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Transmission shifts: do they differ from truck to truck?

Old Oct 23, 2006 | 07:13 PM
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Transmission shifts: do they differ from truck to truck?

Yes, I know they do, with the tweakin' of line pressures, band adjustments, and throttle linkage adjustments. My dillema is this: Now that I have 2 1st gens, both in a 93 auto, I tend to compare and adjust to whichever I feel is running best in a certain area. What I like best about my W250 is that going up a grade, if I punch it to WOT, it will kickdown. My D250 won't do that, and when I first picked up my D250 a couple of years ago, I asked about kickdown for the A518 on this site then and it was replied back to me that these trucks do not kickdown. The previous owner of my W250 told me he spent $4,500.00 for a new tranny and with that came a $1,000.00 TC. Do you think the tranny shop might have done something special to allow kickdown, or is this a 4 x 4 only feature? Am I not adjusted properly on my D250 because it doesn't have kickdown? Sorry if I confused you all....please advise.

Oh, yeah, the W250 shifts really firm. It actually won't go into OD until almost 50 mph at WOT from a stop, which I like. My D250 shifts soft, (brand new BD TC installed 8 months ago) and will go into OD at 40 mph from stop to WOT. Does this help with the diagnosing?
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Old Oct 23, 2006 | 08:02 PM
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From: texas
My 89 wont kickdown either.
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Old Oct 23, 2006 | 10:39 PM
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You can adjust that WOT stuff. Check this out.

http://www.dens-site.net/Dodge_CTD/Kickdown_Adjustment/

Den
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Old Oct 24, 2006 | 11:44 PM
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I've done the TPS thing...was hoping for more advice on this matter.
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Old Oct 25, 2006 | 12:03 AM
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Originally Posted by bigragu
Oh, yeah, the W250 shifts really firm. It actually won't go into OD until almost 50 mph at WOT from a stop, which I like. My D250 shifts soft, (brand new BD TC installed 8 months ago) and will go into OD at 40 mph from stop to WOT. Does this help with the diagnosing?
My 92 D250 kickdown worked fine till the TPS crapped out. I haven't found a replacement for a reasonable price, so I'm using the potentiometer replacement fix that's been documented in numerous threads here.

I can adjust the potentiometer and change the shift point where it shifts into OD at WOT. So I believe the TPS does the same thing when it's not screwed up.

It's documented that this potentiometer work-around doesn't allow for kickdown, since it's set at one value and won't show that you have your foot driving the skinny pedal thru the floor.

Where I'm leading with all this is that I think you ought to see a good transmission shop and have them check and reset the bands and valve body pressures to specs. That'll give you sharper, snappier, shifts. Then re-check the kickdown linkage limits. If the TPS is ok and set properly, you'll have kickdown.

Regards, DBF
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Old Oct 25, 2006 | 12:16 AM
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Originally Posted by DBF
My 92 D250 kickdown worked fine till the TPS crapped out. I haven't found a replacement for a reasonable price, so I'm using the potentiometer replacement fix that's been documented in numerous threads here.

I can adjust the potentiometer and change the shift point where it shifts into OD at WOT. So I believe the TPS does the same thing when it's not screwed up.

It's documented that this potentiometer work-around doesn't allow for kickdown, since it's set at one value and won't show that you have your foot driving the skinny pedal thru the floor.

Where I'm leading with all this is that I think you ought to see a good transmission shop and have them check and reset the bands and valve body pressures to specs. That'll give you sharper, snappier, shifts. Then re-check the kickdown linkage limits. If the TPS is ok and set properly, you'll have kickdown.

Regards, DBF
thanks, I'll do that when it comes time to R&R the tranny fluid next. I'm surprised when the shop ( diesel performance shop to boot) installed my BD TC while they were replacing the RMS they didn't tune it up.
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