Help Locked torque converter?
10-07-2016, 08:11 PM
#1
Registered Member
Thread Starter
Locked torque converter?
2012 G37x 7AT. 58k on the odometer.
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
Last edited by ay37; 10-07-2016 at 08:25 PM.
10-08-2016, 04:34 PM
#2
Good luck with this, are you running square or staggered wheel setup? If you are running different tires front to back at that high speed for prolonged times even a slight difference in front to back diameters (over 1%) may cause damage. I know you are looking at the transmission, but is it possible the transfer case could be contributing to any of this? Just a thought.
10-15-2016, 06:07 PM
#3
Registered Member
Thread Starter
Good luck with this, are you running square or staggered wheel setup? If you are running different tires front to back at that high speed for prolonged times even a slight difference in front to back diameters (over 1%) may cause damage. I know you are looking at the transmission, but is it possible the transfer case could be contributing to any of this? Just a thought.
I am pretty sure I just drive the car too hard lol. Too many launches haha. I'm looking at a level 10 complete transmission unit. I will contact them in the coming week about pricing and configuration. Are they pretty much the best for our platform when it comes to beefed up automatic transmissions? Any other recommendations?
I will require an ECU reflash with a new transmission. I'm curious if this will erase my UpRev tune. If so, then I'll have to revisit the tuner I've been using after a new transmission is in place. I'll keep this post updated when I gain more information. Might help out others down the road.
05-28-2017, 06:29 PM
#4
Registered User
Thanks for the response blnewt. I'm using a square setup. 245/40/19. I'll definitely be changing out my diff fluid during this process as well.
I am pretty sure I just drive the car too hard lol. Too many launches haha. I'm looking at a level 10 complete transmission unit. I will contact them in the coming week about pricing and configuration. Are they pretty much the best for our platform when it comes to beefed up automatic transmissions? Any other recommendations?
I will require an ECU reflash with a new transmission. I'm curious if this will erase my UpRev tune. If so, then I'll have to revisit the tuner I've been using after a new transmission is in place. I'll keep this post updated when I gain more information. Might help out others down the road.
I am pretty sure I just drive the car too hard lol. Too many launches haha. I'm looking at a level 10 complete transmission unit. I will contact them in the coming week about pricing and configuration. Are they pretty much the best for our platform when it comes to beefed up automatic transmissions? Any other recommendations?
I will require an ECU reflash with a new transmission. I'm curious if this will erase my UpRev tune. If so, then I'll have to revisit the tuner I've been using after a new transmission is in place. I'll keep this post updated when I gain more information. Might help out others down the road.
Late bump but i wanted to see how you got your car fixed up.. I'm facing the same issue here...
06-22-2017, 05:44 AM
#5
Thanks for the response blnewt. I'm using a square setup. 245/40/19. I'll definitely be changing out my diff fluid during this process as well.
I am pretty sure I just drive the car too hard lol. Too many launches haha. I'm looking at a level 10 complete transmission unit. I will contact them in the coming week about pricing and configuration. Are they pretty much the best for our platform when it comes to beefed up automatic transmissions? Any other recommendations?
I will require an ECU reflash with a new transmission. I'm curious if this will erase my UpRev tune. If so, then I'll have to revisit the tuner I've been using after a new transmission is in place. I'll keep this post updated when I gain more information. Might help out others down the road.
I am pretty sure I just drive the car too hard lol. Too many launches haha. I'm looking at a level 10 complete transmission unit. I will contact them in the coming week about pricing and configuration. Are they pretty much the best for our platform when it comes to beefed up automatic transmissions? Any other recommendations?
I will require an ECU reflash with a new transmission. I'm curious if this will erase my UpRev tune. If so, then I'll have to revisit the tuner I've been using after a new transmission is in place. I'll keep this post updated when I gain more information. Might help out others down the road.
I'm doing valve body and cooler for sure. On fence about torque converter! Just curious how it worked out for you.
08-05-2017, 01:28 AM
#6
Same issue here. I was wondering what the final was? I drive mine hard. I stupidly stupidly stupidly never dealt with the tranny fluid because when I called at 150K infiniti told me no need to have it serviced that they could do the rear diff front diff and transfer case. My father in law is old school and swears we just need to open it up and add tranny fluid.
04-27-2018, 07:25 AM
#7
2012 G37x 7AT. 58k on the odometer.
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
Didnt notice any issue under launch, just tried coming to a normal stop from 70mph or so after a few mins on highway and it acted like it wanted to die at 20 mph and under coming to a stop.
What I seeing and hearing
-making crazy spinning metallic noise in drive or reverse that is slightly louder than my exhaust (trans has clunked since the day I got it 3 years ago with 20k miles referring to different noise.)
-idle is perfect
-stalls out the moment I move shifter from park or neutral UNLESS I quickly move shifter from park to drive. I don’t give it any gas or anything unless it’s in gear.
-data logged car and no issue noticed by tuner on uprev arc.
-no lights on dash at all. Also turned car on and off few times and checked obd2 with uprev and no issues to be found. Checking with uprev shows some issues that won’t be shown by check engine light. (AFRs/trims are good, no timing fluctuations, throttle body and MAF voltages are stable.)
Car is parked, only drove immediately home after hearing noises.
