Throttle Cable (s) ?

pugsy · 05-17-2008, 04:44 PM

I've done the zip tie throttle cable fix, but when down there, I saw another cable that apears to just be hanging there. Not sure if it's an old throttle cable that has broken and no one removed it or if it's supposed to be attached to the accerator pedal. There's 2 groves in the pedal - one has the throttle cable in it (the one that works), and the other grove is empty. Is there supposed to be anything in there?

Also, I attached a pic of the firewall side from under the hood. The gromet on the right is the hood latch, the middle one is the throttle cable, and the one on the left is a wire that runs to the transmission gear selector. The one of the left, I'm not sure if that's the cable that's just hanging there on the inside of the cab. Is a cable supposed to go from the pedal to the transmisssion?

Thanks for the help. The pics explain it a bit better!

Masterd · 05-17-2008, 05:02 PM

Kickdown cable?

pugsy · 05-18-2008, 12:47 AM

what's a kickdown cable?

*Blacksheep Josh* · 05-18-2008, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pugsy

what's a kickdown cable?

lol. i'm wondering this as well

little x · 05-18-2008, 01:22 AM

Connect it up. When you floor it hard the tranny will automatically "kick down" a gear, maybe 2. You'll have a much better shifting tranny with it connected.

pugsy · 05-18-2008, 10:53 AM

There's more then enough slack that if i connect it, it won't be doing anything...that's why I thought it was an old throttle cable. My tranny shifts fine and kicks down a couple gears good when i floor it.

91exploreron37 · 05-18-2008, 08:06 PM

Well its going to kickdown anyway becuase the modulator senses a difference in engine vacuum but with the cable connected it will do it sooner and when its supposed to.

pugsy · 05-19-2008, 12:25 AM

I see. Well, it seems to run fine and shift good as is.

Upon further investigation, the housing for the kickdown cable is all rusted out and broken, that's why there's so much slack, as the wire is supposed to pull on the tab on the tranny but with the lack of the hard housing in place, there's just a loose wire.

To the tranny guru's out there....is it necessary to replace the kickdown cable? I've been driving for God knows how long now without it - will it affect/hurt/stress the tranny more with out it? It's obviosly there for a reason?

Where can you get a replacement and how do you go about replacing it?

Thanks guys!

pugsy · 05-25-2008, 10:48 AM

Well, I picked up a kickdown cable that's in perfect shape at the scrap yard for $10. Installtion was very easy and it just snaps in, no tools needed. Adjustment was straight forward with the adjustment button, as long as you have someone to press the pedal when you hold the adj. button in. Once it's set that way, minor tweaks were necessary to make sure I had full travel of the gas pedal and that when the pedal was pressed to the floor, the piece that cable is attached to on the tranny is pulled to it's full fwd. position.

One thing I noticed after connecting it that didn't happen before was that now when I hold the pedal to the floor (when passing for example), the tranny will hold the lower gear longer or until I let off the gas. Where as before when the cable wasn't connected, it would upshift too early, limiting the power when passing.

All in all, I'm glad I reconnected it.

*CDW6212R* · 05-25-2008, 03:16 PM

Bingo, well done, that's what it was for.

boggs1227 · 05-26-2008, 09:34 AM

hey ....i like yall to know after reading the thread here and reading the past threads of zip tieing the throttle cable fix ( read it but never did it till a few days ago ) and boy let me tell you .....it's almost like driveing a new truck
( lol ) .before when i would head out down the road i would give the gas a 1/4 push and the truck responed well but getting up to final drive maybe took 20 seconds but now i have to be carefull because now i can get into final drive in about 10 seconds

....no more lagging at red lights or trying pull out quicklly into traffic ! for a quick performance mod to do for the explorer this is a breath of fresh air so to speak .

i'm interrested in seeing what happens when i zip tie the other cable ...maybe the truck will shift quicker (not that the transmission is shifting badlly by any means ((just had it rebuilt)) ...we'll see tho !

pugsy · 05-26-2008, 10:25 AM

Boggs...you shouldn't have to zip tie the kickdown cable, there's supposed to be slack in it at rest.

