Hi all, I have what I believe is a 47re trans. question, so I'm a new owner of this truck and I'm admitting I'm more than a little nieve when it comes to transmissions. Anyhow, the truck seems to run pretty good and has a "built" trans. as in shift kit, beefed up torque conv. etc.. The prior owner said you have to kinda power brake it when it's cold or it dies when shifted into gear, said it had something to do with stall or? Well sure enough every time it sits overnight I have to go through the same ritual and then the rest of the day it does fine, idles fine, @750ish? Runs great,shifts great I've tried letting it sit and warm up for quite a while, but no, same thing like torque conv. locked up until it's revved a little in gear. I've tried letting it sit and warm up in neutral, tried pushing t.c.lock up button, no and nope? After going through the ritual I can shift into gear normally without insident. I have receipt for trans work so I decided to give them a call to see if this was in fact "normal" the guy I spoke with said it wasn't and never herd of such a thing! Maybe he's never herd of google? Because I'm coming up with page after page of people asking the same exact question! Some say it's normal some don't, really can't get any consistent answers. The trans shop guy said they don't mess with the stall and told me that they'd have to look at it, but it's like 300mi away, so....

  I really don't want to take to tranny shop if I don't have to, but? Any educated ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's a Cascade S3 converter. Cascade has been out of business for several years now. Not a terrible converter. I used to use them from time to time. They do tend to be on the tight side, but usually worked fairly well.

 

Scanning it will not tell you anything. Even if the TCC solenoid was commanded on, there's no oil at the TCC lockup valve until 2nd gear in a 47RE valve body. Again, the TV stop or TV cable will not have any affect on it.

 

Does the truck stall when put into reverse as well as forward gear?

Hi, yes it will stall in any position other than park or neutral. Once I do that power brake thing, might have to do it several times depending on how cold it is, then it will ide up rpms on its own and operate normally.

Man, that sure sounds like a converter problem. An S3 really shouldn't be doing that, but there may actually be something wrong with it. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen it with the cheaper converters.

So, the only way to know for sure is to try another converter?

 Question; do I just drive it, "it is what it is" or can it potentially take out trans?

I realize maybe an educated guess, but?

Thanks!

Dynamic, just to be clear are you saying $1300 is cheap for a converter, (5yrs ago) or it's cheaply built, or? Either way, do you think it's ok to just live with it? Is there a way to test short of trying a different one?

  Had an interesting conversation with prior owner the other day, (he works with a big maintenance crew up in Alaska) he told me he spoke with some very knowledgeable mechanics up there and they thought it was "sorta" normal, he said he even knew of a couple guys with the same converter with same issue.

He said if I plan on towing with, (I do) then don't swap it and just deal with it. Assuming it's just an inconvenience that's my plan because I love the way it shifts and hooks up otherwise.

 On a side note, I told him how I spoke with freeman creek and how they "never heard of anything like this"  He thought pretty odd too since he clearly remembers discussing with them, so there's that .

 Thanks again for any thoughts!

Well, not being able to drive the truck and feel the way the converter is working, I'm pretty much not in a position to give advice on what to do. I can offer suggestions and share experiences to a point, but I simply don't have enough information to steer you in the right direction. The VP44 is not the greatest fuel system that ever came on a diesel, so I tend to agree with the Alaska guys that it can be somewhat normal, and perhaps a price you pay for lowering the stall speed. I certainly have seen this scenario...many times, and it certainly is a consideration when choosing stall speed.

 

But $1300 for a Cascade S3 torque converter?? Ouch...