Volvo Maintenance Hints for 7xx/9xx - Bill Garland's Nuclear ...

throttle spindle. To adjust, loosen the cable housing jam nuts until there's plenty of slack in the cable. Pull on the cable, then let it snap
back in. Listen carefully, and you'll hear the cam that the cable is attached to in the automatic transmission click up against its stop. Try this
a few times, so you'll know the sound. Now adjust slack out of the cable, keep testing by pulling and letting go of the cable, always listening
for the click inside the transmission. As you take more and more slack out, there will be a point where you've tightened the cable just
enough so the cam inside the transmission can no longer click up against the stop, because the tightened cable won't let the cam go back
far enough. When you reach this point where you just stop hearing the cam click against its stop, the cable is adjusted properly. [Don
Foster] Loosen the cable to soften the shifts, and shorten (or tighten) the cable to cause the tranny to shift harder and at higher RPMs. Be
sure to keep notes of which way you adjust the cable and by how much so you can restore it to original position if you're unhappy with the
results. "Loosening" the cable means to adjust the cable housing (outer sheath) so the inner core is looser around the throttle spool. This
means adjusting the housing (outer sheath) TOWARD the throttle spool. This has the effect of providing a bit more "slop" in the core, which
is wrapped on the spool. Thus, it becomes looser. If you want to tighten the cable, adjust the cable housing so it backs away from the
throttle spool, effectively pulling the core tighter. Normally you adjust in turns or "flats." A flat is one flat on the hex head where you fit the
wrench, six per full turn.
No More Adjustment Length Left? [Inquiry] At the maximum extension of my kickdown cable, the car's not shifting as soon as it should.
What can I do, now that I've run out of adjustment length? [Response: Justin] Check to see if the cable sheath has come out of the crimped
metal part at the end. On my car, the sheath pulled out of the metal ferrule at the end of the cable. This had the effect of shortening the
kickdown cable by about 2 inches and the car would not shift correctly no matter how far I adjusted it. While you can try re-crimping it, the
solution is likely to be a new cable.
Failure Modes of Kickdown Cable. [Chris Mooney] The kickdown cable can fail due to corrosion or a break in the sheath at either end
(usually due to leaning on it while working on the engine from above). Dirt, dust, grime, sludge, wearing through and fraying, all take their
toll and cause extra resistance. The cable is retracted by a fairly weak spring to prevent excessive resistance at the accelerator pedal - the
downside is that a bit of dirt or a cable housing that's worn through and collapsing on itself will keep the cable from retracting smoothly.
Replacing it is the only sure fix. But try unhooking it and pouring some ATF or synthetic engine oil down the cable into the cable housing,
while you work it back and forth. It'll help a bit. Add this to your regular lubrication routine to keep things loose. [Gary Horneck] I took the
cable end off the throttle linkage and taped a little foil collar/funnel on the end. This way I was able to hold the cable upright and fill the
funnel with tranny fluid. I filled the little funnel several times over a 2 hour period. All that fluid went down the sheath and has freed up the
cable.
Kick-Down Cable Replacement.
Diagnosis. If either end of the cable is cracked, the ferrule is loose, the metal strands under the plastic sheath cover have pulled loose from
the ferrule, or the cable is binding in the sheath, then it needs replacing.
Repair Procedure. Parts are about $100 - $75 for the kickdown cable, $25 for tranny pan gasket
and filter. It's about an 1-1/2 hour job, very messy though as you must drop the tranny pan. You