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    CFI AOD Linkage Sticking

    Hello All,

    After several weeks of sitting I finally had time to get my 85 Vic out for a long drive. All went well until I got out into the country and had the road to dip into the throttle. After the first time doing that the AOD decided to shift late and hard under light throttle. It also wouldn’t go into overdrive. After a few minutes of thinking my heavy foot grenaded something I was able to pull over and check the throttle body. Turns out the TV rod linkage part of the throttle body is sticking. Seems like it needs some lube as well as a new return spring. The spring looks to have lost its oomph and can’t pull the linkage back after being stretched further than half throttle.

    Can I use any spring as long as the dimensions are close to what’s there now?

    On a side note the firm shifting at light throttle makes me want a shift kit!


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    #2
    I don’t remember a return spring outside of the one in the transmission for the TV rod but it has been a number of years since I saw one, so that could be bad memory.

    Lube it up good on the throttle body and transmission side. If it’s still sticking, then add a spring as long as the TV still moves with the throttle freely and fully.
    1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
    1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings

    GMN Box Panther History
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      #3
      Cool thanks. I’ll spray it down with some lube tomorrow morning before I take it to work. I’ll take a picture of the linkage,too. The spring is on an arm that’s on the bottom side of the TV rod “piece” that’s attached to the throttle body.


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        #4
        There is, and is supposed to be, a return spring at the throttle body. My two CFI cars both suffer this same problem (but oddly my carb car, which uses the exact same setup, does not). I had shortened the spring on one problem car, and the previous owner had substituted a tougher one on the other...neither is really ideal. Pedal effort goes way up which reduces accuracy (you'll find out what I mean if you put a tighter spring on it). However, it is very difficult to free the linkage up. It's a mix of dirt and lack of lubrication. I haven't found a method that has any lasting effect unfortunately. First drive out after sitting for a while always ends up with stuck TV linkage. I've found a quick sharp jab of the throttle tends to make it pop back, sometimes.

        There is also a risk from a tighter spring that you could accelerate the wear on the throttle shaft bore, creating a vacuum leak which is labour-intensive to repair.

        Current driver: Ranger
        Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
        | 88 TC | 91 GM
        Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
        Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
        | Junkyards

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          #5
          I had the similar thing happen to one of my cars. It sat all winter without being used. After spraying the linkage with carb cleaner(I used brake clean) and working the linkage by hand, it loosened up. I have been using ethanol free gas since. It cost about $1. more per gallon. That junk gas with ethanol does bad things to our cars. The older cars run so much better with the good gas. Citgo has it here.

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            #6
            CFI AOD Linkage Sticking

            Thanks guys! I didn’t think about a stronger spring accelerating wear on the throttle shaft...I’ll leave the spring that’s on there alone for now. Cleaning/lubing the linkage this morning made things much better. It didn’t hang up on me on my ride to work. I’ll add this to my springtime taking it out of storage routine.

            Looks like this is the cars way of telling me I need to drive it more! I took it out of storage in May and have only put about 250 miles on it.


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