torque converter drain

[LCAM-01XA]

where the heck is this thing? It ain't on the side of the converter, is it on the front face where the converter meets the flexplate? I looked for it today and I couldn't find it at all! Is it hidden in one of those holes in the flexplate that are next to the 4 studs for the converter?

 

[Exekiel69]

I'm not sure about that year but the later e4od has the drain on the converter, You just have to turn it slowly until You align it with the inspection hole on the bell housing.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

EZ, that'd be the style that has the drain on the side wall of the converter - this is what you're talking about, right?

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My E4OD has a much different bell housing, it looks much like a Th350 or a TH400. This is the style of E4OD that I have:

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As you can see, this PSD torque converter has a drain. Mine don't, perfectly smooth walls. Also, my torque converter is bright red and shiney, and looks like it was recently installed there (in total contrast with my nasty oil pan), no labels or markings on it tho, none that I could see. What color should be the factory converter?

 

[Cat_Rebel]

You should have one, mine did just get a flash light & keep looking.

You can see the plug on the side of this-

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Drain on my old converter-

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[Cat_Rebel]

Ivan to add all E4OD / 4R100 converters factory made after 00 didn't have a drain on them. The converter I pulled out was a 4 bolt out of a 93 & the one I installed was a 00 with a drain on it. Anything 01+ was drainless unless some aftermarket ones had them.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Wow, I got some mystery equipment in my truck then. My flexplate is a total monster compared to yours Gare, it's simply massive! Then the converter itself looks just like the new one you have in that first pic, nice and bright friggin red! Here's what I'm looking at:

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Notice how the flexplate is recessed where the converter fits inside it:

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Looks like the flexplate is cast iron:

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This was the torque converter stud, by the way, here's a slightly different view of it:

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So, any ideas? Why is my flexplate so beastly compared to Garrett's? An I'm 110% certain I have no drain where it should be, ad I've turned the engine slowly by hand, and then fired it up, and I noticed absolutely nothing either way.

 

[k_williams1982]

On my C6, the drain is located just to the side of the torque convertor nuts in one of the other little holes.

 

[Cat_Rebel]

Ivan you got one weird looking setup bro.

Here is what my flex plate looks like.

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[GenLightening]

Wow, I got some mystery equipment in my truck then. My flexplate is a total monster compared to yours Gare, it's simply massive! Then the converter itself looks just like the new one you have in that first pic, nice and bright friggin red! Here's what I'm looking at:

Notice how the flexplate is recessed where the converter fits inside it:

Looks like the flexplate is cast iron:

So, any ideas? Why is my flexplate so beastly compared to Garrett's? An I'm 110% certain I have no drain where it should be, ad I've turned the engine slowly by hand, and then fired it up, and I noticed absolutely nothing either way.

Hey Ivan, my '90 has the same flexplate as yours, it's pretty massive. And my Racer-X TC doesn't have a drain in it. I wonder if we could get some free power by swapping in the thinner flexplate..... I do have one from an '86, but for a C6, maybe it has the same bolt pattern?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Kenneth, I'll double check on the drain, I looked and I didn't see it there yesterday, but I'll check again.

Gare, your flexplate is wimp! I actually think this is a combination of a flexplate and a flywheel dampener, some big trucks have that to smoothen out the engine vibrations. I bet my engine idles smoother that yours

Doug, I don't know about the C6 flexplate, you can certainly try it if you feel industrious, but I ain't pulling my transmission any time soon (hopefully not)

And do we agree that this is nor the factory converter, but some aftermarket unit? It's actually not even the same shape as the ones Garrett has on that table, see how his have slightly rounded off edge between the side wall and the face that mees the flexplate, whereas I have this sharp edge, and the whole front half of the converter looks not to have been formed from a single sheet of metal, but rather fabricated or something... Gare, do you have up-close pics of one of your converters, be it the new one or the old one?

 

[Cat_Rebel]

Gare, do you have up-close pics of one of your converters, be it the new one or the old one?

I'll get some of the old one tonight.

 

[trackspeeder]

The converter could be a replacement unit. Not all converters have a drain plug.

Cat_Rebel has the later flex plate. It's jus a piece of stamped tin. The good side of the later plate is you can use the big converters

 

[david85]

That flywheel looks almost like my C6 style flywheel. I have the actual cast iron flywheel that also has the starter teeth cut into it, and then on the back of that you have the stamped steel flex plate that the torque converter bolts attach to. The flex plate and the flywheel are bolted to the crank with the same set of bolts.

I'm not sure if you indeed have a C6 style flywheel in there or if the older pre1992 E4ODs simply had more massive flywheels.

Ford doesn't paint their converters from factory. If you can get a better picture of the front half of the torque converter, we might be able to see if you have a stamped front cover or a billet cover. You can also wash some of the paint off with solvent to see if there are any machining marks on the surface underneath indicating a billet machined part. I can't quite be sure, but the wield seems to be nearly 3/8" wide. Thats also a dead give away as not being an OEM converter. The factory converters have about a 1/8-3/16 wide wield that looks like a stretched out caterpillar they tied around

EDIT: its possible that the drain hole is located in one of those holes right next to the torque converter bolts. Thats how my C6 was. The E4OD is usually on the outer perimeter, but maybe not all of them are like that.

 

[1994Diesel]

What is the purpose of draining the TC? Doesn't most of the atf fluid drain out when you shut down the engine?

 

[GenLightening]

That flywheel looks almost like my C6 style flywheel. I have the actual cast iron flywheel that also has the starter teeth cut into it, and then on the back of that you have the stamped steel flex plate that the torque converter bolts attach to. The flex plate and the flywheel are bolted to the crank with the same set of bolts.

I'm not sure if you indeed have a C6 style flywheel in there or if the older pre1992 E4ODs simply had more massive flywheels.

I just checked my spare '86 motor and the flexplate looks like the one on my
'90 7.3 (not gonna pull the trans to check ), so the C6 TC may be the same bolt pattern as the E4OD TC.

So, would the later E4OD flexplate, being thinner and lighter, help the motor rev up quicker? Or would it possibly hurt the towing by being lighter and not maintaining/helping momentum? Is the difference too small to notice?

My brain hurts now!