Last week, my son Aaron called to tell me his throttle cable snapped on his Dart Sport down at college. I had extra cables stashed away, so I sent him some to choose from. He found one to fit, swapped it out, and was back on the road. Now, he called today to tell me his transmission is acting up, hesitating to shift out of first gear.

It's been too long since I worked with him on building the Dart, so please, someone remind me how, if at all, the slant's throttle cable could be related to the kickdown linkage on his 904. Is it possible this recent throttle situation is related to the current transmission problem?

Help,
Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

If the new cable is not the exact same length as the old one, the kickdown can be affected, but it will depend upon how the kickdown is set up on the car.

When does it hesitate to shift out if first gear? Upon full throttle accelleration, partial throttle??

Whether it's related depends on when this new transmission symptom showed up. Was it coincident with his replacement of the throttle cable? The adjustment of the cable's position in the cable clamp on the bracket mounted to the manifold can affect shift timing somewhat, but generally not enough to cause a "won't upshift" complaint.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Here is what my son says about the situation:

"The new cable seemed to be the exact same length. If not, it would be at most a half-inch difference I'd say or less. And it hesitates to shift as soon as I press on the gas, even slightly, Ex. I'm at the stop sign at the end of my street and try to accelerate to turn left. The only way I can explain this on a stop and go is that it feels as though my foot is still on the brakes when I'm trying to accelerate, it just doesn't want to move... When I finally do pick up speed it stays in 1st until I let off the accelerator.

All of this started after the throttle cable snapped. It never once did this before, which leads me to conclude this might be related to the new cable. But I tried to line the cable up as closely to the old one, at least from where it clamps down to anyway."

Does this make sense to any of you?

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

That symptom (no initial acceleration) is not at all related to the throttle cable. It's difficult to diagnose at the level of detail given, but sounds like a problem with the brakes sticking on. Dragging brakes — the parking brake and/or the regular ones — will put a big load on the car such that it'll be difficult to get going from a stop, and the trans will stay in first longer than normal (just as if you were trying to start up a steep hill from a stop).

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.