I was working on the Fiero continuing in my quest to get it ready for the 25th and I found that the TV cable (or detent cable, or "kickdown" cable since it goes by all those names) is broken around the collar where the bolt holds it onto the transmission.

Here is a pic that I found on the forum of the cable in question:



however where mine is broken it is NOT where it is circled in that pic but it's cracked off where the bolt holds it to the transmission. While this doesn't effect the function of the cable too much, I assume it's not good since the cable housing can shift and leave the hole slightly uncovered possibly leaving a path for dirt to get in or maybe transmission fluid to get out.

How serious is this? Can replacement cables be found anywhere? It seems the part stores (and the FieroStore) only have the cable for the 4 cylinders and this is a V6.

Anyone maybe have an ingenius way of fixing the cable? Something like a reinforcing collar that could go under the bolt and hold everything together??

Help!! The clock is ticking and I need to get this car ready for the approx. 1000 mile round trip to the 25th!

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 07-09-2008).]

I don't know the answer, but I am interested too. I think this cable is commonly called the TV cable. Not too sure what it does or how critical it's adjustment is.

BUMP for you so we can both find out

If the cable is 100% functional and still properly adjusted, and the transmission shifts just fine, then drive it. If the transmission is shifting early, or not at all, then I wouldn't drive it farther then you need to go to get the parts. The TV (thottle Valve) cable if misadjusted can cause the transmission to not apply enough line pressure to the clutches and fry the transmission.

I dont' think having the bolt flange break off the transmission is much of a concern though. The cable is always under a small amount of tension, greatly increasing with throttle, it doesn't have a reason to pop out of the transmission.

From what I remember, (back in the day when I had a 125C) it inserts into the transmission with a seal, so it isn't like its just going to leave a hole if it's a little loose, and fluid will not come out of the hole even if exposed.

The car seems to shift fine, so I think the cable isn't too much out of adjustment (if any). The small part of the collar that slips into the hole on the transmission is completely gone though so it's not providing much of a seal (I can slide the cable housing sideways probably a 1/4" in each direction leaving some of the hole uncovered.)

I did find this part online.....might be a solution, not sure how it works but I may order it anyways and find out:



my hunch is you cut part of the old housing end off and slip it into the repair piece and the repair piece uses a compression nut to hold it onto the old housing.

[This message has been edited by kslish (edited 07-10-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Fierobsessed: If the cable is 100% functional and still properly adjusted, and the transmission shifts just fine, then drive it. If the transmission is shifting early, or not at all, then I wouldn't drive it farther then you need to go to get the parts. The TV (thottle Valve) cable if misadjusted can cause the transmission to not apply enough line pressure to the clutches and fry the transmission.

I am replacing the T125C now. I was going to hook up the TV cable just as it was adjusted as I had no idea how to adjust it. SHould I be concerned it is out of adjustment enough to fry something? As far as shifting, I thought was done automatically in the transmission. Isn't it?

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: I am replacing the T125C now. I was going to hook up the TV cable just as it was adjusted as I had no idea how to adjust it. SHould I be concerned it is out of adjustment enough to fry something? As far as shifting, I thought was done automatically in the transmission. Isn't it?

The transmission does do all the shifting itself. But, it is what I will call, a "hydraulic computer". It has sensors, actuators and a program with tunable settings.

The transmission has two basic sensors to control shifting. One is the Govenor which is a hydraulic valve that spins as the car moves. This tells the trasmission how fast the car is going based on how much fluid it restricts when spinning, it has weights and color coded springs that calibrate this.

Then you have the TV cable, which tells the transmission where to set the shift points based on how hard you are pressing the throttle. This cable more or less controls line pressure, The higher the line pressure, the harder and later the transmission will shift. Lower pressure causes the shifts be early and smooth.

The program for the transmission is all in a plate that goes inside the transmission, the size of the dosens of holes deternines how fast the transmission acts and how the transmission will behave, There are also a ton of little color coded springs inside the transmission that control shift points, line pressure, downshift points ect...

So for example, if you are accelerating lightly from a stop, you may want the transmission to shift at 1800 RPM. If the cable is too tight, the transmission will think you are at a higher throttle, and raise your shift points to perhaps 4000 RPM, then it will slam into the next gear. This isn't something you want the transmission to do when you are just trying to take it easy. But what is worse, is if the cable is loose or disconnected. The transmission doesn't know that you are even pressing the throttle and is shifting at 1500 RPM regardless of how much throttle you are giving it. This wouldn't be a big deal, except the transmission is trying to make the shifts smooth so it applies the clutches slowly to make it a smotth shift. So instead of shifting, the clutches (or brake band) just slip, frying the internals of the transmission. It might feel like its holding first gear, when really second gear is just flat out slipping and burning up. Nothing good can come of this.

There is a bunch more to the transmission but the important thing is to never under estimate the importance of the TV cable and its adjustment.

To adjust the TV cable, you open the throttle all the way, then press the button on the cable adjuster and pull the cable away from the throttle body all the way till it stops. Make sure the throttle is all the way open when doing this. Then release the button.

The whole idea is to have the TV cable bottom out at the same point that the throttlebody hits its wide open stop.

Some say to push the button, and pull the cable all the way out, then open the throttle all the way and it will ratchet itself in. This does work, but it has a tendancy to skip a few teeth past the proper setting, so I do NOT reccomend this method. Especially because a loose cable is a bigger problem then a tight one as I described before.

I hope this all makes more sense now.

Thanks Fierobsessed. I does make better sense. I have worked on almost anything without reservation, but long ago people scared me off of automatic transmissions. I know almost nothing other than bolt it up to the engine and connect the lines.

I will be using your TV cable adjustment technique very soon. Thanks,

quote Originally posted by Fierobsessed: To adjust the TV cable, you open the throttle all the way, then press the button on the cable adjuster and pull the cable away from the throttle body all the way till it stops. Make sure the throttle is all the way open when doing this. Then release the button. The whole idea is to have the TV cable bottom out at the same point that the throttlebody hits its wide open stop. I hope this all makes more sense now.

OK need to make sure:

1- Open throttle and hold all the way open
2- Press the button on the cable adjuster and pull the cable away from the throttle body all the way till it stops

You mean pull the tip end of the cable out as far as possible while depressing the button? Making sure I do all this with the throttle wide open.

[This message has been edited by sjmaye (edited 07-20-2008).]

The jacket of the cable needs to get pulled away from the throttlebody untill it stops. In other words, you want to make the cabke as tight as it can get when the throttle body is all the way open. It's not the easiest thing to do because the button on the adjuster is not easy to press considering it is facing down, and it is difficult to press anyway.

Got it!

You weren't kidding about the push button spring. There is no way I could compress this and do the rest. I used a small c-clamp to hold the button depressed, rotated the throttle to wide open, pulled the cable, and released the button.

Does that do it?

Sounds good to me!