Our primitive mechanical automatic gearboxes' shifting is regulated by a hydraulic "brain", a complex arrangement of pistons and springs and valves. To decide when to shift, the "brain" looks at engine speed, road speed, and accelerator position. Accelerator position is indicated by the throttle cable (AKA kickdown cable), and if it's incorrectly adjusted you can get all sorts of weird behavior. Slow, sloppy shifting, or high engine revs before shifting happens.
The adjuster is on the injection pump. Look for the orange boot.
There are two cable adjustments:
GREEN: the 14mm adjusting nuts on the cable outer sheath set the overall position (in theory these should be the only ones you need to touch), and RED: the two 8mm bolts on the linkage arm adjust the arm length and therefore the cable stroke (these shouldn't need adjusting unless someone's been fiddling, like in the photo above where they're adjusted all the way to one end. They're usually about halfway.)
Step 1: With the accelerator at rest (idling position) pull back the orange boot and check that the inner cable stopper is 1-2mm away from the outer cable/adjuster tube: almost touching but not quite. Adjust using the 14mm nuts.
Step 2: hold the accelerator open as far as it'll go, check that the cable stop is now 34 - 35mm from the outer cable/adjuster tube (as pictured). If it's wrong, you'll have to loosen the 8mm bolts and lengthen (makes the stroke longer) or shorten the arm until the stroke length is correct, and then re-check the free play. You might have to go back and forth between the free play and the lever length until everything is to spec.
Easy!
Note: It's tempting to tweak the adjustment to make the gearbox behave the way you want it to. Voice of experience: don't. You either end up with sloppy shifts/slippage under load which burns out the clutches, or harsh shifts at high revs which break teeth off the gears.
The adjuster is on the injection pump. Look for the orange boot.
There are two cable adjustments:
GREEN: the 14mm adjusting nuts on the cable outer sheath set the overall position (in theory these should be the only ones you need to touch), and RED: the two 8mm bolts on the linkage arm adjust the arm length and therefore the cable stroke (these shouldn't need adjusting unless someone's been fiddling, like in the photo above where they're adjusted all the way to one end. They're usually about halfway.)
Step 1: With the accelerator at rest (idling position) pull back the orange boot and check that the inner cable stopper is 1-2mm away from the outer cable/adjuster tube: almost touching but not quite. Adjust using the 14mm nuts.
Step 2: hold the accelerator open as far as it'll go, check that the cable stop is now 34 - 35mm from the outer cable/adjuster tube (as pictured). If it's wrong, you'll have to loosen the 8mm bolts and lengthen (makes the stroke longer) or shorten the arm until the stroke length is correct, and then re-check the free play. You might have to go back and forth between the free play and the lever length until everything is to spec.
Easy!
Note: It's tempting to tweak the adjustment to make the gearbox behave the way you want it to. Voice of experience: don't. You either end up with sloppy shifts/slippage under load which burns out the clutches, or harsh shifts at high revs which break teeth off the gears.
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