Was wondering what are the signs that your torque converter is bad? This is for my 1990 f-150, sorry, not mav, but there seems to be a lot of knowledge on this site so there it is.
There are two main concerns. 1. When you first start the truck and drive off, it seems to take a lot more to get it to go down the road. Once warmed up it is much better. 2. Overall performance is definately lacking. For a 351w it seems very doggy. Now, I bought a 1988 f150 new and had it for 16 years before regrettably selling it. It had a 302 and it seemed to me to have twice the get-up-and-go that this 90 351w has. Both are autos and 4x4 xlt shotbeds. The 90 has 117k miles. I have to use much more gas pedal than I think I should have to in order to even keep up with traffic, forget about passing....even mashing the gas its a dog! So that gets me thinking, whats up?
It could be that the stator has failed - that would make it almost not want to move - even at full throttle. If it is slipping then you could have varying amounts of power depending on the amount of slip. Bent or broken fins will let the engine "spin-up" with out moving much while the bad stator wouldn't let the the engine rev in gear. An exhaust pipe that has separated on the inside can close off the exhaust and give almost the same symptoms.
