Morning all, perhaps you could spare a moment to help me with my 940, 1992 Auto rwd.

Transmission is playing games. At first it wouldn't shift out of 1st, so I disconnected the kickdown cable and that has made it operational.

When its cold its 100% (ie: first thing in the morning). As soon as it warm up though I loose third completely (within 3 minutes of driving). Overdrive has never worked, but I figure I can look at that after getting 3rd.
I did a transmission flush with Dex IV and filter change, which helped a little, then added a transmission fix "slug"...which did nothing really.
Then I read on a 1995 manual that the 940 requires Type F or G not Dex...So another flush with Type F. This improved it a bit more. But still struggling.
In the mornings if I get on the freeway, reach third, then Im fine. but once I slow down and the transmission shifts down....all over, back roads only!

Any help would be amazing!!!
Thank you in advance for your time.

PS: Moved to CA recently, "Inherited" the car with my fiance. The car needs some TLC in all regards, most are minor details and I cant help but be optimistic. If I can get the transmission sorted, this car can really last us a long time!

 

the apporporiate trans fluid to use is dex/merc III or anything compatible, standard red ATF.

its hard to say what could be wrong. first, is the transmission throttle cable properly adjusted? (this is frequently called a kickdown cable but its more than that).

assuming the cable is properly routed and adjusted, the next step is dropping the transmission pan and cleaning the filter and checking all the control stuff in there, this is a job that /I/ leave to my mechanic, but I know some people do it themselves. in particular there's some llittle ***** that wear down and disappear, some o-rings that wear out, etc. you need a very clean workspace for this as any dirt that gets into an automatic is extremely detrimental.

 

Thanks for the response Pierce

I had Dex IV which stipulates that it is backwards compatible. The Type f I have in there now is giving the same results.

The throttle cable correctly adjusted....well NO. It was not shifting above first, and i found the more I slackened the throttle cable, the better the transmission got. So at this point it is completely disconnected!

I have put in a new filter. The old one looked clear and the pan was surprisingly clean. but as for "checking all the control stuff in there" and " little *****", i would like to do it myself for financial purposes, but don't know what I'm looking for.

An illustrated step by step would be GREAT.
Any1?

edit: Any chance the transmission would skip 3rd and go into overdrive if I sort it out? Relay isnt working so I'm going to try manually enabling the solenoid. (bridge the relay)

 

when the throttle is at idle, there should be a minimal amount of slack in the exposed cable (just enough to tell its there) AND the bead stop on the cable should be not quite touching the orange plastic dust cover thats over the end of the threaded ferrule, like maybe 1/32".

when you advance the throttle (manually, engine off), somewhat before before you get to full throttle you should feel a distinct cam resistance like a notch, then it goes the rest of the way to full throttle. you should feel this in the gas pedal, too. if thats the case, it should be adjusted properly.

the throttle-transmission cable is NOT just a kickdown cable. it also modulates the pressure applied to the bands in the transmission so they are firmer at higher throttle settings to prevent slippage. insufficient throttle-transmission cable (too much slack) and the bands will slip, leading to excess wear and eventual total transmission failure.

 

You need another transmission. In CA there are plenty available for a couple of hundred $$...

 

I have taken a look at the throttle position cable and there are two things that don't seem right.

1 - it is difficult to distinguishing the cam or notch. It seem to get slightly more difficult to pull but nothing distinct. As for the "slack" there seems to be non. Even with the cable completely disconnected the bead stop pulls into the orange cover. I removed the cover and the bead attempted to pull even further in.

2 - whats more worrying is the max throttle limit. I would presume that there is a mechanical limit for when you hit the gas pedal hard. This isn't the case (on my vehicle). Activating the throttle using the pedal, it moves further when then the "kickdown" is disconnected.
ie: when you hit the gas hard, something on the other end of the kickdown (in the transmission) is preventing the throttle from opening further.

what do you suggest I could try?

 

sounds like the tranny end of the kickdown cable is munged. thats inside the tranny, and no fun to service from what I have gathered (but I have no personal experience with this).

my son's 940SE was having kickdown related issues, caused by the cable being misrouted (under both heater hoses, he'd had to replace his heater core in the driveway), when I rerouted it so it wasn't being 'bent' it resumed working correctly.

 

well were do i start. just last week i replaced the kick-down cable cause the tranny wasn't engaging correctly. fixed that replaced the gasket and new tranny fluid. the next day i drove it to mid miami beach for a job interview. noticed a noise on the way back like wining from the tranny. there's plenty of fluid. and filter is clean ? any reason to why its doing that ? the other thing now it wont go in to any gear unless i restart the car wait a sec or two the drop it in the gear i want. reverse gear has been rough lately as well. this is driving me nuts and ive only had the car a few months now. also ever since this happend all my dash board lights stay on while the car is running ?

 

please put this in a new thread, its a different car with different problems.

 

Thanks Pierce.
I removed the kickdown on the throttle side, and the crimping onto the metal sheath was some what damaged. It effectively had a incorrect slightly open signal back to the tranny.
I got quite excited, but alas even after i remedied the issue, slack in the kickdown as required and I could feel the cam effect...No Joy.

guess im going to have to send her in.
Wondering on a approximate price range for "the next step is dropping the transmission pan checking all the control stuff ..."

She is a great car and I would really like to get her running nicely.

 

well... I got a quote of around $250 from a tranny shop for a thorough cleaning and preventive maintenance of a working AW71 including replacing any worn rings and ***** and stuff in the control circuits. around here thats about 2.5 hours labor (shop rate here runs $100/hour most good places.

I've heard $1000-1500 for a fully rebuilt transmission (and I think thats about what we paid to do our 240's at around 300k miles when its bands started slipping excessively under heavy throttle upshifts).

plan B, most any 740/940 turbo automatic uses the same AW71 transmission, they are, AFAIK, all fully interchangable. pik-n-pull yer own!