what is the purpose of a stall converter?

[1999transam]

im fairly new to all this stuff as i am almost 19 and i hear people talking about it and im just wondering what exactly it is and what it does and what the benifits are, if there is anyone out there that knows what im talking about your input would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[pajeff02]

It is actually a "torque converter" and it acts as a fluid coupling between the engine output shaft and the transmission input shaft.

[pajeff02]

Check this out: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLoX0z9qoY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLoX0z9qoY[/ame]

[Cutlass]

There also some good information is this Sticky in this section
What stall convertors do

[JayTA98]

Very nice info guys. Thanks.

[1999transam]

okay, so what does it mean if someone says thier car has like a 3200 stall in it then?

[Cutlass]

3200 is the stall speed of the converter. Meaning at 3200 rpm and higher, the converter slip speed is nearly zero. What that means is the engine and transmission input shaft are spinning at nearly the same speed above 3200rpm

Below 3200 is where the magic happens. It like slipping a clutch in a manual transmission from idle to 3200. The stock converter only slips from idle to about 1800 rpm.

[Frost]

The stall also provides tq multiplication in flash. That is one reason why stalled auto's can 60' so hard.