The other day, my friend and I were chewin' the fat, and we were talking about my torque converter install. I told him how you have to make sure the converter is fully engaged on the pump. Even when you think it is, it might not be.

Anyway, he asked me, what if you only partially engage the converter? Will the car still run/shift etc? I'm sure it wouldn't stall properly, but I had no answer for him. Any light you could shed on the subject would be much appreciated. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

If the converter wasn't on all the way it would be too tight against the flexplate to bolt the trans to the engine -- if you did somehow manage to force it and get the bellhousing bolted up you would probably trash the tranny pump as soon as you fired the car.

The converter is what spins the tranny pump. Those two notches on the converter mate with two "teeth" on the pump gear.

Like Eric said nothing good would come from it if it was not seated fully. Best case would probably be a tranny rebuild. You should not be able to get the tranny bolted up, but where there's a will there's a way. Nothing would surprise me.

That's what I figured, I think your right though...anything's possible. I've heard of people not removing the converter bolts before dropping the trans...that alone broke the pump.

So if the two notches are what drive the pump, what are the two sets of splines for on the input shaft for a TH350? The impeller and turbine? :confused:

The center shaft is the driven member of the converter. The achored splines are for the stator which redirects spinning fluid perpendicular to the turbine blades. The stator is locked solid under torque and freewheels when coasting or cruising.