After removing the transmission from a car, what should you check next regarding the torque converter?

When performing maintenance or repair on an automatic transmission, it's crucial to assess the torque converter after its removal. Measuring and recording the input shaft endplay is vital because it helps to ensure proper alignment and function of the transmission. Excessive endplay can lead to poor transmission performance, abnormal wear, and potentially catastrophic failures due to misalignment of the input shaft.

Examining the input shaft endplay provides insight into the overall health of the transmission. If the endplay is outside the specified range, it can indicate wear in the transmission components or improper assembly. By recording these measurements, you can reference them later for troubleshooting or while reassembling the transmission.

While checking the torque converter is essential, other maintenance tasks such as removing the pump, measuring clutch pack clearances, or inspecting the planetary gear set are not the immediate next steps after removing the transmission. These tasks are also important for a comprehensive transmission rebuild, but they do not focus specifically on the immediate condition of the torque converter and its integration with the input shaft at this stage of the process.