I've got a 46rh in that I will be rebuilding shortly. It seems when it comes to torque converters there are 2 options: lock-up or non lock-up.

How do I determine which converter I need to get to replace the old one? I do have the old one but haven't looked at it yet.

 

Is this for your truck? If so it should be a 46RE "E" designates electronic where the "H" means hydraulic.

 

Stock has a lockup TC

 

Not for my truck, its for a 1994. Has the 46rh in it.

 

They all had locking torque converters from the factory.

 

Alright cool. Why is a non lockup converter even an option then?

 

That is a very good question, and one that I don't really have an answer for. Maybe for the racing/off-roading crowd? Personally, I don't see any reason at all to use a non-locking t/c.......

 

Ok. I just wasn't sure since the plug on the outside of the case is only a 3 pin connector. Must be for the lock up solenoid? Is there no governor pressure solenoid or sensor?

As you can tell I haven't had a chance to pull the trans apart yet.

 

The RH transmissions are all hydraulically controlled for the first three gears. Your three wires are one power, and then two grounds (going to the PCM) for the TCC, and O/D solenoids. It's a dead simple system, and seems to work fairly well.

They went to electronically controlled in 96, with the change to OBDII. Then you get five more wires for the governor stuff.

 

The first 2 minutes of this video answers this question.

Dave