TV cable resistance and travel

[cutluse231]

Still working with my long delayed 1st shift change have let off the gas to get to shift.
You guys had a couple of web sites listed recently about the the geometry of the TV cable set up.
Listed different angles and travel for it to work properly, and also it was stated that the TV cable had to be Piano wire tight at wide open throttle.
What I need to know is how do you know when the TV cable is all the way out ? does it slowly get harder and harder to pull out?
And does it need to be tight when at idle?
This symptom with the long delayed 1st shift and having to let off the gas to shift also occured while the trans was in my GN it happened the day I blew my eng ( lotsa RPMS no shift) then heard my eng rattling.
Worked fine before then, of course now with this set up, it's more amplified.
Now my thoughts are leaning towards removing my engineered set up off the carb and welding on a throttle rod linkage plate off my 2bbl carb that was on my N/A V-6, that gives me also the hook up for cruise control and the TV cable and the Throttle cable
Any Ideas Am I traveling down the wrong road? WOuld love to have it running to go to the MIDWEST BUICK CHALLANGE
Help!!!
thanks

 

[MeanBuicks]

The wise thing to do would be to remove your transmission pan so that you can get a visual indicator of what is actually going on down there. That way, when you make changes to your setup, you'll be able to see if the TV plunger is being properly positioned. At idle position, you'll want to see minimal contact with the plunger and at WOT the plunger should go flush with the valve body.

 

[HOTTOGO]

As Greg said the very best way to know for sure is to have the pan off and see it actually go through the movement. The only other way to know if you have reached max tv plunger travel with the cable is when it ratchets the adjuster out, when you have it adjusted all the way back towards firewall (reset) and open the throttle to WOT it should ratchet out at some point due to the fact that it has bottomed out the plunger (Max TV) travel (piano tight). Also at idle there should be some tension but not tight.

 

[Scott231]

Here is the long, full explanation.

The TV cable is attached, inside the tranny pan to a plunger - a rotating arm/piece whose bracket is attached to the valve body with one of the valve body mounting bolts. The plunger pushes in the actual Throttle Valve into the valve body, increasing the line pressure as it is depressed. To see how it works, you must pull the pan (as others have noted) or have a trans service maual.

At idle, you need to make sure that the plunger is at least making contact with the Throttle Valve (a long piston-like thingie with a spring behind it inside the valve body - you can push it in with your finger). The point is to have the cable tight enough such that the TV is moving even with light throttle pedal movement.

At WOT, it is imperitive that the TV cable fully actuates the plunger such that the Throttle valve itself is fully "pushed in" to the valve body. This increases the line pressure to its maximum causing shifts to be later (higher RPM) and harder (the increased pressure causes the other valves & pistons to acuate faster making for faster, crisper shifts).

An accepted practice of how-to adjust the cable is listed at http://www.gnttype.org in the tranny tech area.

However, if you drivetrain is breaking your neck at the 2-3 shift and the 1-2 is sloppy or non-existent, you could have a stuck valve (not the TV) or piston or wasted 2nd gear band or ???