Transmission Question

[keith88]

Hi everybody- New here i just bought a 69 charger from a guy in Michigan and i live in CT was told that it was driving fine the last time they drove the car a few years back although according to them it has been driven a little in that time when i took it down the street it did not shift like it should seems to take to long to get into the gears and kind of lag in between them but they are all there. The car has the lokar throttle and kick down set up on it that i had to re due because it was all wrong and made from a Chevy set up, it now has the correct bracket and set up and i adjusted it so that the kick down is fully engaged at wide open throttle but it still shifts the same. I also made sure that the lever fully retracts when it is not in use. Any ideas on what the problem might be ? is it a adjustment or do you think its a rebuild. It is a 904 automatic.

[ODZKing]

Keith, hopefully someone here can give you an idea of the proper way to adjust. It is a talent, for sure.
However, in the meantime go here and download the service manual.
Section 21 has a great overview and instructions with diagrams.
http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/servicemanuals/1969_Charger_Coronet_Dart_Service_Manual.zip

[keith88]

I just readjusted it ,its a lot better but not quite like i think it should be.

[John_Kunkel]

The problem with the Lokar is that it's generic even when advertised to fit a Mopar because of the different lengths of the transmission lever.

You need to measure the full travel of the carb lever where the cable attaches and then measure the full travel of the transmission lever where the cable attaches; it usually won't be the same so you need to drill a new hole in the transmission lever so that the full travel of both levers is the same. Also, there should be a spring pulling the transmission lever forward.

It isn't necessary for the trans lever to be full back at WOT but be sure that WOT under the hood is the same as WOT at the pedal...misadjusted throttle linkage will prevent the carb from going wide open when the pedal is matted and that, in turn, will prevent the trans lever from going back enough to provide kickdown.

[keith88]

I'm a little confused how will i know where to drill the new hole and how do i measure the cable? Can i mark the cable open it  to WOT than measure the distance on the cable? I have already checked the lever movement and it dose not have a issue going back where it should ,do i still need a spring

[fy469rtse]

Yes install a spring, trans will react differently under operation , I would also do a band adjustment or take it to get done , threads on here on how to do it , change out the fluid and filter at the same time

[Dino]

Any mopar cruises around you?  With the stock setup it's pretty easy to do and if someone can show you how to do this you'll be set!  Where in Mi did you buy it?

[keith88]

No cruises that i am aware of soon.The car was found on the Detroit Craigslist had the guy send photos and a video of the car i bought it and had it shipped to me in CT. Its not bad but has a few more thing than expected to do when it got here. Who ever had it did not know what they were doing on some things this is one of them trying to fix some thing that make me go hummm.  This kickdown issue is one of these things. I could not find any thing close to me at all for what i had to spend.

[keith88]

After doing some online searching looks like the throttle and the kick down lever should open at the same rate from start to WOT. Is this correct?

[John_Kunkel]

Yes, except as I stated above there is no requirement that the trans lever be full back at WOT.

[John_Kunkel]

I'm a little confused how will i know where to drill the new hole and how do i measure the cable? Can i mark the cable open it  to WOT than measure the distance on the cable? I have already checked the lever movement and it dose not have a issue going back where it should ,do i still need a spring

Remove the cable from the carb and measure how far the hole in the throttle lever moves from idle to WOT. Then measure how far the hole in the trans lever moves from full forward to full back. The movement of the trans lever will likely be more than the carb lever so find the spot (inboard of the factory hole) on the trans lever that matches the travel of the carb lever and drill there.

It's unlikely that the trans lever will return to the full forward position without a spring assist.

[keith88]

Don't have a throttle lever...  do you mean  throttle cable, Should i measure the amount of cable? Sorry feeling pretty stupid here.

[c00nhunterjoe]

He means the lever on the side of the transmission that your cable attaches to. The lever on the trans will have more travel in it then the lever on the carb so you have to modify the lever on the trans so the ratio from carb lever to trans lever, via the lokar cable, is the same

[keith88]

I have a bigger problem i cant get WOT thought i did but i dont by at least 1/4' or so. No point playing with that till i get that fixed.

