i need to change the detent cable on my rebuilt 700 r4 transmission and i have a few questions, how hard is it to change? what involved? also where did you get your new cable at? prices or specifications? thanks alot

 

Just stumbled across this post in a search for the exact same thing, so I'm bumping it because I need that help too.

 

i did it and it worked out pretty good, it is a real pain but you can do it just have some patience! took me about 25 minutes to get the little hole threaded with the wire (about 5 if it hadn't fallen off the 1st time) and took me almost an hour and a half to put the stupid bolt in, make sure you have the base of the black peice completely level on the trands and you will be fine. also have somebody keep pressure on the wire when you are slipping the black piece down. make sure you route it up to your engine before you install it on the trans. took me about 2 and a half hours for everything, including old one removal and new one install. its not hard at all its just time consuming and hard to get your hand positiond right. PM me if you need any more help, or my yahoo messenger handle is hilfiger_man_03 ill be happy to help with anything you need. good luck!

 

lol a funny story when i bought my car i went to take off with it and take it to my place like 1000 feet up the road and it would shift at all so i just manualy shifted it my self when i got it in the door yard i figuard out the problem it was the tv cable [kick down cable] i went and bought one for it at advanced auto parts for about 15 bucks the old one is all worn out and just falls off the carb when i give it any throttle so eventualy i will be changing it thanx for letting me no how much of a pain in the *** it is but i know it can be done.
i just got done changing the plugs wich was also a pain cause i had to jack the car up and get them from under neath the car.
and wile i was under the i noticed there wasnt very much room at al to get ur hand up in the to change the tranny shift cable at all so i guess i have to quit stalling and just go out and do it.
ill tell yah guys how it goes when i get it done prolly tomorow

 

the only hard part for me was getting the bolt back in, i had to run my arm over the back the the tranny mount and then to the cable and felt all around to make sure it was level with the trans and after i did that it went right it, maybe u can skip what i did and it will take an hour off the time!

 

Yeah, it's real easy, except that it's up in a place that's impossible for a person with bones in their arms to get to... pesky details

 

Well, tim and I did this job today, and it took a while. Tim and I have hands TOO big to fit. LoL. It took us 4 hours and its STILL not done. Well, we got everythig bolted up, and the cable is on the hook, BUT I've got like an extra 1/2 inch of cable!! I KNOW what I ordered and I think Napa delivered the wrong TV cable. If they did I will be pissed since it took 4 hours to do this job. Though it'd only take about 1 hour if we had to do it again.

The cable is hooked up alright, except it seems to be way too long. There is still plenty of tension on the line, and the cable draws back into the black casing, but there is too much slack. I'll let the pic show it.

 

i had a long cable on my car too, i had to rig it up with a tv cable corrector put on backwards, drove like that for about 4 months. so i put the right one on and its like night and day, it shifts sooo much better! i wouldnt trust napa, they always screw you over. call a gm dealer and atleast get the correct part number you need and then make napa get you the right one. before you take it off try to adjust it and see if it will adjust right. i bought my cable from a gm dealer and they had it in that evening and it cost me 18 bucks and its oem and i knew i was gettin the right cable. good luck

 

hey Fruity One,

Are you sure the cable is still connected on the transmission end? Give the end of the cable a tug and if it feels springy its ok and the cable is too long if not the cable came off the hook in the tranny. Usually when the cable is too long the entire length of the cable is to long not just the cable. I installed the cable in 20 minutes but I cheated and dropped the pan and did it. The hardest part was putting the bolt in and pushing the cable into the grommet. All in all a pretty easy job to do.

 

I guess i will chime in now.

What a pain in the *** this job was, but after doing if, it could be done again fairly quickly.

I believe we got the wrong cable from NAPA, the actual metal part of the cable is springy, and will retract into the casing.

At first we thought the trans end had come unhooked, but if that was the case, what would be pulling the wire back in the casing?

Could you explain that better, that may fix his problem.

Thanks

Tim

 

Yep, if you pull the cable and let go it will pull back towards the firewall. We know its stall attached to the tranny, but its like the cable is too long. I'm going to try and take up some slack in the cable and then readjust it. If that fixes it then I'm going to napa and asking for my money back. I'll probably buy one from a GM dealer to make sure I get the right part. Too bad its sunday and the GM dealers are closed. I might have to wait for monday to do this again.

 

a tv cable corrector is a metal piece that bolts to your linkage and it is supposed to improve the shift with an aftermarket carb. if you turn it around then it will make the tv cable pull out farther. you cant set the detent cable though like you normally would, u keep drivin and setting it till you get it how you want it to shift. doesnt work near as well as the correct cable though. do a seach on the net for a tv cable corrector and you should be able to find what you need. i bought mine from sonnax autoparts or somethin like that.

 

I think tomorow I'm going to hit a GM dealer for the absolutely correct TV cable. And then I'm gonna go after Napa's ***. It took Tim and I nearly 4 hours to change this because after we hooked it up the first time we KNEW it didn't look right. Took it for a spin around the block and sure enough it shifted like crap. Parked it and RE-DID the entire job. Still no go. Now we have to do it again with the correct cable and I'm tired of it.

 

your really gunna get mad when napa tells you they wont take it back because you have opend the package! i learned along time ago never to deal with napa. i either go strait to gm or i go to auto-zone because they are the only people around here that know what they are doing and they have alot of original parts adn they dont guess on what will fit.

 

Hey Fruity One,

www.700r4.com has what you need check them out