making this video.
Finally someone that speaks on my ability to relate and understand. Thanks. This was solid
Thanks for the demo. I had a rough idea how this device worked, now I have a more complete understanding. Also it is interesting to see other technologies combined to make this work. The starter motor clutch on Honda motorbikes comes to mind. Great video.
This is a great video. Very thorough, but easy to understand. I really like torque converters, they are such a cool piece of technology, but they are also really hard to grasp exactly how they do their magic. Thanks!
This came up on related videos and thank god I watch this because I had no idea how a Torque Converter really worked and how it look like inside. Very smart engineering. Great video 👍🏽 thank you .
Thank you for taking the time to teach this. I found it extremely informative.
I would have been an engineer if this video was uploaded 12 years ago. Very informative video. Liked it. Please keep uploading the great videos like this one.
no you would not. People just like you became engineer without watching some random youtube video.
@@xl000 liked your frustrations and your comment.
Thank You for that clear explanation of the 'HOW' a torque converter actually works. You Sir, are a treasure.
WOW, this is a much-needed video to understand transmission operation and conditions. Thank you.
Excellent, thank you sir. Great explanation of the Torque Converter Clutch.
so I want to say that as a fellow mechanic and frequent you tube visitor i am highly impressed with your teaching skills and knowledge transfer processes and techniques. This is one of the coolest and more fun mechanical component explanations I have ever seen. I subbed and liked just now and I look forward to more from exploring your channel. Well done sir, this is truly well done and a gem of a mechanics video.
Great explanation, Eric. The Torque Converter and the TCC were two things I didn't fully understand. Great video.
Wow, that's the best explanation I've ever heard of a torque converter. From a UK viewer.
Great practical demonstration!
Great explanation, there are a number of transmissions that will lock up in lower gears though not just high gear.
I never really thought about how a torque converter worked. This was an excellent example. Perfect, Thank you.
Came to this page through PCA. Great overall explanation, especially the high-stall converter for drag racing. Thanks.
A super great video. 10 days ago, I had to add transmission shudder fix because at shifting lower gears, I had hesitation till I built up to top speed and gear. Now I better understand why the shudder fix worked for me. Thanks for the great video.
Your shudder was due to lock up clutch. If you keep the car it'll eventually need a converter.
I had a general idea how they worked but never saw one apart. This was a very good explanation. You da man! Lol
wow, this explanation was awesome. what made it all click was the analogy of the bicycle's gear thing.
Well done, your analogy with the fans was just great and, in fact, another lesson.
FIrst, I loved the " practical" with the fans -- it really demonstrates the concept. Second, some automatics designed for hauling heavier loads will use the lockup clutch in more than only the highest gear in order to limit heating of the transmission fluid.
Fantastic presentation, I've learned a lot, that I, was totally unaware. Thank you so much for explaining. You did a great job
Best description of how a converter works I’ve ever seen thank you.
Excellent video and explanation, probably the simplest explanation and demo using the fans was superb, well done Eric.
Plenty of modern transmissions lock up the TCC in most gears, only unlocking to shift gears. It helps fuel efficiency and power delivery a lot.
I feel like my 1999 ES300 will only lock when in either 3rd or 4th. I could be wrong though
Beautiful yet simple explanation, Thank you!
I was raised in a wrecking yard, changed many transmission, rebuilt a few. But never understood the torque converter,. This helps. Who figured this out, was a genius without a doubt. Thank you so much. I never even seen inside one. Till now, clearer but still a bit confusing. Thanks!!
Beautiful man, you're the only one who could help me, I watched 8 videos and yours was the only one that saved me
Very simple and clear explanation. Thanks!
I have a 2004 Volvo S60R whose torque converter just failed. Thanks for demystifying this for me!