Is it the Tranny...OR, is the TC that has blown up?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Kid with a toy]

I went out last Saturday to "stir the rice" and started hearing this weird noise from under the car...coming from the tranny area. So I head home.

Here's what I've got...

-There are no visible leaks coming from the tranny.
-The tranny fluid looks like I just put it in.
-With the car running at an idle, and the flex plate cover off, there
are no visible wobbles of the flex plate or the torque convertor.
THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD....
-With the car in Park or Neutral it doesn't make a peep.
-But, throw it into Reverse or any Drive gear...and it sounds like a
pissed off, growling Chihuahua.

Is it the Tranny...
Or, is it the Torque Convertor?

I'm a little hesitant to start replacing parts, without a solid, possible, maybe, of what it might be. TurboGN gave it a whack, and his vote is on the TC. Mine is too, but what do I know...I'm just a Kid With A Broke Toy.

FYI
The tranny is a bone stock original. The TC is a 2800 Red Stripe.

Steve and Russ, the infinite wisdom of the masters is once again needed. So feel free to chime in at any time. Oh Russ, guess whose car the Red Stripe came off of? If you guessed "Chris'", you are soooooo right.

All opinions are welcome. There are no wrong answers.

Erik

 

[TurboJim]

Well, if you ask me and you didnt....

There are many things can cause noises. The only one I know of which isnt a BAD thing is pump regulator buzz. ALl others will require going into the trans. Once you are in there, it makes no sense to replace 1 bad part. You';re gonna wind up going thru an overhaul. Additinionally, any crap in the fluid is shared by the torque converter and cooler. When I was back at ford we have a converter flushing machine, I dont know if they are still used. That would be the only thing that could save your converter, otherwise I would replace it.

WHen I grenaded my converter I OH'd my tranny, there was no crap in it, but better safe than sorry. Would suck to put a $800 converter in to have IT fail with the rest of the trans cuz there was crap in there.

BUT still, you might wanna post in the AT section to get Bruce, Greg, JOey or Alans opinion, because although I've gone thru a half-dozen or so, I'm far from a guru and I cant pick every problem out from a sound in a trans yet. Maybe one day...

 

[Kid with a toy]

Thanks Jim.