Lokar Kickdown Adjustment? KICKDOWN LEVER STUCK

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Shainesboostin

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Got the Magnum Motor installed, and went out for a drive. After not being able to come up with a good combo of stock linkages, I went ahead and used the LOKAR throttle and KICKDOWN cables. Car drives great, BUT the kickdown lever on the transmission gets STUCK at WOT (Wide Open Throttle). Not sure where to adjust the cable? The threaded part by the trans, or on the mounting bracket at the Carb? Ive seen some leave a gap at the stop nut at the carb, I have to tight, and all slack out. Been messing with it, but the lever keeps sticking. Gotta get under the car and kinda pry it back and it snaps back to where it should be. Maybe I have it adjusted to pull to FAR back? Any ideas?
 
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I would move the cable stop forward on the cable itself or if that is not possible adjust at the carb bracket for more slack. youll want the throttle to "bottom out" before the trans lever does. I have had to adjust this for a friend of mine who had this setup. IIRC. good luck.
 
So your saying the stop as shown in this pic? (This isnt mine)...not down by the trans also shown...

Thanks for the help man, this is the last little thing I need to get dialed. Im so close!

Lokar at Carb.jpg


Lokar at Trans.jpg
 
yeah that first pic. the little thing on the cable {a stop} can be moved forward provided that the cable has not been trimmed too short. Also, the adjustment up on the carb/cable bracket can be adjusted [again, if there is enough slack in the whole thing]. whats happening is that the cable is being pulled too far. With some slack in the cable it gets pulled less. the cable might sag a little. BTW, the levers can stick because of various reasons. The thing that is different with the LOKAR set up is that it "pulls" the cable instead of like the factory setup, the linkage is being pushed. Dont know what carb you are using but be aware of the lever ratio's on the carb's linkage as this could also cause problems. [go with the recommendations of LOKAR] I guess you could adjust at the tranny also IF you have some room for travel {of the lever}. IMHO Good luck!
 
I have that setup on my car. You want to pull the trans lever to full travel at WOT. Sounds like yours is overtraveling at WOT and locking up. Loosen the pull a little.
 
Ok, I'll try it will a small gap in it. I was mainly worried about getting FULL travel at WOT, which is why I left no gap. But I'll give it a shot. Appreciate it bros.
 
What I found was that the lever on the trans needed a very light return spring added. There was a boss on my 727 where I drilled a hole to attach the forward end of the spring (forward of where the lever is). It almost looked like it was made for it.
 
The instructions say that you should have a 1'' gap between the stop and the carb when you pull the cable when the engine is not idling, ( which leaves approximately 1/4''when you release the cable) and adjust from there.
 
I have the same cable set up with a 670 street avenger and a 904. While my son held the pedal all the way down to hold the throttle wide open, I pulled on the cable until the kick down lever was all the way forward. Then I set the cable stop to hold the cable there. As Leblanc said, there is about a 1" gap. Mine seems to work fine.

Cley
 
A 1" gap at the cable stop? Guy above said about 1/8"...only thing that worries me there is it wouldn't get pressure at lower throttle pressure. Like if your 1/4 open on the throttle. But I suppose it'd be fine there since the trans will hold fine at low loads...
 
kickdown should not have 1inch gap. Once the throttle moves, within no more than 3/16ths, it should move the kickdown cable,and throttle and kickdown should hit their limits at the same time. If none of this occurs, then the alignment is off.

If it isn't releasing when you let off the throttle, then you have a bind somewhere. There should also be a return spring at the lever at the transmission. Factory kickdown would have this spring.
 
FredS said:
kickdown should not have 1inch gap. Once the throttle moves, within no more than 3/16ths, it should move the kickdown cable,and throttle and kickdown should hit their limits at the same time. If none of this occurs, then the alignment is off.

If it isn't releasing when you let off the throttle, then you have a bind somewhere. There should also be a return spring at the lever at the transmission. Factory kickdown would have this spring.
Click to expand...
Yea I wondered about the spring. Lokar said NO spring at trans as the springs at carb should return it. I think it's my actual lever though, cause it really gets wedged at FULL throttle. Like it's hung up hard. I'll experiment after work.
 
I just reread the instructions and I set mine up per the instructions. The difference may be in the carb you are using. Maybe the Edelbrock doesn't pull the kick down cable as far at WOT.

Cley
 
there's nothing to bind the lever inside on the VB. Pop the cable off and stroke it manually to confirm. This is why the spring is helpful,to insure it moves back, but there still should not be any bind on the lever.
 
FIXED. Turns out, the threaded part of the lokar cable, where it bolts to the lever, was catching on the shift lever below it. Couple washers...shifts great!
 
Not a Problem, but anyone know the best way to adjust the column shift linkage? Just wanna get mine set correctly. Didnt know if theres a good method? Put the shifter in N and disconect the linkage then pull the trans lever to N and tighten?
 
start in 1st, adjust for that, then check each detent all the way to park.
 
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