Volvo Repair: trans, automatic gearboxes, larry weaver

Question
I own a 98' Ford Taurus 3.0 V-6 automatic. Today after having my car in for routine transmission maintenance, the transmission mechanic told me my torque converter does not engage. He drove it and said it did not engage. He also said one of my scanned trouble codes said the torque converter was malfunctioning. He said that it was cheaper to just replace the whole transmission. My questions are; Does the car trouble codes also cover transmission problems like sensors or performance problems? Can this really happen? Can it be economically fixed? What will happen if I continue to drive the car with the non-functioning torque converter? The car runs fine to me with no discernable transmission problems. Have you heard this before? How can I tell if my torque converter is not functioning properly? What is the test for this? Please respond. Sincerely, Larry Weaver, Quincy, California


Answer
Hello,
Firstly, I should say that there are some sensors and switches inside the gearbox to check and to give power for some stages.
For example, oil temperature sensor, Shift solenid 1 sensor, gearshift position sensor etc. However, your car is 98 model, so its transmission is not more electronical controlled transmission like today's cars' transmission.

Torque convertor, think about it, it is clutch&driven plate of your transmission. As you know, there is no clutch on the automatic transmissions. But there is torque convertor instead of it. The automatic gearboxes are fluid driven gearboxes, fluid is transmission oil.

If your gearboxes shift gears are okay, and transmission oil quality and level is good, you can feel the problem hard. But an experienced mechanic feels the torque convertor's problem. What is mileage of the car? If it is more than 200 000 kilometres, I do not recommend you only to replace the torque convertor, in my opinion the transmission needs "overhaul".

Regards...