There's a "self adjuster" under the hood (see my pic above). What I did was hold the adjust button in so the unit will "slide", then have someone stab the gas to the floor. This will adjust it properly. You may need to tweak it a bit to give slightly more pull at full throttle though.

There's supposed to be slack in the kickdown cable - as the tension that pulls on the tranny is only needed at full throttle. If you zip tie the kickdown cable like the trottle cable, you'll find that your gas pedal won't go to the floor anymore.

Let me know if you have any questions on it.

boggs1227 · 05-26-2008, 08:11 PM

ahh... did not know that ...thanks ,i think for now i'll just leave that alone.the truck shifts good enough with out doing anything more to it after thinking about it .besides i dont want to screw up my warranty on my transmission just incase anything does happen .

Pdwight · 10-19-2009, 03:50 PM

I know this is an old thread but where is the picture , I need to do this to my 94 Limited

Thanks
Dwight

05-17-2008, 04:44 PM	#1
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	A4LD Tranny Kickdown Cable I've done the zip tie throttle cable fix, but when down there, I saw another cable that apears to just be hanging there. Not sure if it's an old throttle cable that has broken and no one removed it or if it's supposed to be attached to the accerator pedal. There's 2 groves in the pedal - one has the throttle cable in it (the one that works), and the other grove is empty. Is there supposed to be anything in there? Also, I attached a pic of the firewall side from under the hood. The gromet on the right is the hood latch, the middle one is the throttle cable, and the one on the left is a wire that runs to the transmission gear selector. The one of the left, I'm not sure if that's the cable that's just hanging there on the inside of the cab. Is a cable supposed to go from the pedal to the transmisssion? Thanks for the help. The pics explain it a bit better! Last edited by pugsy; 07-23-2008 at 09:46 PM.

05-18-2008, 01:22 AM	#5
little x Wannabe Elite Explorer SW VA '91 XL Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,327 Vehicle Specs	Connect it up. When you floor it hard the tranny will automatically "kick down" a gear, maybe 2. You'll have a much better shifting tranny with it connected. __________________ 2002 Civic EX Coupe - Lowered 1991 Explorer 4x4 - Lifted

05-18-2008, 08:06 PM	#7
91exploreron37 Wannabe Elite Explorer Bartlett Tn 91 Eddie Bauer Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,654 Vehicle Specs	Well its going to kickdown anyway becuase the modulator senses a difference in engine vacuum but with the cable connected it will do it sooner and when its supposed to. __________________ 91 Eddie Bunch 'O' Mods- 35's, winch, gears, blah blah www.southernxplorer.com

05-19-2008, 12:25 AM	#8
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	A4LD Tranny Kickdown Cable I see. Well, it seems to run fine and shift good as is. Upon further investigation, the housing for the kickdown cable is all rusted out and broken, that's why there's so much slack, as the wire is supposed to pull on the tab on the tranny but with the lack of the hard housing in place, there's just a loose wire. To the tranny guru's out there....is it necessary to replace the kickdown cable? I've been driving for God knows how long now without it - will it affect/hurt/stress the tranny more with out it? It's obviosly there for a reason? Where can you get a replacement and how do you go about replacing it? Thanks guys! Last edited by pugsy; 05-19-2008 at 10:03 PM.

05-25-2008, 03:16 PM	#10
CDW6212R Elite Explorer Knoxville, TN 98 Mountaineer A4WD Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,942 Vehicle Specs	Bingo, well done, that's what it was for. __________________ Don 91 Lincoln LSC/SE, 99/93 Explorer Limited 4WD, 98 AWD Mounty with 255/55/18's, big sway bars, and 12.75" x 1.25" rotors. Soon a BW4406, built trans, stereo and interior. The best thing that could help us all, is the Fair Tax Plan. Be American, Buy American (Manufacturer)

05-17-2008, 05:02 PM	#2
Masterd Wannabe Elite Explorer Upland, CA 1993 Explorer Sport Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 765 Vehicle Specs	Kickdown cable?

