Fj62 Kickdown Cable

[Fish929]

Guys, hello. First time poster, long time reader. I have an '89 FJ62 with 210K and about six months ago it started this thing where it wouldn't shift from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc until it hit 3,500-4,000 rpms. The problem went away after about a week and it went back to shifting fine, then the issue came back a month or so later, went away a week later, then this Sunday it came back. So I had about five months of it working fine but on Sunday I got stuck in the mud and had to floor it multiple times in forward and reverse to get free.

I checked the kickdown cable attached to the engine and it's super loose. Like it's not even remotely taut until the throttle is wide open, even with the cable tightened as far as it will go. Think replacing the kickdown cable is the way to go?

Any idea why it would be an intermittent problem and not constant?

Thanks!

 

[DirtRoads]

Change it, you should be good to go. Mine stuck intermittently as you describe and I just accredited it to 30 year old cable voodoo. It's not a very hard job, just messy.

 

[Fish929]

Thanks, DirtRoads. I was thinking it had just stretched over the years. Wish there was a way to just shorten the cable without replacing the whole thing. AKA, snip off the end and attach a barrel nut or something. Anyone done this?

 

[Saucerman]

It is messy and there are a couple of write-ups on here. It will improve the shifting immensely.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

The reason it is intermittent is likely corrosion for fraying in the line which prevents it from releasing properly. This makes the tranny think you are full throttle and waits until high rpm to shift.
I just put on a new cable yesterday and it’s noticsbly better particularly when releasing the throttle (not as jerky)
If yours is loose with the housing adjusted all the way out it may be frayed/unwound or not seated in the cam correctly inside the transmission.
Best bet....buy a cable
Toyota part number 35520-60050.

 

[Fish929]

EscapeWagon62, you didn’t happen to take any pics or videos of the work, did you? A little worried about detaching the old one and reattaching the new one down at the tranny.

 

[jebb]

I checked the kickdown cable attached to the engine and it's super loose. Like it's not even remotely taut until the throttle is wide open, even with the cable tightened as far as it will go.

It's probably stuck, rather than stretched, if its that loose but still taut when at WOT. And given that it's fixed itself before: it got unstuck. It will have to be fixed, but for now, try just feeding the cable back into the conduit with your hand. At the very least this will make it work normally for now, and you will probably be able to feel when the pedal feels catchy or too light because the cable is stuck. You can try squirting some sort of lubricant into the conduit too and working it through with the pedal.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

I wish I did but I can walk you through how I did it.
First, disconnect the click down cable up in the engine bay so that the cable and cable housing are completely free and unobstructed.
Take the transmission pan off.
Once the pan is off you will see that the cable attached to a cam. There are two cams next to each other with the kickdown cable entering the one on the right. Photo attached from another thread.

The cam on the left has small holes in its walls, insert the pick and push it up as far as you can. At that point you should be able to gat a screw driver underneath the cable cam. I used the screwdriver to lift that cam high enough so I could push the end cap on the throttle cable free. This step took me several tries and the cam assembly is under spring tension and snapped back 5 or so times before I freed the cable.

Next you have to remove the cable housing which is held in the valve body by 4 plastic tabs. The FSM says to use a 10mm socket and push it up (theory being that the 10mm socket is just the right size to compress the tabs inward and the cable housing will pop out the top). In my case the tabs were so old that I was able to easily break them off with my index finger.

Just pull the cable housing from the top of the case and you are free.

There is a clamp on the kickdown cable which also holds your transmission vent tube line that you need to disconnect. That’s located on the engine block very close to the bell housing and is accessible from under the truck. I’ve attached a photo of that as well.

Good luck

 

[Fish929]

Awesome, thanks guys! New cable should be here next week so will keep you all posted.

 

[89BIGBLUE]

It will fix it!
It fixed mine right up! I had the same issues as you describe!

You’ll be pulling into your favorite gas station again in no time!

 

[Fish929]

Guys, so I got this far. Skid plate, tranny pan, and filter removed. Do I need to remove anything else? I don’t see any of the clips mentioned in the other posts. And man this thing just keeps on dripping...

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Nope, you don’t need to take anything else off. The clips are really prongs that hold the cable housing into the pan/VB housing. Remove the cable by rotating the cam up.
Use your fingers to follow the cable up from the cam in your photo and you’ll feel them. If they were as old as mine they will just break off. If not take a 10mm ratchet tip and push the cable housing out. (Once you’ve removed the cable from the cam, the cable would thread right through the ratchet tip when you are pressing up on the prongs/tabs)
And yes, it’ll keep dripping.

Before you do that make sure you’ve disconnected the kickdown cable from the throttle body

And if you are going to leave the transmissionvslve pan off overnight, put tin foil over it. That keeps dust and debris out

 

[Fish929]

Old cable is out and new one in! The old cable seems to be seized. Pull on it as hard as I can and it won’t slide through the housing, whereas the new one slides super smooth. Now to reassemble everything and test her out. Thanks again everyone!

 

[89BIGBLUE]

It’s gonna drive so nice!

 

[Fish929]

Driving pretty good but not sure I have the tension correct. Anyone have a pic of how tight it should be? Tried searching the forums but couldn’t find anything. Thanks!

 

[Fish929]

Also, if anyone else needs one I got mine from Onur Azeri: 505.944.5081// onur@landcruiserpartsandconsulting.com was about $90 and he had it in my hands in about three business days. He even jumped on FaceTime with me before ordering to discuss and take a look. Now that’s service! I think he’s @beno on here.

 

[89BIGBLUE]

Driving pretty good but not sure I have the tension correct. Anyone have a pic of how tight it should be? Tried searching the forums but couldn’t find anything. Thanks!

Do you have a Factory Service Manual?

 

[89BIGBLUE]

Here:
(Pearl;the cat, likes looking through the FSMs with me.
The dog does the road testing. )

 

[EscapeWagon62]

Just like the manual says (except that replacement cables do not come with a stopper)pull the cable until you feel slight resistance, mark it with a pen as close to the red rubber stopper as you can, hook cable up to the throttle cam, adjust the cable so that your mark is about a mlimeter or so away from the red stopper. You can fine tune later based on your shift preference (smooth shift close to the red stopper, harsher shift if you tighten it up)

 

[Fish929]

So I got the kickdown cable pretty well adjusted, thanks for the info everyone. But now it just won’t go in reverse. Pop it in R, give it some gas and it just won’t move. Pop it in D, 3, 2, or L and it’s fine. But no reverse. Any ideas?