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Replacement of TV cable EDIT: rebuild time

ccarley

ccarley

1/2 ton status
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Aug 29, 2010
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Location
Rohnert Park, CA
I replaced my TV cable with one from LMC over the weekend. The old one, well, was tied to the throttle body with some coat hanger wire, and it would not adjust anymore. The button would not move at all. Figured it was time for a new one.

Installed the new one, and adjusted it according to the directions. Push button, pull housing all the way back, floor it, and it ratchets into place. Cool. No problem.

I guess there needs to be an o-ring where it goes into the transmission? The new one did not have one on it, and the old one was sealed with RTV. And, now shifting is interesting. When cold, it will not leave first for quite some time (seems to rev too high). 25 mph (actual speed, indicated 20) is handled in second, and getting into OD at 50 mph requires completely letting off the throttle for a sec. Seems like it needs to be adjusted a bit more; I didn't have a helper to see if I was hitting WOT when adjusting the cable, I just mashed the pedal to the floor.

Then again, given the condition of the old cable, it could be that this transmission is supposed to shift like this. The PO (who was an excellent mechanic, given the amount of wire nuts I've found) rebuilt the transmission. I'm not sure what they did to it (there was a language barrier as well), but it's possible there is some "kit" in there. Shifting isn't harsh, just seems to run out each gear longer than I'd like. Especially with the Flowmaster Super 40... I bet my neighbors are enjoying the sound of high revs at 6:00am.

I've tried to find this "o-ring" for the cable where it enters the transmission, but haven't had much luck yet. Anyone know about this part? And does this trans sound like it's got some shift kit in it, or am I looking at how it's supposed to act normally?

Thanks,
Clay
 
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I'm no expert, but I'd try setting it again and be absolutely certain and then try again. I know that bad TV setups will burn up trannys.

Also, your rearend gearing can have something to do with it. When I first lifted mine, I put 35s on it with the stock 3.08s. Needless to say, it would run out longer in each gear and OD was almost useless. Based on your speedo readings, you may have the same thing.
 
This cable uses a boot instead of an o-ring, any trans shop should have one of these for you. It sounds like your cable is a touch too tight. Rotate the throttle lever at the carb to wide open throttle with the choke off and check the cable. It should be super tight and fully pulled out but still allow full throttle opening.
 
Cool, I'll take a look at it again today; I was thinking it feels like a click too tight. Just really unsure of what the PO did to the transmission. A buddy of mine (who is a legit trans guy) wants to rebuild it with me one of these days. I'm kind of tired of working on it at the moment though, after doing the head gaskets out front of my house!

At least we're not really experiencing winter weather here yet. IE no pouring rain :)
 
Like Greg said, make sure you fully open the throttle from the TBI NOT the pedal inside the rig.
 
What do you know, I opened the throttle at the TBI and got another click! Shifting is better now!

Thanks guys!
 
you can get the o ring from LMC. $4.95 i believe. The local Chevy dealership did not have it when I went in and the dude said they couldn't get one, I think he was just lazy. So I ordered 3 from LMC since I run 700R4's in 2 vehicles now and soon to be in my third as well.
 
Thanks for the info; I did find the "o-ring" yesterday at Napa auto thankfully. That was quite a pain to get in.

Now the sucky part. After fluid, filter change in the trans, and re-adjusting the cable yet again, I have a feeling the trans got toasted. Seems like that happened awfully quick. 1-2 shift is pretty short, but 2-3 is awfully mushy. Attempting to tighten the TV cable a click doesn't seem to make a difference anymore, and I don't really want to tighten it farther. Seems like the housing is coming out too far, almost coming out of the adjuster.

Man I should have left that hokey old TV cable setup in there, it's been working fine for years!

Happy new year to me, eh?
 
My trans buddy recommended tightening the TV cable some more, and I was about to do that to see if it helps.

But, I see it dumped some more trans fluid on the ground. So aggravated at this truck right now.
 
Greg Ducato said:
This cable uses a boot instead of an o-ring, any trans shop should have one of these for you. It sounds like your cable is a touch too tight. Rotate the throttle lever at the carb to wide open throttle with the choke off and check the cable. It should be super tight and fully pulled out but still allow full throttle opening.
Click to expand...
Did ou get this boot? Or an o-ring to fit od of housing?
 