05-18-2008, 12:47 AM	#3
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	what's a kickdown cable?

05-18-2008, 10:53 AM	#6
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	There's more then enough slack that if i connect it, it won't be doing anything...that's why I thought it was an old throttle cable. My tranny shifts fine and kicks down a couple gears good when i floor it.

05-25-2008, 10:48 AM	#9
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	Well, I picked up a kickdown cable that's in perfect shape at the scrap yard for $10. Installtion was very easy and it just snaps in, no tools needed. Adjustment was straight forward with the adjustment button, as long as you have someone to press the pedal when you hold the adj. button in. Once it's set that way, minor tweaks were necessary to make sure I had full travel of the gas pedal and that when the pedal was pressed to the floor, the piece that cable is attached to on the tranny is pulled to it's full fwd. position. One thing I noticed after connecting it that didn't happen before was that now when I hold the pedal to the floor (when passing for example), the tranny will hold the lower gear longer or until I let off the gas. Where as before when the cable wasn't connected, it would upshift too early, limiting the power when passing. All in all, I'm glad I reconnected it.

05-26-2008, 09:34 AM	#11
boggs1227 Wannabe Elite Explorer Flowery Branch , Georgia, 1994 sport 2wd auto 2005 colorado 2wd 5spd Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,521 Vehicle Specs	hey ....i like yall to know after reading the thread here and reading the past threads of zip tieing the throttle cable fix ( read it but never did it till a few days ago ) and boy let me tell you .....it's almost like driveing a new truck ( lol ) .before when i would head out down the road i would give the gas a 1/4 push and the truck responed well but getting up to final drive maybe took 20 seconds but now i have to be carefull because now i can get into final drive in about 10 seconds ....no more lagging at red lights or trying pull out quicklly into traffic ! for a quick performance mod to do for the explorer this is a breath of fresh air so to speak . i'm interrested in seeing what happens when i zip tie the other cable ...maybe the truck will shift quicker (not that the transmission is shifting badlly by any means ((just had it rebuilt)) ...we'll see tho ! __________________ Scott .

05-26-2008, 10:25 AM	#12
pugsy Wannabe Elite Explorer Toronto, ON '92 XLT 4x4 (4 door) Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 370 Vehicle Specs (Original Poster)	Boggs...you shouldn't have to zip tie the kickdown cable, there's supposed to be slack in it at rest. There's a "self adjuster" under the hood (see my pic above). What I did was hold the adjust button in so the unit will "slide", then have someone stab the gas to the floor. This will adjust it properly. You may need to tweak it a bit to give slightly more pull at full throttle though. There's supposed to be slack in the kickdown cable - as the tension that pulls on the tranny is only needed at full throttle. If you zip tie the kickdown cable like the trottle cable, you'll find that your gas pedal won't go to the floor anymore. Let me know if you have any questions on it.

05-26-2008, 08:11 PM	#13
boggs1227 Wannabe Elite Explorer Flowery Branch , Georgia, 1994 sport 2wd auto 2005 colorado 2wd 5spd Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,521 Vehicle Specs	ahh... did not know that ...thanks ,i think for now i'll just leave that alone.the truck shifts good enough with out doing anything more to it after thinking about it .besides i dont want to screw up my warranty on my transmission just incase anything does happen . __________________ Scott .

10-19-2009, 03:50 PM	#14
Pdwight Wannabe Elite Explorer North West Alabama 94 Limited Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 236 Vehicle Specs	I know this is an old thread but where is the picture , I need to do this to my 94 Limited Thanks Dwight __________________ A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, The sort of house I lived in, or the car I drove, But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child