Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Help with TV cables!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Help with TV cables!

    Well, I think something wrong with my transmission… I was driving around yesterday, and my 1986 Grand Marquis refused to shift into the next gear at around 45mph. Sometimes it seemed to be able to do it on level ground, but on hills, it absolutely refused to.

    Now I’m kind of hoping it’s a problem I can fix…

    I’m looking at the TV cables, and I think I located all three of them. They’re right by the edge of the throttle body/slightly under it, right? I had to take out the air filter to see it properly….

    Now the first one that I can see has a black plastic cover on the end, and a long thing black cover on the wire thing further towards the back. The second (heading towards the center of the car), has an uncovered spring/coil like thing that’s kind of rusted. The third one is more towards the center of the car, and is smaller than the others. I think the last one is the one that your supposed to replace the old crappy plastic bushing with the brass one… the only problem is that I can’t seem to locate the old plastic one… does anyone have a really clear photo of where it’s located in a 1986 Grand Marquis???

    I would take a picture of the area I’m looking at with a digital camera, but I don’t have one…

    I checked the trans fluid as well, and it’s a mildly dark red… looks okay, I guess.

    The car will shift into reverse just fine as well, and will drive fine up until 45mph, then won’t go any faster. The engine will sound weaker when that happens…

    Thank you for your help!
    1986 Mercury Grand Marquis 5.0 LS, named "Ulysses "


    #2
    86 does not have a gromnet.....it has a snap clip

    1986 lincoln towncar signature series. 5.0 HO with thumper performance ported e7 heads, 1.7 roller rockers, warm air intake, 65mm throttle body, 1/2" intake spacer, ported intakes, 3.73 rear with trac lock, 98-02 front brake conversion, 92-97 rear disc conversion, 1" rear swaybar, 1 3/16" front swaybar, 16" wheels and tires, loud ass stereo system, badass cb, best time to date 15.94 at 87 mph. lots of mods in the works 221.8 rwhp 278 rwt
    2006 Lincoln Town Car Signature. Stock for now
    1989 Ford F-250 4x4 much much more to come, sefi converted so far.
    1986 Toyota pickup with LSC wheels and 225/60/16 tires.
    2008 Hyundai Elantra future Revcon toad
    1987 TriBurner and 1986 Alaska stokers keeping me warm. (and some pesky oil heat)

    please be patient, rebuilding an empire!

    Comment


      #3
      THREE TV cables? I think not ....

      Your TV cable will be the one on the throttle lever that pulls out of its housing as the throttle is opened. The stock ones I'm familiar with have a little black plastic slider assembly on the end with a white plastic tab that you can pull out to adjust the cable. The tab will go back into place when the cable is reinstalled.

      According to some sources, the old factory adjustment method was just to adjust it so there's neither slack nor tension on the TV cable with the throttle closed. And obviously, if it's not secured to the throttle lever at all, that's very bad and will probably kill your transmission in fairly short order.


      What speed the car does or doesn't shift into Third or Fourth gear (you didn't specify which gear) may or may not mean much, depending on tire height and gear ratio, existing valvebody or governor modifications, etc.
      2012 Mazda5 Touring | Finally working on the LTD again!

      Comment


        #4
        D'oh! That's what I get for looking at the wrong specs!

        I seem to have located what you were talking about... it has a hell of a lot of slack... so I just mess around with the white plastic tab until I get it to a more neutral posistion?

        Oh, and by the way, it's not getting into 3rd gear...
        1986 Mercury Grand Marquis 5.0 LS, named "Ulysses "

        Comment


          #5
          Does it at least shift into Third, then Fourth when at highway speed (70ish)?
          2012 Mazda5 Touring | Finally working on the LTD again!

          Comment


            #6
            I don't know about that yet... would it be save to even try that if a transmission problem is suspect?
            1986 Mercury Grand Marquis 5.0 LS, named "Ulysses "

            Comment


              #7
              Hard to say. If your only real symptom is that it isn't shifting into Third at 45mph, that may or may not be a cause for concern. I will say that with my 3.27 rear and a completely stock AOD with factory TV adjustment, my wagon used to bump into Fourth at 40-45mph, but with my current setup (shift kit, high RPM governor, slightly tweaked TV pressure), I don't get Third until 45mph in another car with a 3.27 rear, and I don't get Fourth until 55mph. Interesting, anyway.

              If it's shifting 1-2 okay and the cable adjustment checks out (tug on it slightly to make sure it's both attached and freely moving at the tranny end) and there's plenty of tranmission fluid and it looks OK, I'd probably go ahead and drive a bit faster to see where it does shift into Third.


              All that said, I'm not a transmission guy, I'm just a guy who's lived with AODs for several years and played with TV cables a lot. There are a couple of forum members who know a great deal more, so hopefully they'll chime in at some point.
              2012 Mazda5 Touring | Finally working on the LTD again!

              Comment


                #8
                Hrm, I'm absolutely terrified of killing transmissions, so when funky things happen, I'd avoid driving it.

                That said, what was normal behavior before - upshift points, etc., and what exactly does it do now the same, and what does it do now differently? That might help in narrowing down things....
                1987 Ford LTD Crown Victoria 2-door Coupe - perpetually "sort of" for sale...
                Black with Red cloth (velour?) interior.
                Purchased on 10/10/2008, with only 70,386 original miles, and only ONE previous owner.
                Reader's Ride post, First pic with "new" rims, Other pics with "new" rims

                Comment

                Working...
                X