Stall converters
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Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Conyers
Stall converters
What is this buisness about stall converters? What happens when the converter "stalls"? Also, with a 300 l-6 4x4 that has a edelbrock 500cfm, Clifford intake and header, and a 270* crane blueracer, what's the best stall converter to use? I'll be running 33s with a 3.55 gears and a c6. Thanks
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2001
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From: So Cal
Stall converters
A stall convert is just a liquid coupling between the engine and tranny. It doesn't really cause the engine or anything else to stall. What they mean by stall, is that if you were to lock up the brakes and put the tranny into drive and floor the accelerator, the engine will go up to a certain RPM and stay steady at that RPM(The stall speed). Stall speed will depend on the convert, and the amount of power the engine makes. The same converter will have a much lower stall on say a 300 versus a race ready 460 engine. NOTE, it is usually very bad to do the above trick with a normal converter and tranny setup, a lot of heat is generated and or the converter may balloon(Swell up), both are very bad. A performance converter and properly setup tranny etc will do fine but still I wouldn't do this trick on a regular basis.
As for which one is right for you, it all depends. Someone else with experience with your setup will have better advice. In general, unless you plan to do a lot of drag racing I would be conservative on the stall speed, maybe 2,000 RPM. Higher stalls make the truck perform kind of mushy around town and may slip on the freeway. They get worse gas mileage and generate heat. But if you like zipping away at full throttle, a stall converter can be fun.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
As for which one is right for you, it all depends. Someone else with experience with your setup will have better advice. In general, unless you plan to do a lot of drag racing I would be conservative on the stall speed, maybe 2,000 RPM. Higher stalls make the truck perform kind of mushy around town and may slip on the freeway. They get worse gas mileage and generate heat. But if you like zipping away at full throttle, a stall converter can be fun.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,624
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From: Missouri
Stall converters
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 22-Aug-01 AT 06:41 PM (EST)[/font][p]Jim did an excellent job of explaining that to you. I had a 2500 stall put into my truck about a month ago. My e.t was 18.4 @72MPH before the stall and 18.9@69 after the stall. I atribute the difference mostly to a 30 degree air temp difference and even louder knocking from the rods but there was really no increase in performance at all. Spinning the tires takes just as much effort as before. When I'm pumping out over 400 horses with a 390 after the rebuild I'm sure it will be a big help. I would never go over 2000 rpm with a mild truck motor. Your I6 should still make good low end with that setup. Also if you plan on mudding with that 4X4 and run a higher converter you better get one heck of a tranny cooler.
