I have installed a 1985 AOD in my 1949 Ford F1 Pickup. I have a Holley 600 with Lokar TV Cable setup. I have flipped the shift lever upside down to work with a cable shifter. The first install of this transmission was as I bought it (used). My park didn't work and would not shift out of low. I pulled the transmission and took it to the transmission shop to have it rebuilt and the "no-park" problem fixed. I also had installed a TCI Streetfighter Valve Body. The shift lever was hitting the case preventing it from completely going into park. The lever length was extended and park now works. I have put the transmission back in my truck. Still will not shift from low. I have read a lot of articles here regarding TV Cable adjustment. Everything I see suggests that the TV Cable sensitivity is high and any mis-adjustment could cause damage to the transmission. Why would Ford develop a transmission with this setup rather than sticking with the modulator valve setup?
Any how, I am getting a pressure reading of 35-40psi in Park & Neutral. My TV Cable is currently set with no tension & no slack. When I gas the engine, the pressure will rise accordingly. This tells me the governor is working correctly. I have also read that Lokar's TV Cable transmission side spring is not heavy enough to keep the TV lever at the 0 psi position. I have noticed that after setting the TV Cable location at the carburetor side that it will move forward by a half inch after I start the engine and it is in park.
Do I need to install a helper spring to hold the transmission side lever back to compensate for the weak Lokar spring? Also, are the TV Cable adjustments this sensitive to prevent my transmission from shifting at all?
hi first off im not sure if you valve body is constant presure or not. if it is not than the tv cable is very important for upshifts. you should have no thats 0 psi at idel with no cable spacer gage instaled. then with the spacer you should be in the 35 range, can be a bit lower or higher, but not alot. if you pull on the cable it should rise ocordingly to how you pull it out.i found that with the locar link on the trany with a holley carb the bottem hole is not quite low enough if you straghten out the tab it will be low enough. this would only efect wide open throttle thoug. ok if your following me. if you remove the cable make suer you have 0 psi test drive it. it sould upshift very soon and soft. you can do this on a jack stand.the when it does shift you can garanty that that govenor is fonctioning . otherwise you are just gussing. you see govenor presure is fighting tv presure and if the tv is to high you will not get a shift.
Thanks for the response truck.doctor. My valve body is not constant pressure. I agree with everything you said. That is what I was trying to achieve but couldn't understand why I was getting 35-40 psi at idle. I installed a helper spring on the backside of the TV cable lever at the transmission to make sure it was fully in the rear postition at idle. This dropped my pressure to 0 psi at idle. I then added the Lokar spacer tool at the carburetor and adjusted the stop on the cable until I had 30psi at idle. I then removed the spacer tool to make sure it went back to zero. I then took my truck for a test drive and I could feel it shifting. It was a short ride and will have to take it a little further this weekend. Apparently the return spring on the Lokar cable at the transmission is not strong enough to over come the pressure and hold the TV lever at the 0 psi location at idle. I read an article of someone else having the same problem. Lokar needs to include in their instructions the possibility of having to use a helper spring or they need to increase the strength of their current return spring. I have spent many hours of hard work & frustration trying to figure this problem out.
