Locked up TC for 1st time and puked fluid hard....????

[noslo6]

Hooked a switch to manually lock up the torque converter today and was testing it out. Locked and unlocked a few times with the switch and noticed huge smoke behind the car. Drove real slow back home (about 1 mile). It kept smoking, but never stopped shifting or anything. When I got it home, jacked it up and saw fluid thick coming from the front seal area behind the TC. What has happened here? TIA

[MeanBuicks]

A number of things may have happened.

• Your seal may have just popped out of the bore. Two things are done to prevent this. First, the front seal drainback holes in the pump are enlarged during a rebuild to prevent pressure buildup behind the seal. Also, a front seal retainer is used to keep it in place.
• Your pump bushing may have walked forward, contacting the seal and causing a leak. The original '87 pumps had a ridge in the bushing bore to prevent this, but if an earlier pump winds up in your transmission, this could happen. It's also possible to stake the bushings in place like a Chrysler Torqueflite.
• It's also possible that the converter hub cracked or the hub weld broke, causing a leak.

What is the service history on your transmission? Is everything original?

[blackbuick87]

What exactly were you doing when you flipped the switch? Has this ever happened to anyone else when manually locking the converter?

[noslo6]

I was just testing out whether or not my switch was going to work. I was driving along about 50-55 mph and hit the switch & felt it lock. I flipped it back off and back on a couple of times then poof, I saw smoke. Never heard any noise, nor did the tranny ever quit working. It didn't leak a whole lot of fluid, but enough to get on the exhaust and make a mess. Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna tear it down today or tomorrow and see what the problem is. I figure its the front seal by the way it acted and the where the fluid was coming from. I'll let you know what the verdict is when I'm finished.