Question for A/T Experts

[mlkanapi]

I have a '96 Corolla GLi 1.6 A/T. I tried to take up the slack in the cable that leads to the automatic transmission that is somewhat attached to the throttle cable through a wheel like structure.

When there's tension on the throttle cable, there's a corresponding pull on that cable that leads to the transmission. I guess this is where the A/T senses how hard you are accelerating and bases the shifting of the gears. I notice that the A/T shifts to a higher gear sooner when accelerating smoothly.

Am I affecting the shifting time by having tightened this cable? I'm hoping to get better mileage with this experiment

What do you guys think? Any comments?

[afrasay]

Putting a little slack on the cable will only give you a delay in response when you step on the accelerator.

[v6dreamer]

That is a kick down cable causes the transmission to downshift when the gas pedal is pressed almost to the floor, on older cars. This give you better acceleration.It tells the transmission to shift into a lower gear upon half to full throttle acceleration (e.g.passing on the highway). If it's a 4 speed auto :4th to 3rd ; 3rd to 2nd ;2nd to 1st. Most newer vehicles have computer controlled transmissions.

If you are not familiar w/ this.....dont mess w/ it or it gonna cost more gas, perhaps your tranny.

[mlkanapi]

Thank you for your comments.

I have used this procedure before to improve my car's performance. The car feels more responsive when needing to accelerate.

What I'm curious about is aside from the downshifting with hard accelerator pedal pressure, whether a slight release in the accelerator while accelerating slowly and smoothly will cause the gears to shift to a HIGHER gear more quickly when you're at the right speed for normal shifting

I did not overtighten the kick-down cable only take up the slack and probable incereased it's sensitivity to tension..

[mbeige]

The answer depends on the amount of adjustment you made. If you made it really taut, then it will hold the lower gear more, and you have to almost let go of the accelerator to get it to shift up. Therefore you don't want that, because there's a danger your car will accelerate too much and you won't be able to control it in time.

[mlkanapi]

Update on my experiment:

I'm putting back some slack in the A/T kickdown cable. Although I've been enjoying the increased responsiveness of the Corolla, I think I've lost 1km/L in fuel efficiency