4/5/2021 How Torque Converters Work | HowStuffWorks

How Torque Converters Work

By: Karim Nice  |  Updated: Apr 1, 2021

Antique illustration of adaptor transmission gearbox. ILBUSCA / GETTY IMAGES

If you've read about manual transmissions, you know that an engine is connected to a
transmission by way of a clutch. Without this connection, a car would not be able to
come to a complete stop without killing the engine. But cars with an automatic
transmission have no clutch that disconnects the transmission from the engine.
Instead, they use an amazing device called a torque converter. It may not look like
much, but there are some very interesting things going on inside.

In this article, we'll learn why automatic transmission cars need a torque converter,
how a torque converter works and what some of its benefits and shortcomings are.

The Basics

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The torque converter is situated between

the engine and the transmission.

Just like manual transmission cars, cars with automatic transmissions need a way to
let the engine turn while the wheels and gears in the transmission come to a stop.
Manual transmission cars use a clutch, which completely disconnects the engine from
the transmission. Automatic transmission cars use a torque converter.

A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling, which allows the engine to spin
somewhat independently of the transmission. If the engine is turning slowly, such as
when the car is idling at a stoplight, the amount of torque passed through the torque
converter is very small, so keeping the car still requires only a light pressure on the
brake pedal.

If you were to step on the gas pedal while the car is stopped, you would have to press
harder on the brake to keep the car from moving. This is because when you step on
the gas, the engine speeds up and pumps more fluid into the torque converter,
causing more torque to be transmitted to the wheels.

Inside a Torque Converter

The parts of a torque converter (left to

right): turbine, stator, pump

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As shown in the figure below, there are four components inside the very strong
housing of the torque converter:

Pump
Turbine
Stator
Transmission fluid

The housing of the torque converter is bolted to the flywheel of the engine, so it turns
at whatever speed the engine is running at. The fins that make up the pump of the
torque converter are attached to the housing, so they also turn at the same speed as
the engine. The cutaway below shows how everything is connected inside the torque
converter.

How the parts of the torque converter

connect to the transmission and
engine

The pump inside a torque converter is a type of centrifugal pump. As it spins, fluid is
flung to the outside, much as the spin cycle of a washing machine flings water and
clothes to the outside of the wash tub. As fluid is flung to the outside, a vacuum is
created that draws more fluid in at the center.

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The pump section of the torque

converteris attached to the housing.

The fluid then enters the blades of the turbine, which is connected to the
transmission. The turbine causes the transmission to spin, which basically moves
your car. You can see in the graphic below that the blades of the turbine are curved.
This means that the fluid, which enters the turbine from the outside, has to change
direction before it exits the center of the turbine. It is this directional change that
causes the turbine to spin.

The torque converter turbine: Note

the spline in the middle. This is where
it connects to the transmission.

In order to change the direction of a moving object, you must apply a force to that
object -- it doesn't matter if the object is a car or a drop of fluid. And whatever applies
the force that causes the object to turn must also feel that force, but in the opposite
direction. So as the turbine causes the fluid to change direction, the fluid causes the
turbine to spin.

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The fluid exits the turbine at the center, moving in a different direction than when it
entered. If you look at the arrows in the figure above, you can see that the fluid exits
the turbine moving opposite the direction that the pump (and engine) are turning. If
the fluid were allowed to hit the pump, it would slow the engine down, wasting power.
This is why a torque converter has a stator.

We'll take a closer look at the stator in the next section.

The Stator

The stator sends the fluid returning from

the turbine to the pump. This improves
the efficiency of the torque converter.
Note the spline, which is connected to a
one-way clutch inside the stator.

The stator resides in the very center of the torque converter. Its job is to redirect the
fluid returning from the turbine before it hits the pump again. This dramatically
increases the efficiency of the torque converter.

The stator has a very aggressive blade design that almost completely reverses the
direction of the fluid. A one-way clutch (inside the stator) connects the stator to a fixed
shaft in the transmission (the direction that the clutch allows the stator to spin is noted
in the figure above). Because of this arrangement, the stator cannot spin with the fluid
-- it can spin only in the opposite direction, forcing the fluid to change direction as it
hits the stator blades.

Something a little bit tricky happens when the car gets moving. There is a point,
around 40 mph (64 kph), at which both the pump and the turbine are spinning at
almost the same speed (the pump always spins slightly faster). At this point, the fluid

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returns from the turbine, entering the pump already moving in the same direction as
the pump, so the stator is not needed.

Even though the turbine changes the direction of the fluid and flings it out the back,
the fluid still ends up moving in the direction that the turbine is spinning because the
turbine is spinning faster in one direction than the fluid is being pumped in the other
direction. If you were standing in the back of a pickup moving at 60 mph, and you
threw a ball out the back of that pickup at 40 mph, the ball would still be going forward
at 20 mph. This is similar to what happens in the turbine: The fluid is being flung out
the back in one direction, but not as fast as it was going to start with in the other
direction.

At these speeds, the fluid actually strikes the back sides of the stator blades, causing
the stator to freewheel on its one-way clutch so it doesn't hinder the fluid moving
through it.

Benefits and Weak Points

In addition to the very important job of allowing your car come to a complete stop
without stalling the engine, the torque converter actually gives your car more torque
when you accelerate out of a stop. Modern torque converters can multiply the torque
of the engine by two to three times. This effect only happens when the engine is
turning much faster than the transmission.

At higher speeds, the transmission catches up to the engine, eventually moving at

almost the same speed. Ideally, though, the transmission would move at exactly the
same speed as the engine, because this difference in speed wastes power. This is
part of the reason why cars with automatic transmissions get worse gas mileage than
cars with manual transmissions.

To counter this effect, some cars have a torque converter with a lockup clutch. When
the two halves of the torque converter get up to speed, this clutch locks them
together, eliminating the slippage and improving efficiency.

For more information on torque converters and related topics, check out the links on
the next page.

Originally Published: Oct 25, 2000

Torque Converter FAQs

How much does it cost to replace a torque converter?

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If you plan on replacing a torque converter yourself, then you should expect a repair
cost that ranges between $150 and $500. If you plan on visiting a repair shop, you
should expect to pay anywhere between $600 and $1,000 to replace this component.

What causes a torque converter to fail?

Most of the time, torque converters fail due to excessive friction, which also means
that the torque converter's needle bearings may be damaged. In addition, faulty clutch
solenoids or seals may also be the source of the problem.

What are the symptoms of a failing torque converter?

When your torque converter starts to fail, you may feel the vehicle vibrating or
perhaps even slipping during an override. Your vehicle may also vibrate when it isn't
moving that fast and make the car lag very noticeably.

What does a bad torque converter sound like?

You could hear a variety of noises if your torque converter has gone bad, including
whining and even when the car is in park.

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