Niko

I've hot a 69 olds with a 77-80 350 engine.. I identified the transmission through the pan pictures as a 400... I've seen stuff that the 400 doesbt have a kickdown cable but it clearly has a kickdown cable attached (or was at some point as it's just hanging there) .. So I'm confused as to whether there is a cable, whete it attaches or whether the pan is so ehow wrong.. Any thoughts would be helpful

MDchanic

Photos...

- Eric

Octania

The most obvious TH350 vs TH400 cue is the number of bolts holding the tail housing to the main case. Four for the small trans, six for the TH400. Hex pattern vs square pattern.

TH350 generally has a cable going into the RH side, near the oil fill/indicator pipe.
TH400 electric kickdown will be an electrical connector with 1 or 2 terminals, on the LEFT hand side.

Niko

It's definitejy a 400 but it definitejy has a cable coming out of the left hand side.... No clue what I'm doing with it

oldcutlass

You sure it's not your speedometer cable?

MDchanic

TH400s don't have cable operated kickdowns. They just don't.

- Eric

Niko

I honestly don't know.. It comes out of the tranny then goes up through the firewall toward the carb..could that be a speedometer cable?

MDchanic

The transmission is outside of the cabin.

The engine is outside of the cabin.

Are you saying that it goes into the cabin through the firewall, then out again somewhere else?

- Eric

oldcutlass

As Eric asked earlier, t's time for pictures.

Niko

I'm not sure how to attach a picture but the cable is hanging outside of the transmission... It looks like it used to go in but became disconnected... It's on the driver side.. When I followed the cable it goes through the firewall and comes out in the engine towards the carb

MDchanic

This is difficult to picture, because, as I noted earlier, both the engine and the transmission are on the same side of the firewall (the outside), so if it goes to the engine through the firewall, it must go in through the firewall in one place and come back out in another.

- Eric

Niko

I think I misstating it.... The cable runs from the transmission underneath towards the engine then goes through (perhaps not the firewall but something ) into the engine compartment

70cutty

That's the speedometer cable.

MDchanic

Okay, but, so that you understand my confusion, the cable can run from the transmission, along the underside of the floor pan, and up in front of the firewall to the engine without ever going through anything.

So, if it is going through something, it is important to know what and where.

- Eric

MDchanic

Also, you do understand that had you posted a single photograph of this cable at the beginning, any of us could have told you exactly what it was immediately instead of playing "20 Questions" with you, right?

- Eric

mike8162

The only cables on the Turbo 400 are the Speedometer cable which connects to the driver side rear of the transmission right above the cross member. It enters the cabin through a grommet at the top of the angled portion of the firewall/floorboard. If you have a floor shift there will be another one that leaves the cabin on the hump and connects to the shift lever above the transmission pan. There is also a wire on the driver side for the kick down. The passenger side will have a vacuum hose the runs to the engine and two cooling lines.

Niko

Great.. Thanks... So where is the kickdown cable?

mike8162

That would be the wire on the driver side which is triggered with a switch above the gas pedal. No cable for the kick down it is electronic on the Turbo 400.

Niko

Thanks.. Where is the switch?

MDchanic

Everyone on this thread, INCLUDING YOU in your first post, has said that the TH400 does not have a kickdown cable.

Please. I'm getting really tired of this game.

- Eric

Niko

I know.. I asked whete is the switch... Sorry for my ignorance

oldcutlass

The switch should on the gas pedal, under the dash.

MDchanic

If you slide upside down under the driver's side of the dashboard, you should see a switch that is actuated by the lever above the gas pedal. It should be adjusted so that is closes when the pedal is floored.

- Eric

Niko

Is it attached to the pedal itself?

MDchanic

It is generally attached to the pedal framework and actuated by the lever part of the pedal that sticks upward.

- Eric

Niko

Thanks

69HO43

Let's try something that nobody has yet to try in this thread- add a picture!

Below is a picture of said kickdown switch above the pedal. In case you need a map.

MDchanic

Party pooper.

- Eric

Niko

Thanks.. That helps..

Octania

If you think that helps, you should see the info available in the factory chassis service manual [CSM]!

Seriously, YOU SHOULD SEE THAT INFO.

Go get your very own CSM.

Much is revealed therein-
Where things are
what they look like
how they are SUPPOSED to work
How to troubleshoot quickly
etc.

70cutty

X2.
You will be surprised when you see all the info that's revealed.

