Hey guys, so right to it, can you have too much TV pressure? Initially once installed, i set it at 0psi idle, and 34psi with the lokar spacer. At this setting, it shifts nice, no slipping, not teeth rattling, but i was expecting a bit more. What is unfortunate, it short shifts something terrible. If you dont have the throttle buried, it grabs 2nd almost instantly, and will jump to 3rd at about 20mph, OD around 40. Even with it floored, it is shifting around 3200 if i had to guess. Fast forward, had to dig the carb apart to clean out the passenger side idle circuit and when putting everything back together, i missed that the cable wasnt fully seat in the bracket. This added nearly half and inch of tv preload. Took the car for a quick trip and noticed it was kinda hanging in 1st, it shifted around 17-20 mph under very light throttle and would about snap your neck. Floored, i would have to back off to get it to shift without over-revving.
Of these two situations, i would say that #2 is closer to what im looking for (holding too long, shifting firm). I have zero idea what my tv pressure was with the cable jacked up, so my question is this: Can running high TV pressure hurt the trans, or am ok as long as it is on the high side? Can i adjust it until it holds the gears where i want and shifts nice and firm and call it good, or is there a safe max idle / shim pressure?

The transmission has a shift kit i installed. It is a trans-go, i went basically "stage1" on everything, ie for 300hp as thats around what ill be after the new top end on the 302. I did not change any of the governor stuff, as i wanted the trans to shift around 5k, which is where they shift stock i believe. It is out of a 91 lincoln and has the A, OD servo. Ill add also that i have 3.73s with 275/60/15s which ive read can confuse the governor.

 

Too much pressure can break parts. Adjusting the TV is not the best way to adjust when it shifts. You need to modify the governor to change the shift points. I recommend setting it to 34 PSI with the spacer and adjusting the governor to fix the shift speeds.

 

Damn... ok good to know, thank you.

 

Any advice on how to know which springs to use to get it ballpark 4500-5000?

 

No, I don't know the specifics.

 

When I adjusted my TV "by the book" like you did, I got the same results that you are experiencing - low shift points and an unresponsive transmission. I think setting the TV pressure with a pressure gauge is to get the *minimum* amount of safe TV pressure. Full-size luxury cars like Lincolns used that setting for smooth, seamless shifting. Trucks and Mustangs used a bit more TV pressure to get firmer, more positive shifts and more responsive downshifts. My 1985 F150 Lariat came from Ford with an AOD and there is a sticker on the visor that clearly says that overdrive should come in by about 45 MPH. The Owner's Manual also states that.

If you set the TV cable to have no slack or tension at idle, that is essentially the minimum safe setting that will get softer shifts and overdrive will come in early at around 38 - 40 MPH. I set my TV cable at the maximum safe setting to be at full pull at wide open throttle. In other words, full TV pressure at full throttle. This will give the TV cable a little bit of pre-load at idle. I found this to be a much better setting and results in a much more responsive transmission.

Capiche?

 

Thanks for the info Lariat, i will give that a shot. However, if i remember correctly, i was getting full TV travel with is set per the lokar instructions, IE, taut but "closed" at idle, and maxed out with full throttle, no extra free play. I have 4.10s in there now, so im going to swap in the 5k spring, silverfox says the spring ranges are based off of 4.10s. So with my 275s, that should put my shifts just under 5k at wot, which is perfect. Heres hoping.