Symptoms: Engine runs and sounds well, transmission seems to not be up to snuff. Upon acceleration it seemed that 1st gear was not being used and the car was working hard to accelerate until higher speeds when it then ran fine and shifted OK.
Treatment #1: Adjusted Kickdown cable to reduce slack (tightened cable). Car seemed to pick up 1st gear and accelerate better, but shifted "hard" into second.
Treatment #2: Adjusted kickdown cable, loosening the cable slightly. Car still seemed to pick up 1st gear and accelerate better, but shifted into 2nd and immediately into 3rd.
Treatment #3: Continued tweaking kickdown cable, and settled on less acceleration from a stop in order to maintain smoother shifting (avoiding hard shifts).
In sum, if I tighten the kickdown cable, I do better in 1st gear, but shift right through 2nd and into 3rd. Perhaps by tightening the cable I am going faster/longer in 1st than normal, thus exceeding the speed for
2nd gear and the car just goes right into 3rd?I don't know if I need a new tranny, or need to get the kickdown cable adjusted better. I followed Hayne's specs - 1mm distance for the crimp to the threaded sheath at idle and ~1.99 - 2.07 inches at full throttle. This did very little, so I began to extend the distance assuming a stretched cable.
Would these be the signs of a worn out tranny? Not engaging 1st gear properly? Shifting through gears?
Thanks!