Automatic tranny problems

My wife just bought me a 1990 sc and it has a little tranny problem. When I am in park it will shift into any of the gears, but it won't shift into third when in drive or overdrive. If I start in drive and bump it up into overdrive it jumps into neutral. The guy that sold the car to us said that it was fine until he started "messing with some wires by the throtle linkage." If anyone can point me in the right direction with this problem it would be a big help. This is my first time dealing with tranny problems.

Jay

He might have messed with the TV cable. If its out of ajustment it could have fried the trans. Do a search under TV cable to find out how to ajust it.
Make sure your trans fluid level is right on and dose not smell burnt. Should be bright red.

Be Carefull!!!!!!!!

scbird1 said:

He might have messed with the TV cable. If its out of ajustment it could have fried the trans. Do a search under TV cable to find out how to ajust it.
Make sure your trans fluid level is right on and dose not smell burnt. Should be bright red.

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Read "AOD tranny experts"
many posted methos are not safe. You must use a pressure gauge to check the adjustment throught the TV port on the tranny..

good luck...

tv cable

I think I have a broke tv cable. The retainer clip was missing so I replaced it but the I can see the cable inside the plastic cover and when I move the throttle linkage the cable doesn't do anything. It looks to me as if something is missing. I have never messed with this before so I am learning as I go. I attached pics

Don't drive it until you get that fixed, even if you have to use duct tape. I hate to sound pessimistic, but with the problems you've been having, it may have already damaged the tranny.
Mine was left disconnected years ago by a shop monkey and fortunately I spotted it quick enough to lash it back on with a zip tie.
Looks like this:

Actually, it looks like yours is hooked up correctly. When you pull it out of the grommet, you should be able to pull on the head of it and it should pull back like a spring. If there is tension, you may be able to adjust it. If not, then you'll need to drain the fluid, drop the pan and inspect it.

Look at the cable to the left of the throtle cable. Mine is missing something that yours has. that cable is what I am having problems with.

aajjrich said:

Look at the cable to the left of the throtle cable. Mine is missing something that yours has. that cable is what I am having problems with.

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It is missing the nob on the end of the cable. Does the cable just pull through when you move the throttle? It looks to me like nothing is holding the TV cable in.

Try crimping something onto the end of the cable. You'll want to back off the adjustment on the adjustable part to compensate for the extra cable pulled through the end. Adjust that thing 1 or 2 clicks at a time, man. A little bit goes a long ways with those things.

If you can't get the cable because it's been pulled through by the tranny, get someone under the car to push the cable through the shielding. The lever is on the driver side kinda on top about 1/3 of the way to the front of the tranny, if memory serves.

aajjrich said:

Look at the cable to the left of the throtle cable. Mine is missing something that yours has. that cable is what I am having problems with.

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I think thats the cruise control cable. The TV cable is definitely the upper one.

TbirdSCFan is correct. The upper one should be the TV cable. I gotta stop looking under my hood in the middle of the night. Are you telling us that your TV cable is going to that position on the throttle linkage, tho? Follow that cable and see where it goes. If that is the case, try just moving it back where it's supposed to go... Hopefully the guy didn't do anything too 'fancy' to make it fit.

both of you are probably right, I was going by what the guy at the ford dealer was telling me. Like I said this is my first time messing with transmitions. But I do have a little bit of play where the TV Cable hooks up to the throttle. It is also missing the retainer clip on the outside of the grommet. I don't think there should be as much play as there is. Now that I have been pointed in the right direction I will try fixing that and see what happens.