I have a Dominator AOD tranny (which is NOT electronic). Bought right from the rebuild shop with 2500 stall converter. I have been struggling to get a decent idle while it's in gear with the brake on. My park idle speed needs to be almost 1200 rpm in park to get an idle of around 850 rpm where the engine stumbles and is trying to pull the car forward. I have the TV cable set so that at idle the pressure on the tranny 0 psi and with a test block in place the pressure is 35 psi. I always thought if this is a 2500 torque converter it should NOT lock up until it reaches 2500. Could something else cause it to lock up early ?
Do you have enough base timing in the engine? I had this problem once myself and i had to either make a really short timing curve or lock the timing out.
Really good question! I've been playing with the ignition timing. The motor really wants to run @ around 30-35 degrees BTDC but this seemed too advanced ,so I've been trying to get it tuned so it will run @ around 20 degrees. I'll try advancing the base timing to see if this makes any difference.......THANKS
If it were locking up at idle the engine would die... With a somewhat aggressive cam, 2500 stall isn't nearly enough and yes a 2500 will likely drag the RPMs down 300 from the out of gear setting... The TV cable pressure isn't going to make any difference with the above, just how quick/firm the shifts are... In my T-Bird I always set the cable for max travel at WOT and never worried about the pressure at idle...
was the AOD factory in the T-bird, if so that's how it's set. in an AOD swap, that's another animal, it has to be set different.
OK, I through out the timing light and advanced the timing as far as I could and still get a good hot start( I haven't even checked where I'm at BTDC). The car runs ALOT BETTER. I now idle in park at about 1100 rpm and the in gear ,held with the brake on, it drops to around 900 rpm and it doesn't seem to want to stall. In fact a sudden down shift at about 30 mph will bark the tires if I'm not careful. I'm still working out the details but this helps THANKS !
Thanks Krazy Comet ,I guess I don't really know what to expect with this set-up. All my parts are aftermarket from different vendors. I'm doubting everything I do when it doesn't work the way I think it should.
So why will being in a different vehicle make a difference?? Ford used the AOD with carb in several applications, & I always adj cable for max pressure at WOT(short as possible but not limit throttle opening), worked fine for nine years of street driving and approx 700 drag strip passes... I finally blew the engine but that AOD still shifts fine(has a Trans-Go kit & hardened input) and may well find it's way into my Comet one of these days... The T-Bird will receive a 331 & AOD with Lentech VB and 3500 stall...