Wonder what the issue is? Maybe now would be my chance to put in a 2800 stall converter from level 10.
Anybody have estimates of this labor to swap a converter?
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05-09-2018, 08:19 AM
#8
Car randomly when cruising down road (55mph)as smooth as possible just started climbing in rpm slowly to 4K before I noticed. Immediately knew something was off, I let off the gas and only the rpm dropped. Seems like as if you were in neutral coasting. Reverse is no response. Car idles fine.
Car eventually slowed down in traffic and wouldn’t go anywhere, so I got pulled somewhat off to side and called for a flatbed. At this point I’m still in a sketchy spot on road so I keep trying stuff lol turning on and off car, Reving car in drive, etc. Eventually the transmission started to grab and got the car 1/4 mile down road into parking lot safely. Car is currently being looked over and should have an update by end of the day Incase somebody else runs into this.
Car eventually slowed down in traffic and wouldn’t go anywhere, so I got pulled somewhat off to side and called for a flatbed. At this point I’m still in a sketchy spot on road so I keep trying stuff lol turning on and off car, Reving car in drive, etc. Eventually the transmission started to grab and got the car 1/4 mile down road into parking lot safely. Car is currently being looked over and should have an update by end of the day Incase somebody else runs into this.
05-10-2018, 12:24 PM
#10
Im praying it’s the converter. But by no means am I a mechanic, it’s just a guess from what I have been reading. Been wanting to replacing with one from level 10 for a while.
06-11-2020, 06:39 PM
#11
2012 G37x 7AT. 58k on the odometer.
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
3 weeks ago, was doing some "spirited" freeway driving in Mexico ... sustained average speed of 130/140 for ~10 min. After getting off the freeway, the first light i stopped at, the car stalled. Turn it back on, revs fine in park or neutral, but as soon as you throw it into drive or reverse, it wants to stall out. As the car gets hotter, the stalling gets worse in drive. It drives 95% normal at higher RPMs. I say 95% because I drive the car everyday, and I could tell that there was some resistance and not all the power/torque was there even when it drove fine in the higher rpm range. Just a "slightly extra grip" if that makes any sense at all. Anything above 2k seems to drive okay. Anything under that, it starts to surge and wants to stall out.
I haven't tore it down yet, but I had it sent to a local AAMCO shop for diagnosis. The guys at the local AAMCO are damn good at what they do too. Two weeks later, they are still unsure as to what exactly the problem is. The most they could say was that there is both a mechanical failure and an electronics failure. They are seeing "voltage spikes" in all kinds of sensors, and saying that the TCM thinks the engine is running at 65,000 RPM (clearly unrealistic parameters).
I took the car back and will be tearing it down in the near future, but just for the heck of it, I wanted to post up here and see if anyone else experienced similar symptoms. I figured, you never know if someone else out there can relate to this. Searching the forums first, I really only found 2 relevant posts. Both old posts, but both also pointed to both the torque converter and flywheel/flex plate. I checked the tranny fluid and it's pretty much burned up/black. No slippage at all though in the transmission. How involved could a valve body be in this case too? Shifting gears still seems to be smooth.
No forced induction here. Stock engine/trans. The only bolt ons I have is the Motordyne intake manifold, Takeda intake, FI RHFC, and Invidia catback exhaust system. Again, this is an X so it's AWD. I also have an uprev tune.
Just throwing it out there... never know who comes across it and can maybe by chance relate to this. I hope I left somewhat enough of a description. Thank you
Im having the same exact issue! Any update on the fix? I’m hoping it’s tune related but I’m afraid it’s the torque converter.
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JordanG37xs (09-03-2020)
09-03-2020, 01:13 PM
#12
Same issue as OP any Answer or car still parked ?
pls help lol
09-03-2020, 03:06 PM
#13
sounds like a TQ convertor... mine just took a crap..starts up fine soon but as i put in gear with foot on brake car dies same with reverse..
car will be towed to Calif now when my twin turbo kit is ready.. ill be upgrading the transmission with upgraded clutches and built TQ Convertor
car will be towed to Calif now when my twin turbo kit is ready.. ill be upgrading the transmission with upgraded clutches and built TQ Convertor
09-04-2020, 08:59 AM
#14
sounds like a TQ convertor... mine just took a crap..starts up fine soon but as i put in gear with foot on brake car dies same with reverse..
car will be towed to Calif now when my twin turbo kit is ready.. ill be upgrading the transmission with upgraded clutches and built TQ Convertor
car will be towed to Calif now when my twin turbo kit is ready.. ill be upgrading the transmission with upgraded clutches and built TQ Convertor
<<UPDATE>>
The dealer replaced my oem torque converter with the bulletproof 500hp one from Level10 and the car drives beautifully. They also did fresh fluids with the change so I'm not ruling out fluid level or dirty fluid, that may have contributed to my issue but regardless the new TQ converter set me right on my way. 10/10 again ! Good luck everyone with solving their problems !!
Last edited by JordanG37xs; 09-30-2020 at 06:13 PM.
09-05-2020, 01:37 AM
#15
i think mine has been acting up for the last 8 years and just within the past few months has really gotten worse..when the transmission gets built i will also be putting in a built TQ convertor when i go boosted.. ****ty thing is now i have to tow my car to Cali instead of driving it..
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JordanG37xs (09-30-2020)
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