whats a stall converter?

[Stretchomatic]

hey everyone, can anybody tell me how a stall converter works, i hav the basic idea that it is like a clutch for a auto??? can anyone just give me much info? cheers.

[Peanuts Inc.]

runs on fluid thats forced around by fins inside the housing, relies on the friction of the fluid from one surface to drive the other around and thats what transfers the power through to the driveline
its a bit brief..... have a look on www.howstuffworks.com

[Stretchomatic]

ah ok thats for a stock auto though isnt it? i should hav been more in depth, i meant like when u hav a quik shifter kit on, ppl talk about their 2500rpm stally...

[Peanuts Inc.]

well theres a few TYPES of stall converters.....theres wet clutch types that work like the same principal as LSD clutches do, theres fluid types and theres dry types which arent generally used anymore cos they wear our...

its all a matter of friction

[craigvk]

The simple answer is a modified torque converter

[MattK]

As stated , it a fluid drive ...

Now , a stall converter will lock up at a certain RPM ... Eg Hi-stall
A little known fact is that a stall converter actually increases the amount of tourque to the rear wheels untill it locks up .... [ Which is nice ]

Whats bad is that most lock up too early , 1500 to 1700 RPM [ Had this problem with the VL ]

A 2500RPM Hi stall , is good for , but fuel ecconomy may suffer as the RPM even at 100KMH will be at or bellow 2000RPM ....

I know that in the USA they had electronic overide for locking up the torque converter ... And Im wondering if with todays computer controlled transmitions , if reprograming the chip to make the transmition do things more a petrolheads way is possible or not ? [ Im going to find out ]

In anyway , the torque converter is a good place to start , when trying to put some power down to the ground ...

Matt