Ok..is the TV cable the topmost cable, with the green plastic end attached to the throttle blade? I read something on how to adjust the TV cable but the illustration and description didn't match up with my car. The cable that I just described was nice and tight..hope it's not the TV because then it means that my transmission is just screwed instead of a simple cable adjustment. :P.. I tried to adjust the lower cable..the ugly one with a bunch of beads at the blade end. I don't think it's adjustable..the line doesn't move at all. It's loose to begin with, and when I tug on it or try to push the cable back into its housing, it won't budge... Doesn't sound right to me because as I said, the cable has a lot of slack to begin with, and when I open the throttle, all it does is get more slack and just sag....there's no possible way that whatever that particular cable is for, that it's actually functioning properly... Thanks guys.

 

That lower FUBAR'd cable is the TV Cable. It sounds like the cable came out of its holder or the clips that hold it in are broken. There is a way to adjust it. This is the method recommended by transfixleo on the tranny board...

There is a "D" shaped button on the cable. Push down on the button. While you're holding the button down, have another person push the accelerator to the floor and hold it. Then grab the back of the cable and pull towards the firewall.

 

Are you talking about the D clip holding the one end onto the throttle blade? Because somewhere else I read there's some sort of clip or something to push,etc. at the other end of the cable, but there isn't any.

 

Trace the cable from the TB back.... at some point you're goung to see a large, oddly shaped housing on the cable. That is where the D shaped button that you push on is located

 

I adjusted my TV cable and the tranny shifts fine, but I want to know if I did it right. I released the cable (pushed in the 'D'), then did WOT, then I pushed the black square adjuster thing towards the firewall...is that same as pulling the cable from behind?

 

Sounds like it follows transfixleo's, as long as you were holding the throttle open to WOT as you pushed the adjuster back to the firewall.

The GM service manual says to push the D-button in and slide the adjuster all the way back into the D-button housing. Then you open the throttle to WOT, it'll be hard to open all the way, but as you open it, the TV cable clicks out to a proper adjustment. Transfixleo says this puts a lot of stress on the TV cable, but I've always used this method, no problems here.

Nixon, I'd think the green plastic connection would be the TV cable. They've been green on all the v6's I've seen so far. Did you see the tech article on thirdgen.org, written by a guy who used to come in here, named Scoob? Here's the link, it shows a picture of our v6, and the picture has labels for everything! https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/detent.shtml

What I like to do before I adjust the TV cable is make a little mark where the cable ("C" in the diagram) meets the cable adjuster ("D" in the diagram). I usually use a razor blade to make a little slit in the plastic of the cable end. (I've used white-out too, but it can get messy.) Then I perform the TV cable adjustment. This lets me do two things: 1, it shows me how far the cable was out of adjustment. 2, if the trans suddenly acts like crap, I can put the TV cable back to where it was.

#2 will happen if the trans has been driving on a badly mis-adjusted TV cable for years, and the trans is ready to die. When the cable slides "forward" out of the adjuster, line pressure (fluid pressure) inside the trans is reduced. When you come along years later and adjust the TV cable to it's correct position, the dying trans might not be able to handle the increased line pressure.

Did it once to an old friend's Monte Carlo, with the 200-4R. (Same TV cable.) We went for a ride- oh man, what a ride that was. The trans banged into gear verrry early... like, 1-2 was at 5 mph. The thing didn't want to downshift, sounded really weird, and shifted for no reason. So we went back to my house... my heart was pounding, thinking "oh crap I just blew his trans"... I put the cable back to the pre-adjustment mark I made, and his car acted normal again. 'Course, the whole car had problems, I wasn't surprised the trans was shot, either. He had the carb rebuilt 3 times in a year. He didn't believe me when I said his mechanic probably didn't have a clue on how to rebulid the carb. His mechanic kept telling him "your carb is shot, you need to buy a new one." Hey, whatever, it was his car, and his money.

 

Tom..the upper cable with the green end that pulls OUT with the throttle is the TV cable? Because my really messed up cable is the lower one, with beads on it..I traced the line and it runs into a really ugly box, which someone said was my cruise control box. Might explain why mine DOESNT WORK. :P If the upper cable is my TV cable, then it's perfect...it's tight as hell, no problem there. Although I looked EVERYWHERE where it slides in and I can't find ANYTHING to push in for adjustment..just a black plastic slider on the cable itself that presses against a metal bracket.