Looking for some help. I recently installed an AOD in my 69. It has a rebuilt 351 Windsor with an Edelbrock Performer 1406 carb and intake. I have the Lokar tv cable and the Sonnax corrector plate on the carb linkage. I have the tv pressure adjusted to around 34-35 psi with the 5/16 gage from Lokar installed and it drops to near zero when removed. Trans shifts smoothly through all gears up to OD. The problem I am having is that the tv cable is so tight that it will not let the carb linkage advance far enough to engage the secondaries and the trans will not “kickdown” at highway speeds (55-65). I have adjusted the “bulk” and the “fine” adjustments til I’m blue in the face. No amount of adjusting loosens the cable enough and does not allow the trans to “kickdown”. Short of replacing the cable and starting over, I’m out of options. Trans is a rebuilt from Monster and I have used all of their recommended parts and done all of their recommended adjustments. Can anyone point me in a direction or point out something I am missing? Thanks for any input.
I’m running the Lokar TV cable behind my 70 windsor/AOD with a holley 4150 and don’t have any issues. If the transmission is operating correctly as the pressure readings indicate, it sounds like a geometry problem on the carb. Can you manually open the primary to full open position with the TV cable attached? I’m not sure how the 1406 is set up to open the secondaries…is it vacuum or mechanical?
It is vacuum secondaries and with the tv cable attached, I can’t manually open the throttle to WOT. The cable is too tight. If I remove it or loosen the barrel nut it will open all the way but then I have to start over with bulk pressure adjustments. I’ve done it twice and ended up with the same result. Cable too tight to advance throttle and no kickdown. Very confusing and frustrating.
I’m thinking it a geometry issue between the throttle cable and the TV cable. They have to have the correct ‘pull’ ratio for the AOD to operate correctly and not burn up. Ask me how I know… I have texted a friend to chime in as he knows this issue inside and out.
Cable too tight and no kick down is not an adjustment problem. If the cable is too tight, kick downs would be too easy. I hate to say…It’s a valve body problem, which means it’s a monster problem. Not sure how that company stays in business.
Thanks for the input. And damn, I was afraid of that… I was hoping against hope that it was an adjustment or geometry issue. And dealing with Monster is a bit of a pain. Wish I would have went to someone else but I bought into the hype. Thanks guys!! As I head off to deal with a bad trans…
Where are you located?
SE Texas near Beaumont
Darn, off hand, I don’t know a shop down there. I own a transmission shop, but are in Massachusetts.
Well that’s a bit far for me to bring it you, but owning trans shop I would take your word for the valve body. And by the way, that’s the 2nd one from Monster. The first one didn’t have OD when getting up to highway speed. Took 2 months to get the exchange. This why I don’t want to deal with them again. Ballpark… what would I be looking at for an out of pocket rebuild?
It sounds like you are mechanical. Being the trans should be pretty fresh, I would suggest buying a valve body to swap in.
If you drop the pan and find excessive metallic or burnt clutch material, then the unit would need to come out. If the pan is clean, go with a different VB. It would be tough to track down what the actual problem might be in their VB.
I’d definitely say don’t get a TCI constant pressure VB. Leave those for the 5.0 guys who use their throttle like an on/off swtich…as in idle or WOT, nothing in between.
I don’t have a direct VB recommendation as I will modify or shift kit the existing VB. The Lentech street cruiser VB might be o-k. Not sure who else is out there.
Part of the problem with AOD VB is results can vary. Vary in the sense of you can modify 10 AOD VB the same way and they don’t work all the same. The AOD VB almost always requires post build tuning. One or two shifts need to be adjusted to have all around good feel and response. Which is why I wouldn’t build and send out a VB that I don’t have the opportunity to tune.
Keep us posted on the progress.
make any progress on the AOD?
Not since Thursday. Stepped away from it to spend the holiday with family. Did a little research on replacing the valve body. I’ve never cracked into a trans and pretty much all I could find was VB rebuild kits. Not a lot of confidence in opening up what could be a good trans and making things worse. Gonna think on it for a while