PULSCAR ANALYSIS — TORQUE CONVERTER COMPLAINTS AND MANUFACTURER DOCUMENTS IN NHTSA'S PUBLIC FILES PulsCar analysis of NHTSA public data, October 2026. License: CC BY 4.0 Attribution: "PulsCar analysis of NHTSA public data, October 2026." Published alongside https://www.pulscar.io/blog/torque-converter-replacement-cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prepared October 2026. Source data: NHTSA public flat files (complaints received 1 January 2015 to 4 October 2026, 782,908 records; manufacturer communications index; recalls index) and documents downloaded from static.nhtsa.gov, one at a time with pauses. 1. Complaints (3,554, all read, each sorted twice) First search: every narrative that matches any of three case-insensitive patterns (exact patterns in the appendix of codebook.txt): the words "torque converter" in common spellings (3,226 complaints); TCC and lock-up wording, such as lock-up clutch, lock-up solenoid, converter clutch, converter shudder (325); and the bare word "converter" or "convertor" in a narrative that also has a transmission word (transmission, transaxle, CVT, shudder, lock-up, slip, shift, gear, stall), where the word does not directly follow catalytic, cat, exhaust or muffler (271 not already matched). Union: 3,532 complaints. Completeness search: before writing, a separate search of the same file, which did not use the first search's wording, tried misspellings of "torque" and "converter" (torc, torch, toque, tourqe, tq, coverter, convertidor and others), abbreviations (T/C, TC clutch), lock-up spellings, "torque clutch", trouble-code wording and NHTSA's own component tag "TORQUE CONVERTER", and read each candidate. It added 22 complaints. 66 complaints that name only a trouble code for the converter clutch, with no converter, TCC or lock-up wording, were set aside, as were shudder complaints that never name the converter. The found_by column says which search found each complaint; matched_by says which pattern. Sorting: the rules (codebook.txt) were written and dated before any complaint was sorted. Every complaint was sorted, from excerpts around the matching words (the whole narrative when no match was found in the excerpt), twice, independently, by the same rules, each time from the rules only and without sight of the other sorting. One category (N not about a torque converter on the owner's own vehicle; T transmission replaced or rebuilt and the converter named; C converter replaced; Q converter diagnosed, recommended, quoted or refused by someone other than the owner, work not stated as done; A converter named but a different remedy applied or tried; O owner names the converter as the cause with no diagnosis or repair stated) and four flags (covered, returned, fluid_first, debris). Agreement, all 3,554: category 3,359 (94.5%); whether the complaint was about a converter at all 3,487 (98.1%); covered 3,535 (99.5%); returned 3,496 (98.4%); fluid_first 3,533 (99.4%); debris 3,466 (97.5%). The 22 added by the completeness search disagreed on one. Every disagreement (340 complaints) was settled under the written tie-break rules R1 to R19 (codebook.txt); rule_applied and resolution record the rule. A consistency pass then checked agreed sortings that a keyword test flagged (420) against the rules and corrected 17. Final: not relevant (N) 362; of the 3,192 relevant: Q 1,499, O 890, C 453, T 227, A 123. Covered by the maker or a warranty 190; came back or persisted after a repair 592; fluid service tried first 190; debris or a failed internal part mentioned 362. Makes among the 3,192: Ford 1,039, Chevrolet 507, Toyota 312, Subaru 300, GMC 241, Honda 220, Nissan 100, Acura 67, Dodge 64, Chrysler 41, and others. Models: Ford Edge 369, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 244, Subaru Outback 210, Toyota Camry 182, Ford Escape 158, Ford Freestar 127, GMC Sierra 1500 106, Ford Explorer 99, Honda Pilot 90, Ford F-150 79. Median reported mileage 90,000 (1,488 complaints give a mileage above 1,000). By year received: 2015 164, 2016 183, 2017 176, 2018 186, 2019 270, 2020 222, 2021 181, 2022 207, 2023 279, 2024 352, 2025 534, 2026 438 (2026 to 4 October). Figures count complaints, not vehicles. 