Technical Info and Troubleshooting for Valve Bodies

The valve body controls the operation modes in an automatic transmission. It is a complex assembly of channels, valves, separator plates, springs, and gaskets.

Tips for maintaining the best possible operation:

• Keeping the entire transmission clean and free from contamination. Replace your filters regularly. In the event of torque converter or other component failure, be sure to disassemble the entire valve body and clean thoroughly. Any amount of debris can cause valves to jam or wear prematurely.
• Always run a transmission cooler or radiator. Excessive heat can cause valve clearances to become too tight or too loose creating wear or leaks.  
• Two piece valve bodies should always be properly torqued to each other and to the transmission case to ensure proper sealing. Check with your valve body manufacturer for correct torque specifications.
• Valve bodies that contain internal pressure regulator springs need replacement over time.  Pressure levels may drop after many cycles of usage (which cause the springs to weaken).

For more powerglide transbrake valve body trouble shooting, check out three of our previous tech posts on this blog: 

• Why is your car moving backward when applying the transbrake in your powerglide? 
• Why is your car moving forward or rolling when applying the transbrake in your powerglide?
• Transbrake solenoid tips and troubleshooting

What We're Known For: BTE Racing Valve Bodies

Continuing our profiles of our signature racing products, this week we are focusing on valve bodies.  BTE manufactures a number of all new billet aluminum valve bodies for powerglide and TH400 transmissions, a new cast powerglide valve body, and we also modify OEM units for high performance usage.

How They Work

Infographic: Torque Converters By the Numbers

What Goes Into the Design and Manufacturing of a BTE Torque Converter?

As we mentioned before, every racing torque converter built today (even the $8,000.00 billet aluminum lock ups used in Pro Mods) has its designs rooted in an OEM torque converter.

The popular 8" torque converter is based on design from Opel that is more than 30 years old, and the popular 10" 258mm and 265mm billet converters are based on designs used by Cadillac for its Northstar series vehicles. 

Using these platforms as a core, we build upgraded component parts that increase strength and modify the torque multiplication and stall speeds. 

How do we do that?

• CNC machined covers or fronts are made from 8620 steel or 6061-T6 aluminum. The higher grade materials increase the strength of the converter and eliminate "ballooning" which can occur when stamped steel front covers are used.  


• The individual fins or blades within the torque converter primary pump and turbine are furnace brazed. This process bonds the metal components together and prevents breaking of the blades.


• The stator assemblies in most OEM converters contain aluminum castings and simple spring based roller clutches. These are upgraded with billet steel stator assemblies with upgraded multi cam sprags, mechanical diodes, or solid spragless slugs.  


• OEM input shaft splines are cut out with CNC precision and new heat treated splines are welded into place.


• The torque converter is reassembled with the upgraded component parts, endplay and runout are checked after welding, and a final balance test using a computer balancer makes sure the torque converter will run without any vibration.


• A final multi point inspection by three specialists ensures the torque converter is built to our racing specifications and is ready for painting and shipment.

Some Prominent Racers Using BTE Torque Converters in Their Cars

While we could go on all day about what makes our torque converters the best in the industry, it’s really our customers that give us the feedback we need to continue improving.

Here are just a handful of the racers that trust BTE with their racing vehicle's torque converter that you may have heard of:

Luke Bogacki

Luke Bogacki, professional drag racer, NHRA World Champion and NHRA Division 7 Super Comp Champion.

Scotty Richardson, drag racing instructor, Schooled By Scotty.

Todd Ewing, owner of Huntsville Engine and drag racer.

Brad Plourd, successful drag racer, multiple NHRA national event champion.

Buddy Ferrell, prominent racer, owner of Ferrell Transmission Service.

Tom Williams, NHRA Division 5 heavy hitter in Top Dragster and Super Comp and respected transmission builder.

Lucas Walker, dominant Kentucky racer and race car builder.

Jamie Hancock, world record holder for drag radial pass, who credits BTE’s torque converter as one of his keys to that 4.093-second pass.

Daniel Rollison, Gulf Coast racer who's won more big money bracket races than most people have fingers and toes.

901 Bad Boyz / GYS Racing, National Grudge Racer of the year from 2013.

Stig Olsson, of Slingshot Racing in Europe, European record holder. 

Jared Pennington, hugely successful footbrake competitor.

Kenny Hubbard, record-setting racer in the popular radial classes, and transmission builder for the Houston area.

Frank Hawley, NHRA World Champion, owner of Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School. 

What We're Known For: BTE Racing Torque Converters

During the course of the next several weeks, we are going to highlight some of our most popular products. We'll show you how they're made, why they stand out and feature some of our favorite racers using these products every weekend in their cars.

We recently gave away a torque converter to Derek Lewis, winner of our first social media Wheel Stand Tournament. There's a reason we chose this BTE product: It's one of our best and most popular items, and most importantly, it really does help people win races. Just ask Jamie Hancock, among others.

What is it and how does it work?
A torque converter multiplies torque and acts as a fluid coupler. It is a complex assembly of stamped, machined and welded steel. (A great beginners guide to the operation can be found here.) In racing and high performance, we rely on the foundations set by the automotive manufacturers. Every race torque converter today and since the beginning has been based on a torque converter originally developed by General Motors, Ford, Toyota, and others.

Car of the Week: Nat Farrar's '72 Chevy Rally Nova

Welcome to our Car of the Week series, where we feature BTE customers and fans, and the cars (and trucks) they love to drive and race. This week, we return to our feature with the runner up in our recent [epic!] Wheel Stand Tournament which took place over several weeks. It was a hard-fought battle, and Nat Farrar of Tullahoma, TN was the second place winner with a massive amount of support. Here’s his story, and his car.

How did you get into drag racing?

Got into bracket racing though a friend back in 1996.

When and where was your first race?

My first race was in Huntsville, AL when George Howard ran the track.

What model/year do you race now?

I have a 1972 Chevy Rally Nova.