Turbo 400 problems

[32coupe]

I have a turbo 400 that is back in the shop for the third time.
I had it freshened up for my coupe back in the build up stage, and it had issues when you gave it a had time from the first time I got the coupe registered, it only lasted about 3000kms before it started slipping all the time.
Second rebuild, replaced just about everything exept the case, it was performing perfect until. I decided to fit a 2000 rpm stall converter, again it ran great ....................for about 50kms, then no top gear and eventually on the crawl back home no gears at all. I checked the fluid, fine no leaks but no pressure when I disconnected the cooler lines.
Now that it is back in the shop the guy there is trying to tell me that I had the converter in wrong.......................how the hell do you fit a converter in wrong?
He tells me that I must have had it misaligned and I tightened the bell housing bolts up and forced it into the pump, but I had space to slide the converter back before I bolted it up to the flywheel. How can this be fitted wrong???
How much free play between the box and the flywheel is acceptable, if I can slide the converter back and forth?
Should I slide the converter as close to the box as possible, or is it ok to slide it forward to the flywheel?
Is he trying to rip me off, or is there some way that the converter is not mating to the pump properly??
I am at my witts end, after all this is costing me a fortune, and I don't know what I can do to get a box to last in this car. Am I doing something wrong, this has never happened to me before, and I have had a lot of autos in and out of cars before with no problems.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Crosley.In.AZ]

If you bolted the tranny to the engine and  the coverter would spin freely before you pulled the converter forward to bolt it down to the flywheel....... all was fine.

how the hell do you fit a converter in wrong?

that is very easy.  do it yourself people do it every week.  Sometimes the bell housing breaks as the bolts are tightened

IF you bolted the tranny to the engine and the converter was not set correctly , it will chew up the pump cover ( often refered to as  the stator support)... you are pushing the pump gears back against the stator support with the converter hub.


There is the possiblity the center pump gear was installed backwards. they only fit one way correctly

I hope this is clear.

[58 Yeoman]

About a million years ago when I went through auto trans class, the instructor told us that if we could 'just get' our fingers between the converter and the bell housing, (before installing the trans into the car), the converter was in correctly.  If our fingers went between the two easily, the converter wasn't in all the way.  That worked for me then, in the 70's & 80's when I used to do more, and I've never had a problem with the few that I've installed since.

[zzebby]

Normally a turbo 400  is almost indestructible.  I've used and abused many of them and they never miss a lick / shift.   Had a 38 ford 2 ton truck with built 454,  put 80K miles on it pulling a big fifth wheel  and yet it will still smoke the duals when unhitched.  400 turbo and stock.
Once you get it sorted out you can forget about it.

[32coupe]

What I don't understand is why I managed to drive 50kms after intalling the new converter, and then it went bad.
The last thing that I did before it started to slip was a big launch off the traffic lights, I am starting to think that the converter must have a problem. It is a stocker that has been converted to a 2000rpm stall.
Is there a possibility that they have inadvertently taken too much out of the housing and thus shortened the converter so now it sits too far from the box when bolted to the flywheel?

[jimcaf]

I had problems with my 400 acting strangly,,,slipping and hanging inbetween gears and it turned out the valve on the side under the cover held on by 3 half inch bolts was sticking,,i pulled it out lubed it and work it and the problems were gone,,,,good luck with it jim

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimcaf12

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I wonder if you are talking of the governor under the cover with 4 - 5/16 inch bolts with 1/2 inch heads?

I had problems with my 400 acting strangly,,,slipping and hanging inbetween gears and it turned out the valve on the side under the cover held on by 3 half inch bolts was sticking,,i pulled it out lubed it and work it and the problems were gone,,,,good luck with it jim

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimcaf12

[jimcaf]

I wonder if you are talking of the governor under the cover with 4  5/16 inch bolts with 1/2 inch heads?

I had problems with my 400 acting strangly,,,slipping and hanging inbetween gears and it turned out the valve on the side under the cover held on by 3 half inch bolts was sticking,,i pulled it out lubed it and work it and the problems were gone,,,,good luck with it jim

http://community.webshots.com/user/jimcaf12

Thats the one,,,the governor,,,its been a while,i blanked when i responded,,,thanks Tony

[entodad]

Could be.  
I bought a reworked stock converter a few years ago and put in my turbo 350.  It was a disaster, it was supposed to stall at 3500 rpm, but it went way past 5000 and still didn't hook up right.  Tore up my valve train when the engine over-revved.  
Moral of my story is I will never run a no-name stall converter again.

As far as breaking the bell housing, My first tranny stab back in the 1970's worked that way.  I put the converter in and it wouldn't bolt up to the engine right, so I thought a little pulling with the bell housing bolts would pull it into place...WRONG!  with one crack it popped the entire front of the bell housing from the tranny.....had to buy another tranny.  Now I always make sure that the engine face of the converter is well behind the plane of the mating face of the bell housing.