I put in my new engine and I am having some shift timing issues. First off I have a Holley Stealth Ram with an Accel 1000cfm (58mm) throttle body and a stock TV cable and bracket. I have adjusted the cable correctly and it just shifts too early. If I tighten the cable a notch or two it shifts good, but as soon as I go WOT it ratchets back and back the crappy shifts. I have had the valve body off and the throttle valve wasn't stuck. I took it apart and cleaned it thouroughly. Still no improvement with my symtoms. I thought that maybe there was a geometry issue with the linkage on the throttle body. I measured it side by side with the stock one and they are the same. Any suggestions or mods?

 

Playing with the TV cable isn't the way to control shift timing. If you want your shifts later, you need to change the governor weights and springs.

 

Doesn't the govoner only control WOT shifts?
It shifts very soft too.

 

From the sound of it you have the wrong TV cable ratio the closest I can describe is at idle the cable should be pulled approx 1/4 inch from rest but at WOT should be maxed if it rachets at WOT and the shifts become soft you have the wrong axsis ratio at the carb or throttle body.

 

I am using the stock bracket, cable and the throttle body has the cable pick up in the same spot the stock one does. How would the axis change?

 

Good point on the axsis with that set up . The only thing I can think of is there is something wrong with the ratchet assembly on the cable itself or the overall length of the cable is to short (wrong cable)

 

This is why I'm pulling my hair out... its the factory stock cable. I looked at the cable mechanism in the trans and even compared it to another on out of another trans and it was identical. Tonight I am going to hook up a pressure gauge and get some readings and see what it looks like.

 

But is the cable new?

 

No, it's original

 

Well since you said you can get it set up to work fine till you floor it and it rachets I would say the ratchet is bad releasingunder presure and not just at the stop, I would replace the cable.

 

I don't think that is it, the rachet mechanism is tight, it just ratchets when the valve is bottomed out and can't pull anymore. It is puzzling.

 

OK here are my pressures:

Min TV @ 1000 RPM
P R N D d 2 1
65 125 65 65 65 220 220

Max TV @ 1000 RPM
P R N D d 2 1
225 260 225 225 225 225 225

This test I pulled the cable manually at 1000 RPM
IDLE 1/3 2/3 FULL
65 130 180 225

To me these pressures look good, but why do my shifts feel like sh*t!

BTW these pressures were taken with the cable adjusted properly.

 

If the Tv cable is fully pushing the valve at WOT then it's set correctly. If the linkage had varied, then I would say the rate is off, but since you didn't change that, it's a tough call. - I remember when we did daniel's hsr that I had to mod the factory cable bracket to make it fit properly. This slight imperfection may have changed the tv cable location.

If your wot shift points are at the correct rpm then you should look into the Sonnax tv cable correction kit. It's under $10. Places a spring on the tv cable thus allowing more tension through part throttle, but allowing spring colapses as you hit WOT, thus not over extending the cable.
If your WOT shift points are incorrect after the cable ratchets out, then you need to play with the governor weights/springs. - The governor plays a roll in shift points at ALL throttle levels.