Good Day, gentleman. I've been reading thru numerous posts on "kickdown cable"s for a th350 trans and I'm still kinda confused I see it can be a touchy subject for some of our members becuase of difference of opinion on what its specifically used for. Well, here's my situation...

I have a 80' malibu with a 350/350 combo and when I originally had it built, it was suggested to me to get a kickdown cable if I wanted a "passing gear". So I understand that this cable that I purchased (made by Lokar) puts my trans from 2nd to 1st or from 3rd to second if I mash the pedal a certain amount (say, more than 70 percent, depending on my current speed). Is this much true???
Okay, that was fine for awhile. Now, I have a B&M Quicksilver floor mounted shifter, but is seems to be USELESS with the passing gear cable hooked up. At a stop, shifter in first, I take off, about 70% thorttle. Slam it in second at about 3000 rpm, the trans responds about 1 second later... Moving along fine in second, slam it to third at about 4,000 rpm, the trans doesn't respond until about 2 1/2 seconds later, about 4500 rpm. Not happy at all!!! I thought something was wrong with the trans or shifter.
Question, is my kickdown cable rendering my shifter useless? Can I disconnect it with no problem? Would it be 100%beneficial for me to do this? Seems like the cable is keeping my trans in 2nd even though I want it in 3rd

THANKS EVERYONE!

Good morning~

No Takers yet???

Maybe I rambled too much. Just trying to figure it out myself I guess, by talking it out. My main question is this: Performance-wise, what would be detrimental in removing my kickdown cable to better make use of my floor shifter?

The kick down cable is a basically a mechanical downshift. If you have a auto trans with an auto/manual valve body and that shifter, you can downshift manually from inside the car at any time. If you want to be able to hit passing gear by mashing the loud pedal then the kickdown cable is for you. My, limited, understanding of the mechanics of the kickdown cable is it is either on or off. It can be adjusted at the carb to engage at full throttle or 70%, if that's what you want. If you are saying that your tranny didn't take the extra second to shift, then disconnect it from the carb, & try without. It won't hurt anything to not have it connected, except your wallet. If the tranny shifts different with it's disconnected, adjust it to engage later and retest. Let us know the results.

Thanks T-Man
I guess it is Safe to run it with the kickdown cable disconnected. I just wanted to ask some of you hotrodders, just to gain a little knowledge. I looked it up in some past posts but there was a disagreement in the function of a kickdown cable (which is not a tv cable, correct?) and the results of disconnecting it. I just want my tranny to shift when I shift it, and not when the kickdown decides. Thanks again!