Stall speed & Wheel spin???

[BillyGman]

Can anyone tell me if using a Torque converter w/a higher stall speed than the stock one on the MM, will induce tire spin coming off the line in a race???
Just so there's no misunderstanding here, I'm not only asking if those of you who have purchased that after market Torque converter from Dennis have experienced tire spin during wide open throttle starts, but also if using a higher stall speed in general in an automatic transmission equiped car increases the chance of wheel spin off the line. I was also wondering if our MM's have the same torque converters as the Crown Vics and the Mercury Marquis do.....

[TripleTransAm]

Ours stall at much higher RPM, stock. 2500-3000?

[russ in VA]

I can tell you this much ... in snow and ice the high stall speed converter in my MM makes it almost impossible to soft pedal away from a stop without spinning ... as you get on the gas you get increased RPM's with little forward drive then as the RPMS come up closer to 2k it hits BAM and spins the wheels. Starting in 2nd helps since when it does lock up there is less favorable torque multiplication (or more favorable for this scenario since you DON"T want to accelerate rapidly). Dang automatics. Wishing they built a stick....

[BillyGman]

comments Russ. Thankyou for your reply, because I think that's applicable. I didn't think it would matter weather you put the gearshift in second or not since it is an automatic and therefore will start out in first anyway, and putting it in second will simply prevent it from going into third until you shift into Drive ofcourse. But maybe it's because of the lock-up thing. Right? BTW, do you have the PI Stallion converter? And for comparisant value, have you driven your car in the snow BEFORE replacing the stock converter???

[russ in VA]

My car is stock mechanically (unfortunately).

In the MM, like many if not all fords and mazdas, putting the PRNDL stick in "2" actually locks the tranny in 2nd, no matter what, from idle to rev limiter (unless your going more than about 85mph when you select 2nd in which case it will put it in there as soon as you slow down enough to keep from overrevving the engine). It does NOT start off in first like all the GM rental cars I have driven would.

[BillyGman]

I've never heard of an automatic trans being that way. I'll have to check that out:confused:

[russ in VA]

Funny, I just had to educate my father in law on this the other day too. He has a 1992 F150. When you put it in 2nd, it darn well stays there too.

[RF Overlord]

IIRC, Ford has pretty much always had the "starts and stays in 2nd" feature...I remember a friend's '68 Mustang would do that..., so did my '90 E350 work truck and our '94 T-bird...as Russ said, cars from the General start in 1st, then shift to 2nd...

[TripleTransAm]

At a stoplight, with the tranny in 2nd, holding the car just *barely* with the brakes (in other words, just enough brake pressure to keep the car from creeping forward, no more pressure than that)...

Move the selector to 1st or 'D' without easing up on the brakes and watch the car begin to move. Pop the shifter back into 2nd and the car should come to a stop once again. Too funny.

Interesting to see how the difference in torque multiplication with the 1st gear ratio will get the car moving versus 2nd gear, brakes just barely applied.

[BillyGman]

I guess it must be cuz I've always been a General Motors guy(especially Chevy) in the past, and this MM is my first Ford vehicle. Thanx again for the insight....

[Murader03]

Originally posted by BillyGman
I guess it must be cuz I've always been a General Motors guy(especially Chevy) in the past, and this MM is my first Ford vehicle. Thanx again for the insight....

We are glad you finally took care of that problem......:lol: :bounce:

[cruzer]

I use second for pull aways at traffic lights any time the wife is in the car---she doesn't like the noisy pipes--yes, my last 3 Grand Marqius have all "locked"in second if you select it