Tranny kickdown disconnect

[J-440]

 Been doing some testing and tuning and my tranny won't shift out of first.  If I disconnect the kickdown cable, will the tranny start shifting on its own or does this cable need to be adjusted and connected?  I mean the only function of this cable is for passing right?  Just trying the process of elimination because I sure as hell don't want to yank the transmission out of the car.  Thanks again.

[myk]

You have to run with the kick down linkage in place.  I'm not exactly sure how or why, but without the setup, the transmission will get damaged rather quickly; something about line pressures or something...

[J-440]

 Yeah I heard that from a GM buddy of mine as well.  He said it was a pretty important part of the tranny.  Ok, guess I had the cable adjusted wrong.  Thanks.

[John_Kunkel]

If you're having shifting problems you can disconnect the cable temporarily for troubleshooting purposes but don't lean on it too hard. The linkage/cable adjusts the internal pressures according to the throttle position, when it's disconnected the pressure stays low and slippage occurs.

If you have a Lokar cable and it's adjusted according to the instructions, it's not uncommon to get late or no upshifts.

[J-440]

 Hey John, yeah it's a Lokar cable.  And I just want to see if it will shift into 2nd with it disconnected.  Just driving through the neighborhood is all. 

[Ryan.C]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY9WTWayCC8

The above video is good info! 

[myk]

Time for a full manual valve body?

[J-440]

 Ryan, good video man!!  I hope it's not time for a new valve body, everything's dang near new. 

[John_Kunkel]

OK, everybody here knows I hate the Lokar cable setup so here's my standard spiel:

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.

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 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.

[J-440]

 Thanks again John, gonna get to it this weekend.

[fy469rtse]

yep johns the man , couldn't get the right amount of travel with the lokar ,
but his advice always a great help ,
just in case I didn't say thanks back when I was having trouble