MDchanic

I am surprised at how many long drawn-out questions here could have been answered by a quick glance in the manual (which is available for FREE from WildAboutCars).
This is why I will often post pictures from the manual in answer to questions. It is a way of saying, "If you'd opened the manual, you could have found this yourself."

When I was younger, whenever I got a car, the first thing I would buy for it was the manual. The first thing I would do when I got the manual was to look at every page, from front to back, so that I knew what was in there, and roughly where it was located.

Of course, we didn't have the internet back then, and couldn't just post up any question we wanted at any time of the day or night, and expect a group of strangers to stop whatever they were doing in order to serve us an answer on a silver platter.

- Eric

Niko

I don't "expect " anything Or "expect"
Anyone to drop what they're doing.. Certainly if Sknekne diesbt want to answer they don't have to.... But thank you to all who did

MDchanic

Your original question still isn't answered, and you still haven't posted a single picture, and this thread has been active through 34 posts and nearly 24 hours.

- Eric

Niko

You all DID answer my question and as I said BEFIRE I'm not sure how to attach a picture.. If you feel so strongly there's no need for you to resound to my posts... Me ry of other people, too numerous to name have given me great help without the unnecessary diatribe or insults

MDchanic

I'm sorry. I was making a point about how when a simple question is asked in a simple way, it is generally answered quickly and efficiently, and everybody can move on, instead of becoming mired in repeated variations of the same question and answer in different words.

Look at this thread, for instance.
Guy asks what kind of motor he has and posts pictures of the appropriate numbers.
Within ten minutes there are four replies, each written at about the same moment, any of which would have answered his question, and it's done.
Then he has a follow-up question, which is also answered.
Simple.

In this case, you could have asked, "Do any models of TH400s have kickdown cables?"
Answer: No.
Done.

You could have asked, "I have a TH400. What is the cable coming off of it?"
Answer: If an A-body or a '71-on fullsize, it's your speedo cable, if it's a pre-'71 fulsize, there is none.
Simple.

You could have asked, "What's this cable in the picture?" showing either end of the cable, or the place it attaches to the trans.
Answer: It's your speedo cable.
Simple.

In this case, you said, "I've seen stuff that the 400 doesbt have a kickdown cable but it clearly has a kickdown cable attached (or was at some point as it's just hanging there) .. So I'm confused as to whether there is a cable, whete it attaches or whether the pan is so ehow wrong.. "

• You've "seen stuff?" Man, I've seen some stuff, too...
• "it clearly has a kickdown cable attached." Do we ASSume that you or do not know what a kickdown cable looks like, or do or do not know what a TH400 looks like, or that you do or don't know anything at all? Who knows?
• "... I'm confused as to whether there is a cable..." You just said there was a cable, and that it was "clearly" a kickdown cable.
• "... I'm confused as to whether... the pan is so ehow wrong.." Well, we have no idea what you saw, either in illustrations of pans, or on your own transmission, so how would we know?

You then say, "It's definitejy a 400..." but you already said it was "clearly" a kickdown cable, so what are we to believe?

You then say that it connects to the carburetor (which, if it's your speedo cable, it clearly does not). Once again, what do we believe?

Then, after having been told clearly and repeatedly that TH400s have no kickdown cables, you ask, "So where is the kickdown cable?" Again, what are we to think?

As I said in the first response to your question, photos would have been extremely helpful.
"Don't know how to post photos"?
You joined a year ago and have fifty-one posts here. Unless you are elderly and/or have never used any other internet forum before, it is hard to imagine how you could have avoided learning this one piece of information, as it is essentially the same on all BBS services, especially since VBulletin is the software running most of them, and it operates the same way everywhere.
Right in the "Site Help" section, there's a thread entitled, "Help with adding pic to thread." If you were to go there, it would answer that question clearly.

Bottom line: My point remains. Lack of initiative causes vague, confusing questions to be posted, leading to meandering, inconclusive threads (we still aren't certain that that's your speedo cable, as you said that it goes to your carburetor) which waste all of our time, when a little bit of extra effort (looking in Chassis Service Manual, searching for how to post pictures, reading questions through for clarity before posting them) would have made this simple.

- Eric

1971cutlas

Wow, I just realized I spent 10 minutes on reading this .!!!Did I learn anything?NOT

MDchanic

I have been advised that the OP may not be a native English speaker (though there is nothing about his home country in the sidebar).

If so, then I am sorry for any nitpicking I have done with regard to his use of language, though my basic point of vague questions (from lots of people) causing unfortunate members like 1971 Cutlass to waste their time still stands (Sorry for my contribution to that, 1971 Cutlass).

- Eric

69HO43

Whut?