confused about a cable coming from the tranny

[jamesw]

{admin if i put this in wrong thread please put in correct one thanks}
to start off with let me say thanks to any and all help on this issue.
i have a 1988 dodge ram 50 sport with the 2.6l with automatic transmission.
a few weeks ago i replaced my MITSUBISHI MIKUNI CARBURETOR
with a Weber Carburetor-Weber Carb kit
on the old factory carb there was a cable coming from underneath to the carb
that had to do with the tranny i,m guessing
i,m sure most of you know what that is i myself do not lol
this is the weber i put on

[hide][top]Mitsunishi Dodge Mazda Genuine Weber Carburetor Conversion Kit Electric Choke

[hide][top] 32/36 DFEV Electric Chokes-l1600.jpg

now the problem i,m having
is there doesn't seem to be a place to hook the cable up on the new carb
do need this cable hooked up?
and if so how would i go about it?
thanks for any and all advise

[jamesw]

here is a few pics to give you an ideal of what i,m talking about
DSC02575.jpgDSC02576.jpgDSC02577.jpgDSC02578.jpg

[maxdsm]

You need a kickdown plate
Http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...ickdown-issues

[jamesw]

ok thxs for the info now for the $1000 question just what does it do? the cable i mean

[pennyman1]

it is the throttle position cable for the tranny - it tells the transmission how to shift by how much the gas pedal is depressed. If you don't hook it up and drive it a lot, you can damage the transmission. The u shaped bracket in the picture is the auto tranny kickdown lever.

[jamesw]

ok makes that sense .
i have only driven it a few times sense i have got it up and running and it shifted out real quick.
so that made me think something was wrong lol
thanks for the info now i have a starting place

[jamesw]

does this kick down have anything to do with the overdrive?
because i have noticed i can press the button and the light will come on and say od off but i don't hear or feel any change in the engine .
is the overdrive a separate issue or will hooking the cable up also make the overdrive start working?

[speednsnake]

With that cable disconnected the trans will only "assume" that you are not pressing the gas enough to merit a downshift. OD should be independent of that, and it's possible that you weren't going the correct speed for it to want to shift into or out of overdrive. There are some better experts here than I for sure, but I'd wager that any OD issue that you have will not be related to the kickdown. Best to get that installed and working properly before trying to deal with the OD.

[jamesw]

ok thanks speednsnake i wasn't sure if that was part of the overdrive or not i plan on working the drop down today then i will research the overdrive thanks for the info

[jamesw]

ok update got out this morning and made a linkage to the kickdown cable seems to be working great shifting out just right now thanks to the adjustment bolt. now on to the overdrive when i,m going down the road say @ 55 mph and i reach up and press the button the light comes on but i don't feel anything change in speed or hear anything change in the motor sounds. can anyone tell me @ what speed the overdrive should kick in? thanks for any and all advise here are a few pics of my little girl
DSC02579.jpgDSC02580.jpgDSC02581.jpgDSC02582.jpgDSC02583.jpgDSC02584.jpg

[pennyman1]

it should go into overdrive around 35 - 40 MPH. There is a sensor on the intake next to the carb that tells the tranny that the motor is warm enough to go into OD. That is a common fail Item - you can take that wire and ground it to the manifold to see if that makes the OD work

[jamesw]

ok i,ll start looking for the wire any ideals on what it might look like? and what the sensor looks like? thanks pennyman1 for the info

[pennyman1]

it will be a black wire and the sensor has a single 1/4" terminal on it.

[jamesw]

i think i found the wire and the sensor will test it out tomorrow i had seen the sensor close to the carb right on top of the intake never really give it much thought i found a black wire that fit the sensor thanks for the help pennyman1 .

[jamesw]

Another update fired the little girl up this morning took her for a ride hit the overdrive button and low and behold success.
works and everything
now i have another problem the speedometer needle started jumping around from 45-35 back to 45-50 mph so would that indicate a short?

[jamesw]

just took it for a spin and everything seems to be working ok now could it have been because it was very cold this morning around 34 degrees .temp is around 51 now after the little trip down the road any thoughts?

[royster]

It's likely the speedo cable, and yes: they will bind up sometimes in very cold conditions...enough to cause exactly the unsteadiness you described. Since it isn't doing it in the warmer temps, worry not. The speedo cable is mechanical, not electrical, so there wouldn't be any shorting out.

Kudos on getting things straightened out!!

[jamesw]

thanks royster
i hope something that i have posted will help someone else in the future.

[royster]

It likely will.

Safe travels, my friend!

[DroppedMitsu]

if you keep having issues with bouncy speedo just unhook it from the back of the gauge cluster and lube it up by spraying some lube down the cable sheathe.

[jamesw]

good ideal droppedmitsu i,ll keep that in mind so far it's only happening when it's real cold out after it warms up theres no problem i,m thinking the truck is telling me to move to some place warm lol

[jamesw]

ok new issues lol
finally got around to filling the gas tank all the way up just to find out that the fuel gauge is reading wrong. fuel tank reads 3/4 tank so before i get sit to pull the bed back off any ideals?

[jamesw]

update on fuel reading wrong finally got the bed back off was all prepared to tackle the job this morning and wouldn't you know rain has moved in grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr o well @ least the tank got washed off lol
hopefully i,ll be able to tackle it tomorrow.

[jamesw]

well the weather was nice to me allowed me to get out and check the sending unit turns out all i needed to do was clean a contact and make a small adjustment.
so now if someone want to donate a tank full of gas i can check to see if it's true on
hope this helps someone out in the future
DSC02602.jpg

[BradMph]

You could always grab the garden hose and fill it.