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Shifting problems?

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I'm new to the TDR, but not to the CTD. My first CTD was a 90 With a 5-spd 280k miles all stock without a problem. The new truck is a 91 auto trans also stock. Not sure if it's just me but this truck doesn't seem to shift right. ie, making a left hand turn from a dead stop, after making the turn and accelerating there is nothing there, have to go WOT and there still is no power until the turbo spools up. Rolling starts at stop lights are just as bad from a 10mph rolling start there is nothing, seems as though the transmission has never shifted out of third gear. Being as most of my driving is currently done in the city it's really annoying. Supposedly the dealer I bought the truck from changed the fluids and adj the bands on the truck before I bought it. Is this normal shifting for a Auto? If not what can I do to fix it? If it is how hard is a swap to a 5-spd?

Thanks in advance



Tom



P. S. not trying to start something just looking for honest info!!
 
I think your kick down cable needs adjusted. We need to know your upshift points with a very light throttle start. Mine shifts at 12 mph to second and 18 mph to third with light throttle acceleration.



I can feel mine downshifting when I am slowing down. At 10 mph mine will have downshifted into second. With out much throttle application it would downshift to first.





Is this truck a intercooled model or a nonintercooled? If it is non intercooled it will have a 727 three speed trans. The intercooled will have a A518.
 
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I have the A518 trany, with light throttle my shift points for upshift are 12 and 20 mph. Tried to pay attention to the downshift points, but I couldn't feel or hear them.



At 10 mph most of the time (99%) mine won't down shift even with WOT, the other 1% I can feel it downshift twice.



I'll check the kickdown tonight when I get up.



Thanks



Tom
 
Well, couldn't wait til tonite, got home this morning and adj. the kickdown and checked the rest of the linkage as well. The kickdown was slightly out about 4mm, on the test drive there was no change. Any other ideas? Wife says I'm just looking to spend money on the truck, but I have a whole other shopping list for that that she hasn't seen yet. :D :D



Tom
 
Well I took another look at my kickdown linkage tonight, There was a extra spring attached at the fuel control connected to the kickdown. I removed the spring readjusted the linkage the right way this time, now the truck downshifts, but my upshift points are 27mph 1-2 and 37-40mph 2-3. The 1-2 upshift hesitates for about 3 seconds then shifts hard! When the dealer adj the bands with the kickdown adj wrong could that have thrown the other adj out that they did? Keep in mind, I'm a fairly decent shadetree, but I've never messed with an automatic before.



Thanks



Tom
 
The bands have their own adjustments. The adjustment of the kick down linkage has nothing to do with it.



You need to back off the adjustment on the kick down cable a little. That is why you have delayed the shifts to a higher speed. 1 to 2 shift should fall around 8 to 12 mph. 2 to 3 should be around 15 to 20 mph range.



You can play with this setting and taylor the trans shifting to your needs to some extent. Do not ever unhook the kickdown linkage on a Dodge auto. Unless you want to rebuild it within a week.
 
Philip, The shop manual says to adj. the cable to within like 4. 5mm of the rod at the fuel control, don't remember exactly off the top of my head, the closest I could get it was maybe about 7mm. I do have one other question about that, on the transmission, the actual kickdown lever on the trans when you push it full back only springs forward halfway, is this right or should it come forward full travel? The way the linkage was rigged before with spring attached it would have been pulled full forward, the transmission upshifted fine, but would not down shift. :confused:

Philip thanks for your help it's GREATLY appreciated!

Tom
 
The initial starting point for the kickdown linkage spacing is . 018" or eighteen thousandths.

That should give you a decent starting point. It did on mine... in fact you can use a 1/8" drill bit shank for this.



Philip is dead on too... you must have that spring on the throttle vavle cable, it is important. He is also right that without it, you'll be calling a transmission Guru in a short time... .



If the dealer did a service then go back, ask them to set your idle line pressure to about 58-59 psi (nearing the upper end of the acceptable range), and your WOT line pressure to about 100-110 psi (double check that one to be sure. ) either way, you WANT it to be at the 3/4-7/8 of "acceptable range".

This will give you a firmer engagement at idle, and a little more line pressure when pushing it a bit so you don't have more slippage on the bands.



You can also check your TPS settings while you're under the hood.

Here is the file I've compiled to get your TPS set up with an initial starting point. (TPS controls ONLY the 3-4, 4-3 shift.

Check and note your current readings before you change anything though, you want to know were you started from.



>> TPS ADJUSTMENT... .



The TPS has a 3 wire connector on the top, engine side.

The center wire is orange (with some sort of stripe) I believe.

