Hi guys,

I am refining a 1981 Dodge Ram D150 with a slant six, and (I believe) a Carter BBD added at some later date. I've fabricated a new rod to connect to the transmission linkage. I have the arc synced up pretty weel for the down shifts....with one glaring exception.

At speeds above 65, I will encounter undesired kickdowns. Seems to get worse as the tranmission gets warm (during a longer drive).

I want to be able to cruise at highway speeds without kicking down when I encounter a hill.

Is there anything I can to to keep the kickdown attached for lower speed kickdowns AND avoid very high speed kickdowns???????

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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1981 Dodge Ram D-150 1/2 ton

The throttle position, or rather, kick-down linkage or cable whatever you have needs to be adjusted so that the lever on the transmission moves forward a little more. Your transmission thinks the throttle is more open than it really is, and is over adjusting internal pressure causing an early down shift.

Make a small adjustment, and go for a test drive. Repeat until it shifts the way you like.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

There are many different kickdown levers (the part that attaches to the kickdown shaft on the transmission). They vary not only in length but also in clocking of the "D" on the shaft hole. You may need to do some junkyard scrounging until you find a lever that allows an adjustment that works throughout the throttle travel range.

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

Thanks guys, thats reassuring.

Is there any worry that if I dont have the kickdown lever moving enough, that I may damage the tranny from not enough travel "signal" from the throttle?

I guess I'm perplexed as to why there wouldnt be an RPM governor for the tranny to avoid high speed kickdown.

Cheers!

There is an RPM governor in the system....

You would have to run some pressure checks to see where the pressure(s) are off and adjust as needed, to correctly fix this problem.

The 3 circuits to pressure test are:
- Main Line pressure
- Govenor pressure (RPM related)
- Throttle pressure

If you want to take a "WAG" at it... turn-up the main line pressure by a set number of turns (2 full turns) and see if that helps.
DD

Thanks Doc. Where would the main pressure adjust feature be found? Inthe meantime, I'll start digging in my repair manual.

Thanks!

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1981 Dodge Ram D-150 1/2 ton

It's on the driver's side of the valve body, see "Line Pressure Adjustment Screw" in the pic below.
Turning the screw counter-clockwise increases the line pressure.
DD

Perfect, I'll let you know how she does with a few turns. I'm rebuilding the Carter BBD carb this weekend as well, so why not toss this in too.

Great picture, thank you!

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1981 Dodge Ram D-150 1/2 ton

Update.

Rebuilt the Carter BBD carb, and then turned to the tranny. I realized I was missing a "return" spring for the kickdown to pull it towards the nose of te truck at rest. So I added an appropriate spring. This cause to me to realize that my first fab'd linkage bar was not close enough. I finally had to break down and use a ruler to measure the travel of the carter's throttle arm and the travel of the kickdown arm.

The torqflite responds much better now with the return spring (along with improved fuel delivery from the carb rebuild).

I have not adjusted the band tension because my tranny doesnt match up to the picture Doc provided. But I may still investigate further, as there is now a persistent transient RPM surge after getting into 2nd gear on the autmatic.

Thanks

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1981 Dodge Ram D-150 1/2 ton