Yeah, my buddy calls it a "funnel" gasket. Not really an o-ring.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...etent-Kick-Down-Cable/_/R-ATP17154_0131719787

My buddy suggests that the drainback valve is wonky, as it's only dumping when I shut it off.

In any case, man I'm getting tired of working on this thing and don't really feel like pulling the trans right now, especially after just taking care of the head gaskets. So I think I'm just going to take a step away from it for a few days.
 
Is that where the leak is coming from still? Your right those can be a pita to install correctly in the rig.
 
Its possible that its still leaking from there, but I don't even feel like looking at it right now. I'll probably lay take a look on Saturday.
 
I've decided to pull the trans this Saturday. Or get as close to getting it out as possible. Doesn't seem like it should be too hard, but I need a bigger floor jack!

With the old fluid being dark, and the 3-2 downshift always weird (rev up, then catch 2nd and drop down?), I feel the best thing to do is rebuild it now rather than have a bigger failure later, like while camping, or on some other long trip.

My buddy was talking about some Denali parts for the internals, with a 5 pinion gear. I'm not exactly an auto trans guy, but he is and I trust his opinion.

I'm also looking at the TCI adjustable TV cable (since the stock replacement doesn't seem quite right to me) and an auxiliary cooler. How big of a cooler might be the question, but plumbing it so that as it leaves the cooler, the fluid goes back to the radiator cooler, I don't think it will be too much of an issue if it's a little large.

Cooler (depending on how much room I have):
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/60383/10002/-1

TV cable:
http://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/376800/10002/-1
 
Good cooler but I would not suggest that tv cable. There are others available from most trans suppliers that have an end that lends itself well to a variety of applications. The cable you have listed joins in the center by a compression union and it is very easy to kink the cable and ruin it by overtightening. I would also suggest you save your money on the 5 pinion planet sets. They are stronger, yes, but in the 33 years I have been doing this I have not seen a pinion gear fail due to stress. Money would be better spent on improved sprags, clutches, servo, pump, etc.
 
Thanks for the info! I just heard back from my trans buddy, and he's recommending the Lokar cable.

I see your point on the planet gears, I don't think I've heard of one failing either. He is planning on everything else you mention.

I'll make sure to keep everyone updated...
 
Got the trans out this weekend, with the help of my wife and a new Harbor Freight high lifting floor jack. The jack was great by the way, and has a nice T-handle for pulling it around easier.

So, there's a brace bolted to the transfer case. Looks like it should have been attached to the trans mounting bolt near the starter? There is a bolt in the front of the brace, but it was not attached to anything. And, the trans mounting bolt near the starter seems to be snapped off in the block with just a few threads showing.

While it's apart, I'm going to do the rear main seal. Anything I should look for specifically on the flexplate while it's off? At a glance, it looks OK.

There's sand all over everything from the PO. The translator said they would take it to Pismo beach. Sand mixed with ATF now all over the place. Oh yeah, and any bolts that were missing (one from the transfer case for sure) now has the threads full of sand too. I'm going to get the transfer case as clean as possible while it's out, and maybe/ probably replace some U-joints. The front shaft has a little wobble, but I'm not sure what I can do about that without replacement? And dang, that thing feels heavier than the (longer Suburban sized) rear shaft!
 
Got the trans apart with my buddy last night. Glad he knows what he is looking at :)

"What is going on with this"
"Well, the front band is bad, that could be the problem"
"That's strange, usually you have to pry that out"
"This connector shouldn't look like that"
"There's the problem, the 3-4 clutch pack doesn't have the springs and there is 1/8" of play; and they are toast on top of that"
"That bushing shouldn't be popping out like that, and I should not have been able to take it out with my fingers"
"How did this thing drive?"
"These seals were screwed up on installation! How did it hold a gear?"

That's what I remember at least. He says I'm looking at probably $700 in parts, but when we're done it should last a long time :)
 
We finished up putting it together last night.
Beast sunshell
SysKoKal Kit
Alto clutches
More stuff I don't recall right now

All said and done, with no markup, this is $1100 in parts. Including a new torque converter. The instructions for that SysKoKal kit are pretty awesome and have a very detailed "how to setup your TV cable" section; much better than push button, shove the housing back, and open throttle all the way.

Gotta get to work now!
 
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