Hey guys, I recently had a lot of acceleration/shifting troubles and thanks to Jerry Bransford I traced it back to a Throttle Valve (TV) cable issue. As far as I understand it, the TV cable is the relationship between the throttle body and the transmission, acceleration and shifting.
Here is an excerpt from the factory service manual (FSM) about the TV cable:
This adjustment can be done in under five minutes, and I actually have it down to under a minute now, hood up to hood down.
First, here is a picture of the Throttle Body, but I've altered the image to give you a good view of the TV cable specifically.
![Image]()
The idea is to get the TV cable to move the throttle body lever to move at the same time as the transmission throttle lever. You can accomplish this two ways: one requiring a buddy, one that doesn't.
First, unclip the black retaining fixture on the end of the TV cable.
![Image]()
Second, release the black plastic clip that is holding the TV cable to the metal bracket. To do this, you simply squeeze both sides of the black clip and slide the clip backward through the bracket.
![Image]()
Now, here's where the adjustment comes in. Next, you gently pry off the white retaining clip with your nail or a small flathead screwdriver. You'll notice the cable retracts a bit with the clip off. The idea, as previously mentioned, is to get the throttle body lever (the arm that was attached to the first black clip you removed) to move in sync with the transmission throttle lever. To do this, you can either have a buddy watch one lever while you move the other, ensuring the levers both start at the same time, get to the middle at the same time, and end at the same time.
![Image]()
Or, you can do the old trial-and-error method and simply take it for a spin after each go around. Either way, it's quick and easy.
With the retainer clip removed, adjust the cable in or out to your desired length/tension. Once the appropriate cable position is reached, rescuer the white retainer clip.
Then simply follow all the steps in reverse to reassemble the cable. Now, take her for a test drive and see what you've got!
Here is the official adjustment text from the FSM if my version is too hard to follow.
Here is an excerpt from the factory service manual (FSM) about the TV cable:
With that being said, I often found it difficult to adjust the TV cable, I never knew really which one it was (I originally mistakenly adjusted the speed control cable), how to adjust it, and when to know it was right. So, now that I've figured that out, I thought I would share it in detail for future folks.
This adjustment can be done in under five minutes, and I actually have it down to under a minute now, hood up to hood down.
First, here is a picture of the Throttle Body, but I've altered the image to give you a good view of the TV cable specifically.
The idea is to get the TV cable to move the throttle body lever to move at the same time as the transmission throttle lever. You can accomplish this two ways: one requiring a buddy, one that doesn't.
First, unclip the black retaining fixture on the end of the TV cable.
Second, release the black plastic clip that is holding the TV cable to the metal bracket. To do this, you simply squeeze both sides of the black clip and slide the clip backward through the bracket.
Now, here's where the adjustment comes in. Next, you gently pry off the white retaining clip with your nail or a small flathead screwdriver. You'll notice the cable retracts a bit with the clip off. The idea, as previously mentioned, is to get the throttle body lever (the arm that was attached to the first black clip you removed) to move in sync with the transmission throttle lever. To do this, you can either have a buddy watch one lever while you move the other, ensuring the levers both start at the same time, get to the middle at the same time, and end at the same time.
Or, you can do the old trial-and-error method and simply take it for a spin after each go around. Either way, it's quick and easy.
With the retainer clip removed, adjust the cable in or out to your desired length/tension. Once the appropriate cable position is reached, rescuer the white retainer clip.
Then simply follow all the steps in reverse to reassemble the cable. Now, take her for a test drive and see what you've got!
Here is the official adjustment text from the FSM if my version is too hard to follow.