2. Owner-reported amounts (585 figures in 475 complaints) Every dollar figure in the relevant complaints, plus written amounts such as "3k" and "four thousand dollars", was decided under one rule: kept if the owner ties it to converter or transmission work on their own vehicle (the converter, a transmission replacement or rebuild, a transmission part, solenoid or software, a repair not specified, a fluid service, a diagnosis, or a closely tied tow, rental or labor charge) and the narrative says or implies paid, billed, quoted or offered; excluded (293 numbers, listed with reasons in amounts_exclusions in our working files): mileages and other numbers that are not prices, vehicle prices and values, totals that mix unrelated work, lawsuit amounts, repeats of the same figure, and repairs unrelated to the drivetrain. One duplicate complaint (ODI 11683956, a second filing of 11683952) was counted once. 381 figures are quotes, 100 paid, 37 billed, 11 offered, 56 not stated. Each figure was checked against the narrative and sorted into one group by the job the narrative ties it to. Converter replacement: 232 figures, paid or billed 49 (median $2,200, middle half $1,300 to $3,350, $100 to $5,000), quoted 164 (median $3,000, middle half $2,000 to $4,500, $500 to $11,000). Transmission replacement or rebuild: 192 figures; paid or billed 38 (median $4,881); where the description says rebuild or overhaul, paid or billed 15 (median $4,390); replacement, swap, new or remanufactured, paid or billed 18 (median $5,095); replacement quotes 95 (median $6,936). Fluid service: 34 figures, paid or billed 13 (median $500). Diagnosis or inspection: 27 figures, paid or billed 16 (median $165). Shop-estimate prices: none were collected; the guide carries one repair range from our other guides (torque converter, $600 to $1,500), marked in the text. 3. Manufacturer documents (760 distinct, read) First search: every manufacturer communication in NHTSA's index whose summary names the torque converter or its spellings (692 records with converter or lock-up wording), plus shudder or judder bulletins for transmissions and transmission coverage programs; 898 records. Completeness search: a separate search of all 188,586 documents in the index added 51 records (other spellings, abbreviations, "flex lock-up" wording, same-number siblings, converter coverage programs); 92 other records (shudder, judder and cooler-flush bulletins, trouble-code lists, entries with a blank summary) whose summaries never name the converter were left out on purpose, as were 33 first-search shudder records that were not downloaded. Of the 926 records in the documents file, 69 have no PDF on NHTSA; after setting aside 97 exact copies, 760 are distinct documents: 714 from the first search, 46 from the completeness search. Near-identical revisions were read as differences against a copy read in full (264 documents); 496 were read in full, or, for long manuals, the pages that match the converter wording; pages that were only images were read as images, and a few PDFs that NHTSA serves truncated were read as far as they could be opened. Of the 760: 446 direct (the converter, its lock-up clutch, converter shudder or converter replacement is the subject), 73 with a converter step inside another repair, 208 related (shudder, slip or transmission coverage without the converter named, or a code list), 33 not relevant. 592 name the torque converter in their own text. Recalls: NHTSA's recall index was searched for campaigns whose defect, remedy or component involves the torque converter or lock-up; 15 campaigns (12V006, 13V572, 14V182, 15V412, 17V427, 18V390, 18V901, 19V686, 19V831, 20V365, 10V154, 23V156, 23V316, 23V366, 23E056) and 103 files were read. 14V182 (an oil-cooler seal) and the four 2023 fire-truck campaigns, which name lock-up but not the converter, are classed accordingly in documents.csv. Every verbatim quote in the article was checked word for word against the document or complaint text; quotes from image-only pages were checked against a transcription of the page. Coverage status in mid-October 2026 is our computation from the terms printed in each document, not a statement by the manufacturer. Limits: complaints over-represent bad outcomes and expensive repairs; owners report what they were told and what they paid as they understood it; a converter named in a complaint is not proof of what failed; searches of NHTSA's index cannot see bulletins whose summary is blank or whose converter content appears only inside a PDF. Nothing here is a failure rate or a price survey.