Thread: Ashcroft Vs Local

Rightyo now, I've had the new TC in for three months, what to report.

I was told by Chris at TCT that they use V8 TC for TD5 auto, larger, better lock up clutch, more oil capacity for better cooling.

I was told by the fitters that they had encountered a problem and it took them time to rectify it to enable the TC to fit in. I don't know what they did, I have asked TCT several times to investigate both for themselves and for my peace of mind but I have had no response. They were great at supplying the TC, all was quick and simple, but they have not been so good afterwards, not that I have a problem I would just have liked some feedback on a potential problem.

I was also told by the fitters (Triumph Rover Spares) that the vehicle would be or would seem slow off the mark, "like it's starting off in second gear" is what I was told.

I feel there are several areas where there is improvement, to me it does not seem to be slow off the mark and being that the TC has a stall speed of around 2200 RPM it is virtually locked when the LUC takes up, that surely must mean there is no load on the clutch, it simple engages so I would expect virtually no wear on the clutch.

The vehicle seems much quieter and when accelerating you get acceleration, not just a revving engine.

Fuel economy doesn't seem to have changed at all, I had expected an improvement but perhaps the fact that the motor is now loaded up rather than running freely has made a difference.

Am I or about the decision to put a special TC in?

Overall I believe it has made for a much better vehicle, if you are going to have a auto overhauled how much is the TC side of it worth, I was told in the vicinity of $1600, the TCT one was about $1200 inc freight to Adelaide, to me a much better option, I am very happy with the difference in the vehicle's drive-ability, I give it thumbs up all the way.

Cheers


Mike

x2 I concur there is an improvement

hmm, from what I've read I thought the V8 TC would not physically fit,, maybe thats what they had to fix,,,
also this --
Importance of fitting Torque convertor correctly.

Yes Pedro that was my understanding, but the info from TCT was that size was what they had used on all their TCs for TD5s in the past.

Time will tell I suppose.

Mike

[QUOTE=Pedro_The_Swift;2201090]hmm, from what I've read I thought the V8 TC would not physically fit,, maybe thats what they had to fix,,,
also this --
Importance of fitting Torque convertor correctly.[/QUOTE]


Primarily the physical fit is based on the flex plate and bolt pattern.
The V8 and TD5 are quite different here.
Both Ashcroft and TCT remove the V8 converter drive ring/feet and weld on a new drive ring with the TD5 pattern.
That is essentially the issue with changing to bigger converter.
But....there are 2 size V8 converters.
The smaller of the V8 converters is the common TD5 upgrade.
Then there is a bigger V8 unit again which requires additional fiddling.
Its all on Ashcrofts website.
I don't know what extra internal stuff goes on between Ashcroft and TCT units.
Both boasting quality parts fitted etc. The stall RPMs and tech specs seem to be the same.

A heavy duty torque converter is desirable on a tuned engine for a few reasons :
1) Lower stall speed, there's little point in having a nice torquey engine if the converter is not transferring the drive and you are revving straight past it. A larger converter will reduce these revs and allow you to take up drive earlier which results in much more relaxed driving. This is by far the biggest advantage of upgrading the converter. Note these reduced revs are not to be confused with lower gear shift points, these stay the same as they are determined by the autobox ECU programming.
2) Less heat generation because of the lower stall speed and reduced 'slip'.
3) The converter has a lock up clutch inside and the smaller one struggles to cope with a stock engine, never mind a tuned one. This clutch can slip as you accelerate when it should be staying locked.
For the Td5 we are able to supply a heavy duty torque converter (T013 HD)...

...

The TD5 came out of the factory with the smaller of the three diameters of ZF converters, this HD converter is a modified medium bodied one made to fit in place of the stock small one.

< Ashcroft Transmissions >

Torque Converter Upgrades
The ZF auto as used in the LandRover vehicles uses three different diameters of torque converter. Small. Medium and Large.



"Small" is used on the 300 Tdi, P38 diesel and the TD5. "Medium" is used on the 3.9, 4.0 and the later 4.6 P38. "Large" is used on the early 4.6 P38"s. Note the large converter can only be used with the stage 2 as it will only fit the 4HP24 front end.

A larger converter is desirable on a tuned engine for a few reasons :

1) Lower stall speed, there's little point in having a nice torquey engine if the converter is not transferring the drive and you are revving straight past it. A larger converter will reduce these revs and allow you to take up drive earlier which results in much more relaxed driving. This is by far the biggest advantage of upgrading the converter. Note these reduced revs are not to be confused with lower gear shift points, these stay the same as they are determined by the autobox ECU programming.

2) Less heat generation because of the lower stall speed and reduced 'slip'.

3) The converter has a lock up clutch inside and the smaller one struggles to cope with a stock engine, never mind a tuned one. This clutch can slip as you accelerate when it should be staying locked. In a TD5 the stock converter is the small one. If you have a stock engine, stick with the stock converter. If the engine has a mild tune then we would recommend upgrading to the medium diameter one, we have sold quite a lot and get very good feedback.

< Ashcroft Transmissions >

For those that haven't seen before, they also offer some upgrades to the internals of the automatic transmission. With their Stage 2 upgrade you can actually fit the largest torque converter up to it...

I had made contact with TCT in late June
3 phone calls over a period of 5 days
Spoke to a gentleman who told me his girl was away
he would get back to me tomorrow,,>>>>Still waiting to this day

Alternatively i rang our local transmision specialists
and they told me to talk to TCE in melbourne
Totally different Story here
was given a complete rundown on what they do to L/R converters and the faults they find with them
all of the internals brazed and a fibre thrust washer replaced with a brass one
stall speed lowered and lockup made a bit lower RPM.
all up cost
$72 freight down
$500 for o/haul >>>12 months warranty
$49 return freight
took 10 days down and back from Wollongong
now that's service that people return to on a regular basis
>>>
>>>
>>>
As for TCT>>>Waiting for them to call back to this day
cheers
Paul

ModelSP,

Just to help me understand...

1. Was the above for the whole transmission reco?
2. Did they put a larger TC in or rework the same?
3. What did you have to do to ship the box?
4. Was your box in good order or was the quote open ended pending on their findings?
5. Did you pull out your transmission yourself, and if so, did you have a hoist/ramp?

I am on the verge of having to do the same.

Thanks
Simon