Hi All,

I'm a fair enough backyard mechanic but I have to admit that auto-trannies are not my strong suit, though I do understand basic principles and have a couple B&M shift kits under my belt in the distant past (my background is drag racing) so I'm confused here, maybe one of you could help.

I have a friend with a '86 F-250 with a 460 in front of a C6, (I believe) though I only mention it to be thorough because my question is more general than that. Suffice it to say that he's having transmission issues and his truck's throwing P/C solenoid and torque converter codes, and they've ruled out the whole power control/solenoid thing leaving the TC as the likely culprit. Here's the rub:

His tranny guy is advising him to not only replace his TC but to overhaul his tranny (which appears to be fine at the moment, aside from a hinky TC) at the same time - to the tune of more than $3k - because, as he sez, "when automatic transmissions fail they usually take the TC with them and then you'll just wind up buying the TC all over again." And he's not speaking in terms of attrition, like a leaking seal or a failing pump over time slowly cooking the TC due to overheating, etc - that makes some sense of course - he's talking about a catastrophic, "right now," you're driving along and your tranny lunches itself type failure. Now admittedly it's been years since I've fiddled about with ATs but short of shrapnel from a massively detonating transmission I don't recall any direct avenues of influence between what's going on in the bell housing and what's going on in the tranny case other than the input shaft.

But again, I am NOT an expert and so I put it to you fine folks: Am I missing something? Can a lunched transmission - like a wasted band or a busted/stripped planetary - pull down the torque converter with it? And if so, (and I'm happy to be wrong here) how?

Any input appreciated, thanx!

~Op

 

Anything that contaminates the oil contaminates the TC.

Never install a used TC from a bad trans.

$3000 is way high for a C6.

 

The ONLY automatic in '86 with a 460 was the C6.

I couldn't agree more.

And they share the ATF. The trans pumps fluid to the converter and takes the fluid leaving the converter. When one fails, the other needs to be rebuilt or replaced, too.

And you mentioned transmission codes. C6s do NOT set transmission codes. There is no computer connected to them so there will NOT be transmission codes. The especially wouldn't set solenoid codes since there are no solenoids in a C6.

If the truck is an '89 or newer it could have an E4OD, and that can set codes.
E4ODs are also significantly more expensive to rebuild than a C6.