Under the TPS body, is a shaft that protrudes downward. The shaft has a hex head end that fits into a 'female' hex socket.

This shaft is lightly spring loaded. When the hex headed bolt end is pulled upwards on removal the head/shaft may 'snap rotate' an 1/8 turn or so, so watch it as it comes out since it needs to go back in the same position. ( Removal of the TPS happens when you want to access the inside of the AFC housing to adjust the diaphram or starwheel. ) Just be sure to take a preliminary reading off the TPS before you remove it if that is part of the job your doing. (Like when taking the top off the injection pump)

Right near the top of the shaft were it first comes out of the TPS body, are two "flats" were you put your open end wrench to adjust.



You'll need a DC Voltmeter, as safety pin, or paperclip with the end slightly sharpened, and a combo wrench. I think its a 10mm.

Slip the safety pin or paperclip into the 'socket' part were the center wire comes out of until it makes connection with the metal jacket inside.

Connect the "+" probe of your DCVM to this.

Connect the "-" probe of your voltmeter to the "-" terminal on the battery (it's just convenient)

Turn on the Ign. key (do not start truck) and check the "at rest voltage".

It should range between . 6 VDC and 1. 20 VDC. (make a note of the reading for reference. )

Next, slowly cycle the throttle smoothly to WOT then back to "at rest" and watch the meter.

It (the needle) should increase smoothly up and down with no jumps or spasms/twitching.

If it does, the TPS is still working ok, if not you've got a dirty one or its failing.

I believe the total increase (above "at rest voltage") should be about 2. 75 VDC.



Now, you need to go back to that shaft coming out from under the TPS.

Use the wrench to adjust the voltage SLIGHTLY!

Start with + . 2 VDC to begin with (to delay 3-4 shift a bit) OR -. 20vdc (to have 3-4 happen earlier. )

Increasing voltage will cause the 3-4 shift to happen LATER.

Decreasing voltage causes the shift to happen sooner.



I found that there was a point were the shift happened later, but also tended to cause the downshift (4-3) to be a bit touchy too, so you need to adjust a BIT and drive each time.

When you do your test drive try to use the same throttle pressure/RPM for each, that way you'll know what effect you had with the adjustment. I did a "medium" throttle (1600 RPM) and a WOT test each time.

Before I had the transmission work done mine ran just fine at about . 7 VDC ~ . 8 VDC "at rest".

Last thing to ckeck... make sure that your TV cable returns properly. The lever on the trans. case should move all the way forward with the truck off/idle. I had to add a "universal" throttle spring to be sure that happened, otherwise the line pressure(s) at idle are already increased above what they are supposed to be at idle and you may have harsh engagement when shifting from "P" or "N" into "D" or "R".

In the event you need to remove the top TPS body itself remove the two screws holding it down. Carefully lift it up and note that underneath there is a plastic slot and key type indexing. Once the TPS body is off you can turn it over and spray electrical contact cleaner into it, working it back and forth. The use some gentle compressed air to dry out the spray cleaner (it evaporates pretty quickly). Once done, re-install it and try the re-set procedure again and watch your dcv meter for smooth movement.

You can find some good pics of this thing in my 'Readers Rigs" gallery under VE Gallery label.

Hope this helps you if you need to work on the dreaded TPS.



Bob. aka: BushWakr
 
I guess the third time really is a charm. I redid the adj again, finally got everything right. On the home home this morning the trans shifted without any problems, both up and down.



Thank you Philip and Bob for all your help!



Tom
 
Each truck is different. Some you can set up by the manual and it will work to perfectly. Others you have to fudge the settings to get it to work the way you want. Glad to hear you got it dialed in now.



My TPS is set for . 80 volts at idle.
 
My '92 won't shift into overdrive at WOT. Will run at WOT [about60mph] untill I back out of it a bit, hammer down and away we go!!!!! While driving in town at light throttle aplication, I get overdrive at 30mph. My truck always seems to take off like a rocket with NO hesitation at any speed or gear. I'm sure it's stock turbo still. I just changed fluid/filter,type3,but maybe I need to check things too. Scott
 
Greenleaf



You might want to check your setting. Mine goes into OD at 65 mph at full throttle. I do not have to lift off the pedal at all.



I have been think about working on my settings some. I want it to go into OD around 75 or so when I am at WOT.
 
Took old DODGE for a test run:)after checking my settings and adjusting TPS. Best I could tell; was 1. 2dcv at rest,2. 1dcv at WOT. Now . 8dcv at rest and 1. 7 at WOT. Shifting to OD about 70mph

Thank-you!

Scott [Greenleaf]
 
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