[Christ]

Originally Posted by vlad

If TC was not needed for transmission operation it could be replaced with centrifugal clutch which would be locked at 10-15 km/h. When did you see something like this in car? TC is not usually locked in 1-3 gears. This helps transmission to shift. If I lock my TC at 40km/h I can feel vibrations from engine working near Idle and trying to pull the truck. This is why I set lock point @ 65 km/h.

Also I do need to turn lock off manually sometimes. Here is scenario: I slow down to 60 km/h TC is locked and will be locked until 59 km/h. Suddenly I need to speed up for whatever reason (light changes etc) if I floor my throttle the engine is at low rpm range about 1000 rpm it needs to rev-up to get more power but TC holds it. In this case I just flip the manual switch which is near by.

It /can/ be replaced with a centrifugal clutch, actually. You don't see them because they wouldn't perform the same function that a torque converter does.

A torque converter acts like a clutch in a manual car, allowing slip when necessary to increase engine speed and transmit more power than a locked gear ratio would allow.

That TC's don't typically lock until they're in the final gear is an NVH issue, nothing else. The locking torque converter that comes in the Ford Aspire actually has a centrifugal clutch in it, it locks based on RPM, not vehicle speed. There's nothing electronic about it.