Engine RPM's drop and engine stalls when put in gear?

Question

I have a '85 Monte SS with a 400 small bloc and recently had a turbo 350 installed. The vehicle was stalling when put in gear. I have set the idle to 1500 rpm and when its put in gear it drops to about 800. Will a stall converter solve this issue.

It cannot be a vacuum leak because there are only two hoses, a pcv and one to the tranny and both are new.

torque converter and trans are new. Previous trans was a 2004r but it was damaged by the toruqe of the 400 sb

Answer 1

so 85 Monte Carlo SS with what year 400?
what intake manifold.
carb or FI
what exhaust components.
400 is not OEM for this car.
basically you either have a vaccum leak or ignition problem.
can be bad hoses but you replaced those.
bad gaskets on intake manifold / carb / FI.
85 model year should be have an EGR valve. has it been removed? this can cause problems with carbon blockage over time.
check your engine timing. I can't tell you what it should be without known what year the 400 is and how it equipped.
check timing chain
check coil.
check for dead cylinder.
check spark plug wires.
might also check valve adjustment.

putting in a high stall torque converter will only bandage the problem for a short time. it will get worse

Answer 2

Maybe a vacuum leak. Did the old tranny act the same? If it's a tranny issue somethings wrong with the converter. Was it changed? A stock one should work fine. Stall converters are pain on the street. Unless engine is designed for hard launches.

Answer 3

All torque convertors are technically "stall convertors", but when people refer to higher stalls, it means something like a 2000+. What was the stock trans?

I dont think that 800 should be high enough to stall the car, so it seems that your problem is elsewhere. Was the trans new when you put it in?

A friend of mine has a newer SS and goes to www.MonteCarloForum.com . Perhaps they could help you out.

Answer 4

You have a vacuum leak...One of the ways to find a vacuum leak is ...start the engine let it idle...spray WD-40 around all the connections one at a time....when you hear the engine speed up...You have found your leak!
The WD-40 is a better excellerant than gasoilne
when the vacuum sucks it in it speeds the engine up.
Good Luck

Answer 5

do you have a lock-up converter?i got a 88 olds and i have a sensor that works the lock-up converter.if the sensor is bad,then it will make the converter lock up and shut down.it should be screwed into your bell.