Jaguar Repair: 1984 Jaguar XJ6 transmission kick down cable

Question
Howard,

  The kick down cable for my 84 XJ6 keeps binding at the throttle end. The inner cable forms a loop and doesn't go back into the sleeve, resulting in my transmission not wanting to go into 3rd gear until I hit about 3000 rpm.  I tried lubing it several times and finally disconnected it from the throttle.  I was wondering if this has any detrimental impact for the transmission other than just not kicking down to 2nd when I floor the pedal ?  Does the transmission need to know the throttle position via this cable to work properly ?  Currently the transmission is shifting well and I like the result.

 Thanks,

 Steve

Answer
Hi Steve,

I am not a auto trans expert but have put a few kick down cables on and what concerns me is your statement of a loop forming at the end. I have never seen any of them that had that much slack in the cable.

First look at your cable to see if there is a crimped on lug on the cable. That crimped on piece of metal is an adjustment point and should be about .010" from the adjustment stud while the throttle is closed.

The cable housing is lined and should not be lubed. If you have replaced the cable, there is a adjustment procedure to go through and the trans pan needs to be off while the adjustment is made. The factory even reccomends that a pressure gauge be installed to make adjustments but I never had to do that.

I have never tried to operate one without the kick down cable but if it shifts ok without it you could always manually shift down a gear if you need to quickly accelerate. But note that the trans does shift down when you slow to make a tight turn.

Let me know,

Howard