Late Shifting?

[Sabot15]

I've got a very high miles '87 WE4 that is in remarkably good (unrestored) condition. It is 100% original, and its been sitting in storage for the past 15 years. It probably gets 100 miles driven on it each year.

I've got two transmission questions with the vehicle. First, from the day I bought the car (with those high miles), it always shifted extremly hard going from first to second. Under normal driving, it would knock you back a little bit unless you let off the gas just as it shifts. If you are on it hard, its guaranteed to chirp the tires. Is this normal for these cars, or is there a problem with the tranny or its adjustment?

The second issue is more concerning. Recently I took the car out and I noticed that its shifting very late (or not at all) under WOT conditions. The engine litterally reved up to the point that I heard pinging. I let off, and I don't think I did any permenant damage. The car gets into all the gears smoothly and without any slipping under normal conditions. It just doesn't like it when I step on it.

I know my way around the car, but transmissions have always been a weak spot for me. If you can share your experiences, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thankyou!

 

[bmackinnon]

Sounds like the TV cable is just adjusted too tight.... somebody probably tightened it up to harden the shifts but didn't know what they were doing.... the proper/factory way to adjust it is to release the tension at the adjuster near the throttle linkage, then simply floor the gas pedal (hard, floor mat removed), which will ratchet the cable into the factory OEM adjusted position. Most of us will then adjust it one, maybe two 'clicks' tighter (cable sheath towards front of car) to firm up the shifts. Adjusted correctly, it will shift very nice and clean at low throttle positions , and bark the tires hard at the wot 1-2 shift. If it's too tight, it will shift extremely hard, and late or not at all... as you described...

here's a little more detailed info: TV Cable System

don't be confused by the link title...lol... it's the procedure from gnttype.org

HTH..

 

[Sabot15]

Thanks for the quick (and encouraging) reply. I will give it a try and post an update!

 

[Sabot15]

It couldn't have been further out of adjustment.... whoever set it up had it PAST the notches. It works like a charm now.... Thanks again!

 

[bmackinnon]

Great! That was an easy one! :wink: Welcome to the board! If you are new to these cars, you should do ALOT of reading here and at Turbo Regal Web Site. These cars are great, but they do need some unique care and knowledge to keep them at their best... the pinging you referred to is _not_good.... do you have a scanmaster or other scan tool to monitor for knock?

 

[Sabot15]

No not yet. I had wanted to get one that directly hooked up to a laptop for realtime data output. I looked into them a bit last year, but I really wasnt sure which one to get. From what I read, they all had a somewhat slow refresh rate due to the computer in the car being a bit outdated. I agree though, I need to just buy one and see what I can learn.

Thanks again!

 

[bmackinnon]

Powerlogger is the ticket if you want to log/view on a laptop... available from Full Throttle Speed.... some sort of scan tool is an absolute necessity... I run DirectScan on an old laptop, and it's fast (50+ frames/sec), but is outdated in that it only runs on win98 and earlier... I don't have a scanmaster either, but, while slow, they are mighty handy and are always in the car for viewing..... either/or should be your very next investment... as well as a fuel pressure gage that can be viewed while driving (even if temporarily taped to the windshield) so you can absolutely verify your fuel pressure/fuel pump performance. Any degradation of the fuel delivery system which causes the car to go lean can be instantly devastating and result in blown headgaskets or worse....