I bought a 93 Z last night with 134k miles on it.

It has the A4 and 2.73s (yikes!)

Anyway the car will not get down into 1st gear unless the car is at a dead stop or under 3 mph roll, it always hits second otherwise making it not nearly as fun to drive. I know these trannys are non-electronic and they use a cable to adjust shifting, etc. Can I adjust this so the car will respond better or is it only for upshifts into 2nd, 3rd etc... If so, how do I adjust it? At the TB?

I have a 95Z auto which I am more used to, that car doesn't do this..

Any experiences would be helpful!

Also I have a set of 3.73s that came out of my 95Z for a 3 series carrier, I read somewhere I can install these in my 2 series carrier without major mods, is this true?

 

i'm not so sure they have 4L60Es in the 93s i thought they changed them over from the 700R4s with the new body style. but if is electronic then you'll have solenoids instead of cables and they're much easier to diagnos. can you hit fourth gear at all or reverse, also how is your acceleration even though its from second, and do you have reverse. if you can't hit 4th and you have the 4L then i'd look at your 'A' shift solenoid. if you have a 700R4 then it might be that your line pressure is low and it takes a good while to have govenor pressure overcome by throttle pressure. does it shift at the redline when your hard on it or is it real early? it could also be a band/clutch/planetary gear problem but i'm a little sick so i don't have time to look it up. well let me know some more info about your problem and i'll try to see what i fing out for ya

 

my car does the exact same thing, its also a 93, i also have the 2.73s but i made first gear selectable, i can down shift to first anytime manualy and it shifts fine, and its fine in all other gears but in D or over drive it wont shift into first unless im stoped, i just assumed it was normal, i too would like to know if this can be fixted cuz im used to it but its still annoying *** hell, the transmition was rebuilt with 10k on it b4 i got it too, i kno i didnt help much but its good to kno that im not the only with this problem

 

Your car has a 700R4 (4L60), that's TV cable/governor shifted. What are your NORMAL upshift points? You should have a 1-2 shift at 15-18 MPH, and a 2-3 shift at 35-38 MPH. Start by checking these points out first.

Frank
CPT

 

so when did they switch over to the electronic transmissions in the camaro/firebird?

 

1994 was the first year for the electronic 4L60E in the F-Bodies. They started using them in trucks in '93. Yes, the '93 Z was a "stand alone" year for the 700/4L60 in a 4th gen.

Frank
CPT

 

<3 93's

 

you got me thinking about this, what is the correct way to adjust the linkage? i tried to follow the directions from a haynes manual i had from my 88 z28, and it says to depress the button on the top of the linkage thing and push the cable in all the way in and then open the tb all the way and it should "rachet" back to its proper place, but it seems different and i dont wanna break anything. anyone have a service manual for a 93 that could look up how to do it?

 

This is still the correct way to get a rough adjustment. We usually push the gas pedal to the floor to get the cable to ratchet.

You can "fine tailor" the shifts from there by adjusting the cable. Pushing the housing toward the firewall will give later/firmer shifts...Pulling it toward the front will give you earlier/softer shifts.

Some tuned port and LT1 engines will pull the cable out of adjustment too far (ratchet) before optimum shift points are reached. If this is the case, you'll need to install a Sonnax Industries "TV Cable Corrector" on the cable end.

There are other variables that affect upshifts, also. Transmission clutch integrity, TV valve, TV "Up" valve, TV "down" valve, and TV limit valve. If any of these valves get stuck, it will affect upshift timing...or...you may not get an upshift at all.

The other upshift variable is the governor itself.

Frank
CPT

 

I have not tracked my shift points yet, I just bought the car on Wednesday, but will try that. The problem is, in order to track the 1-2 shift point, the car would indeed have to start out in first gear. In order to do that I would need to give it a good amount of throttle, and then the car wants to go, it would be past 15-18 MPH. The car shifts before redline, but the previous owner installed an aftermarket gauge overlay so I also can not be 100% sure about the accuracy of the tach!!

It seems from a few responses that this is a characteristic of the 93s with the 700R4. With 134k on it and not knowing if/when the trans has been rebuilt in the past, I can imagine that there are some worn components inside. Trying to get this thing moving is tough with this first gear thing and the 2.73s... Nothing like my 95 at all which will just spin the tires all day from a stop. I would like to try adjusting my shift cable to help this out, but I don't want to mess up any of the other shift points. Is there a definitive way that I can tell the cable is for sure out of adjustment?

Now after replacing the intake gasket the IAC motor is on its way so the car is idling over 1k RPMs as well

 

well good news, i screwed around with the cable and now i can get it to downshift into first from like under 20 mph, its a little better, one more question though, if i mess around with the cable can i damage anything in the transmition? i kno that the transmiton was rebuilt, and ive had the tb and everything apart and it wasnt adjusted so that was probably my problem

 

nonojoe,

Can you tell me exactly what you did with the cable to help the issue?

I posted this same question on speeddensity.org and got a reply about not messing with this because of the possibility of it being bad for the trans, premature wear, etc. But nothing confirmed..

 

The TV (Throttle Valve) cable is what actuates the TV valve in the valvebody. The reason the TV cable controls shift points is because it controls transmission pressure! Lower pressure=earlier/softer shifts...Higher pressure=later/firmer shifts. Yes, adjusting the cable to too low of a pressure will most definitely burn it up! A 700 with an improperly adjusted TV cable can burn up in a matter of a few miles.

Frank
CPT

 

Frank,

Am I better off leaving it as is and just deal with the first gear thing? Or should I try to adjust it for the firmer/later shifts (higher pressure) as you describe? How do you have it on yours? I understand that your car is much more "built" and your trans is likely not stock, but being that you own a performance trans business I will follow your advice!

Thanks

 

Dave,
Yea, my transmission has had a few things done to it...LOL. Mine shifts at roughly 20 and 38 on the first 2 shifts. I adjust mine by "feel". I've also got alot steeper gears than you, so I've played with the governor in mine. Mine also has the Sonnax Ind. "Cable Corrector" on it.

Frank
CPT