[fy469rtse]

? is the butterflys binding on carby, what stops it opening to W O T, post some photo's so we are looking at your set up , had to do the same recently,

[keith88]

At the moment my throttle cable broke trying to adjust it so i had to order a new one it will be here tomorrow so i should have it back in late day. That being said the issue with WOT is that i could not get enough pull on the cable to open all the way was missing it buy about 1/4"  i even removed the section of rug under the pedal wont really know what i got now until i can put it back together.

[Dino]

Throttle cables come in different lengths.  It sounds like you may have had the wrong one for your setup. 

[keith88]

Its a lokar set up have to cut to fit may have not been right when i got it i will find out by the end of the day when my new one gets here.

[keith88]

Ok i have  WOT and a new cable to boot now to look at the relation in throttle lever to trani lever. Played a little with it but it still is not right.

[keith88]

Measured the travel of the throttle cable came in at 1-3/8 of travel, and the measurement for the kick down was only 1-1/4  but i can adjust the cable more to get  the same amount but than there is no slack and even a little pressure on the kick down cable with no throttle applied at all is this OK?

[keith88]

OK as of today the throttle and the kick down lever seem to be traveling at the same rate ( still not sure its right tho)  It shifts better but still has a lag shifting from 2nd to drive even when i do it manually and most times it seems to shift better from 2nd to drive when i take my foot off the throttle and than it seems to shift. If i put a manual valve body in it would that fix the issue? i had one in the car i had before this and didn't mind it at all. Also dose the trani have to be pulled to do that or just the pan. 

[John_Kunkel]

Try adjusting the cable so that the trans lever isn't as far back for any given throttle setting.

[keith88]

Ended up taking it no my local trani shop and it looking like it wasn't a adjustment might need a rebuild will know more Mon. 

[keith88]

OK got my answers 1st off the kickdown piece in the trani was broke so all the adjusting out side wasn't doing a thing than the trani its self needs work...  it has a shift kit in it but some of the other parts inside need replacement and the converter is bad. Not happy with the guy i bought it from mentioned nothing about all of this of course. $ 1800.00 later i should have what i thought i was buying.
Looks like the registration and the tires will be waiting a bit until i can cough up the money, but at least i will have it to do the other little things that i want to do.

[ODZKing]

Hmm, that is getting to be quite a sizable club around here.   

[66Charger440]

Very frustrating, but you do own a gorgeous 68 Charger.  That's my dream car and has been for more than 30 years.  I hope to own one in the next few years.  Keep on loving her!

[fy469rtse]

Keith we have club reg over here , don't you guys have historical reg , ? Is it cheaper,
Hope that $ 1800.00 is not for transmission build , ? If so shop around , guys having you on , it will be new bands clutches , seals etc , shift kit is already in there,
Want to test your converter your self , go start her up and put our foot on brake in gear and see how high on tacho she will go up to without moving
If he's telling you the converter is bad but so is transmission ? , ok put a new converter in and it should make a huge difference,
Hunt around get a second opinion on trans

[keith88]

I intend to Transfer the registration from the car i sold that is not the expensive part paying the taxes on it is to be able to do that.The car was slipping when trying to move from the beginning.. thought that was a converter issue to start with they took the transmission apart to see what they had inside and found the other issues. As far as the cost the main cost is labor over a grand and some hard parts that need to be replaced. I did look at other possibilities and this was the cheapest way out believe it or not.

[fy469rtse]

Good luck with it Keith , very nice car , just a bump in the road, once this is done you will get to enjoy it, fixing all the little things is half the fun of owning these cars ,
You're got a jump on most owners like me, 4 th year into my build , hasn't hit the road yet , when it does will be the cars first time since 86

[keith88]

Thanks, guess the good news is at least i know the trani will be good. And the shop that is doing it is letting me use there repair plate to take it home on and get a vin check to save me money on having to get a temp plate to do so. Otherwise there would be a tow charge and temp plate added to the cost.

[keith88]

Got the car back from the shop this morning the trani is all fixed 1st time i have gotten to drive it since i bought it , the shop let me use there plate to get it home with. On the way home i was able to do the vin check so know i can transfer my plates and get it registered. Tomorrow might attempt to chance out the distributor to the ready to run hei unit i bought for it.