Kickdown Switch
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From: Boston
is a German Tank
Kickdown Switch
guys my tranny seems to be shifting a bit too hard lately, and I'm thinking it culd be because of a faulty kickdown switch. As some of you may know, I wanted to do a tranny filter/fluid replacement but no shop will do it for me, so I decided to tackle the job myself.
well the other night while driving to the local auto store for some prep goodies, my car took on this wild STEROID filled power! All of a suddent my car could go from 30mph-to about 110 in about 4,5 seconds! WHOA! The symptoms were actually quite pleasurable and were the following-
1. First gear start (just SWOOOSHing its way through traffic)
2. No kickdown whats-so-ever, except in city driving (E.I on the highway the car would just keep going and going and going, no downshift until i would come to a stop)
3. the tranny was very fast to shift, like it wanted more and more and MORE!
Well I figured WTF and decided not to touch anything while my tranny was in "Hulk" mode.
Well as luck would have, two days later, back to its original slouchy, slow, sloth-like self..!?!???!
Can somebody tell me if this is due to a faulty kickdown switch??? Because if this is the case I'm going to get rid of that thing ASAP! LOL Seriously guys, for those two days my car felt like it was on CRACK and I was loving every minute of it!
HELP...or rather please ADVISE!
Thanks
PS: Matt - I cannot find my DVD
for kickdown switch location 
well the other night while driving to the local auto store for some prep goodies, my car took on this wild STEROID filled power! All of a suddent my car could go from 30mph-to about 110 in about 4,5 seconds! WHOA! The symptoms were actually quite pleasurable and were the following-
1. First gear start (just SWOOOSHing its way through traffic)
2. No kickdown whats-so-ever, except in city driving (E.I on the highway the car would just keep going and going and going, no downshift until i would come to a stop)
3. the tranny was very fast to shift, like it wanted more and more and MORE!
Well I figured WTF and decided not to touch anything while my tranny was in "Hulk" mode.
Well as luck would have, two days later, back to its original slouchy, slow, sloth-like self..!?!???!
Can somebody tell me if this is due to a faulty kickdown switch??? Because if this is the case I'm going to get rid of that thing ASAP! LOL Seriously guys, for those two days my car felt like it was on CRACK and I was loving every minute of it!
HELP...or rather please ADVISE!
Thanks
PS: Matt - I cannot find my DVD
for kickdown switch location
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Boston
is a German Tank
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From: Houston, Texas
Dora the Explorer
The kickdown switch is what tells the trans you've just stomped on the gas so that it downshifts for extra power. Not downshifting would make your car seem sluggish, unless it was already in a lower gear. That's why if you leave the shifter in 3rd, it seems so much peppier - It's already in a lower gear.
if your car was never shifting out of third, maybe it would seem a lot faster. What were your RPMs like during your 2 days of glory?
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Boston
is a German Tank
That's because you've always got the New Kids On The Block at full volume.
The kickdown switch is what tells the trans you've just stomped on the gas so that it downshifts for extra power. Not downshifting would make your car seem sluggish, unless it was already in a lower gear. That's why if you leave the shifter in 3rd, it seems so much peppier - It's already in a lower gear.
if your car was never shifting out of third, maybe it would seem a lot faster. What were your RPMs like during your 2 days of glory?
The kickdown switch is what tells the trans you've just stomped on the gas so that it downshifts for extra power. Not downshifting would make your car seem sluggish, unless it was already in a lower gear. That's why if you leave the shifter in 3rd, it seems so much peppier - It's already in a lower gear.
if your car was never shifting out of third, maybe it would seem a lot faster. What were your RPMs like during your 2 days of glory?
The RPMS were normal, really. Nothing out of the ordinary, 80mph around 35hunnerd or so
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Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,094
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From: Boston
is a German Tank
MBWorld Fanatic!
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Posts: 3,062
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From: Houston, Texas
Dora the Explorer
if it's not "kicking down", then replacing the "kickdown" switch seems like a cheap part to gamble on.
Transmissions (automatic) are like a big "black box" to me, dude. I don't know how the fukk those things do what they do.
Transmissions (automatic) are like a big "black box" to me, dude. I don't know how the fukk those things do what they do.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Boston
is a German Tank
thanks again matty
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From: Richmond, Va.
1991 300E
transmission kickdown
there is also an adjustment you can make on the transmission to alter your shifts. I would take it to an indie merc. repair shop, they should be very familiar with this. not an expensive part to adjust. The transmission senses the amount of vacum in your engine to help determine what gear to go to. If you have a leak in the system, that might be causing your erratic shifting.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,094
Likes: 0
From: Boston
is a German Tank
there is also an adjustment you can make on the transmission to alter your shifts. I would take it to an indie merc. repair shop, they should be very familiar with this. not an expensive part to adjust. The transmission senses the amount of vacum in your engine to help determine what gear to go to. If you have a leak in the system, that might be causing your erratic shifting.
I'll check my Vac hoses and see if everything's in order.
