Can I hear my torque convertor?

[BirchyBoy]

I've noticed a secondary sound in my Yukon at low speeds, particularly when I have my camper on the back. When I'm accelerating, albeit slowly, I can hear what I can best describe as a fan noise. It builds up slowly and generally goes away just before the transmission changes to the next gear. There's no discernible drop in RPM's and no lurching/clunking/etc. Would the torque converter make audible noises like that?

Also, I take it pretty easy on the truck when accelerating, generally keeping the RPM's down below 3k. Am I helping anything by doing this, or should I not be afraid to give it more go juice?

 

[SunlitComet]

noise timing does not coincide with tq as you describe it. your fan clutch just might be tightening and loosening to keep control of the coolant temperature. especially when hauling a load. does it maybe sound like that. it won't cause kicking or lurching effects or rpm really as it is not an instant on/off clutch like the freon compressor. this event i describe is very likely even more when you start from a cold engine and push the rpms high. that fan clutch takes a wee bit of time to loosen its grip on the drive system and you will hear a loud howling noise if you push the rpms really high say 4k.

 

[BirchyBoy]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I had wondered if there was a clutch for the fan but I didn't think so.

How about my question about acceleration? Am I helping things last longer by taking it easy, or does it really matter?

 

[SunlitComet]

look just in front of fan for a round object the shaft goes on and bolts on the unit that hold fan on the back side of the clutch. it will have fins on it.