I know Tom P mentioned this back awhile ago, but I thought I'd ask anyone who may be able to help out...

This is gonna sound totally ignorant, but I remember Tom P mentioning something about adjusting a TV cable at some point? What is this?? A throttle cable? How do I adjust it? Is it something we normally need to do?

The reason why I ask is because I've noticed with my car, 1 minute I can lay some rubber, and literally within 30 seconds later I can't. Its been this way for awhile now, and I thought the tuneup would allow for some help, but it didn't....any ideas??? Am I losing some punch sometimes maybe because something is out of alignment??

Any help that can be given is greatly appreciated.

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Jason E
'89 Camaro RS 2.8
Medium Grey Metallic/AT/T-tops/all power
Hypertech chip/2 K&N filters/Modded air box
Eclipse CD/Eclipse 100x4 amp/Boston4x6 plates, 6x9 RX 3 ways/ALL Monster's goodies
Alpine Alarm w/ Keyless entry
IROC tailights/t-windows

 

*points at TomP...* this is outta my knowledge sorry

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the tv cable is the cable in a automatic trans that goes from the shifter to the trans

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1987 firebird v6

 

my understanding is that after time the cable can become loose, when this happens it can cause pre-mature shifts in the transmission, Tightining it can restore shifting accuracy. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

uhmm...i think i know this and i think no? the tv only adjusts when the shifter puts the car into a gear, ie ark, neutral, drive... that SHOULDNT have anythin to do with it (unless prolly will prove me wrong like usual...)

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Your "TV" cable or throttle valve cable is connected to the throttle body and to the trans.It is kinda like a "kick down" cable.
With out this cable your trans wouldn't downshift when you floor it.It tells your trans how long to hold the gear and it controls the pressue inside the trans.
On your throttle body you have a throttle cable,cruise cable and TV cable.The tv cable will pass between the top and bottom of your plenum.Look to find the bracket that holds the adjusting housing for the cable.On the TV cable you have a D shaped button(opposite side of bracket)you press in to slide the cable back.Then let go of the button and press you gas pedel down to the floor(engine not running of course)or you can move the throttle itself down as far as it can go.This will cause the cable housing to slide through the adjuster.It is now adjusted.
Tom can probably describe this better then I can though.

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[This message has been edited by Kevin S (edited October 02, 2000).]

 

I herd our cars is self adjusting but there is a spot were u push a somethin in and it resets it then u go and push your gas peddle all the way down with the car off. But were the pin is i dono ive looked for it but cant find it

 

Find the bracket your cable goes through.On the opposite side of that bracket is the adjuster.It is a metal D shaped button that is housed inside of a plastic sleeve.It may be turned to the side but it is right on the backside of this bracket.

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[This message has been edited by Kevin S (edited October 02, 2000).]

 

Try this: Go to your TB of the car with it off yank it alll the way back and let it slap forward, do this twice and go for a ride. I was told to try this once to reset things...

 

Heh, Kevin, you covered it all!

FASTRS, yeah, the cable's self adjusting, the problem is the way it self-adjusts. By pulling the throttle to WOT (or pushing the gas to the floor), it pulls the cable OUT of the housing.

After a while, with all the movement on the gas pedal, that TV cable slowly creeps out of the housing- towards the front of the car. And that's when shifts become earlier & softer, and line pressure drops, and you can burn up the clutches in the trans.

The TV adjuster is right below the plenum on the driver's side. Follow the cables back from your TB's butterfly linkage. One cable will go to the adjuster. Before the cable hits the adjuster, it goes thru a little black circle attached to a black rectangle- this is the piece that you'll slide into the adjuster. The "D" button can be seen by looking at the adjuster from the passenger side. I usually cram a screwdriver in there... there's a little hole in the "D" that the screwdriver "locks into".


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

Thanks for the responses guys!! From what all of you describe, this won't solve the question I had.

Anyone have any other ideas??

 

yeah i was gonna say the cable wasnt his problem.. hrmm does it make a differance if the engine is hot or cold?

 

Engine temp seems to have little to no effect on this.

But I DO know that I can spin them at one point, and literally within 30 seconds on the same road, same engine temp, it won't!! Any ideas??

 

How are you spinning them? With a powerbrake, or just nailing the gas?

What did you replace in your tuneup?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

Just nailing the gas. 2 reasons:

1) Powerbraking is cheating

2) I don't want my rear end or u-joints to die an unwarranted death.

Seriously, I CAN make them spin if I hold the brake until the tach hits 2000 or so, as the right rear breaks traction, then let off the brake and floor it. I don't necessarily consider this power-braking, because they have just begun to spin a bit...but I could be wrong

In the tuneup I replaced regular 7mm wires with 8.8 Accels, and the Platiums with RapidFires. The Accel cap/rotor just came in, but the 1 on the car is fine too (Borg-Warner). The O2 sensor is 20k old, EGR valve and PCV valve fine, everything else in order. I DO have P215/65/HR15 Firehawk GTAs on the car with about 5k miles left on them. But like I said, sometimes they spin, sometimes they don't....any ideas Tom??

 

How 'bout the fuel filter, air filter, trans fluid/filter, rear axle gear oil? The oxy & egr shouldn't be affected, since the computer ignores those at WideOpenThrottle.

Otherwise, I don't know. I was never able to peel out without a powerbrake when I had the P215/65 tires.

Maybe it's because after your first burnout, you've heated up the tires, which means the air inside is hotter, which raises the air pressure inside the tire? An underflated tire will spin as much as an overinflated one.. maybe you're getting to the correct pressure after a burnout? Just a wild thought


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

I did a bunch of stuff about 5k miles ago, including the fuel filter the K&N's, and Mobil 1 rear-end fluid (and a few other, unrelated things.) The tranny fluid has about 10k miles on it, about a year old.

Never thought about the air pressure in the tires!! I gotta say, I am glad that for once someone admits they couldn't spin their 215s without a powerbrake. I see so many guys on here bragging, I thought I had something wrong!! If I can do it 50% of the time, maybe I'm not doing that bad!! Thanks Tom!

 

(grins) No problem, dude. Glad to hear you covered the other parts of the tuneup. How do you like that Mobil 1 rear axle fluid? That's synthetic, right? Does it smell as bad as the dinosaur gear fluid? (Yuk)


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

Honestly Tom, I thought it smelled worse!! It indeed is synthetic, but not bad in price for $8 a bottle. My 78k mile factory fluid smelled like roses compared to that crap

But it was nice to pop the cover off and see PERFECT gears. No metal particles in the fluid floating around. That's the advantage of having a Camaro babied since day 1. Nothing's beat!! I'll be interested to see how long everything lasts