35 mph WOT power loss

-
upload_2020-12-19_22-49-14.png

This is the governor housing on the back of the park wheel. The **** in the valve body you speak of is the governor VALVE. NOT the governor itself. There are weights and springs inside this that determine at what RPM your upshift is at.
 
Yes, you can get pre-made governor weights and springs (I think there's a spring involved, can't remember for sure). The governor is in the tail housing on the output shaft. It's not in the vb. It controls shift timing and line pressure based on driveshaft rpm (changing rear gears often means the governor needs to be tweaked). If I remember right, there's quite a few choices so I'd call the vendors to see what they suggest. Fine tuning is often needed but it's not too hard based on what I remember.

Yes, by throttle lever I mean the kickdown. Specifically the kickdown lever on the trans.
Tree'd me!
 
View attachment 1715653226
This is the governor housing on the back of the park wheel. The **** in the valve body you speak of is the governor VALVE. NOT the governor itself. There are weights and springs inside this that determine at what RPM your upshift is at.

I've never seen this before. Sweet, ill call around and see... you know what would fix this real quick??? Manual transmission lol....
 
It is located in the tail housing, right behind the main case.
 
@408 swinger thats the same video watched! Thank you. I will check this out after testing the throttle and kd response.
 
Last edited:
Ok...I did a couple of things...

I had my kids press on the gas and noticed the throttle linkage wasn't bringing the lever all the way back.

So after putting the kids to bed I just corrected the throttle linkage and readjusted the kickdown linkage...

Tomorrow I will get new heater hoses and then try it out. Right now my trans lever is all the way back when the gas pedal is pushed all the way to the floor, and the carb lever is all the way back as well.

I am willing to bed my throttle linkage being off is the reason I kept feeling like I needed to adjust my kd. Which also could cause the problem with it feeling as if my carb was bogging when I would go WOT while driving.

If all of my transmission problems are a result of my throttle linkage I'm going to feel like such an ***...

The last picture is how much slack there is in the kd when relaxed, which from previous threads looks to be about the same amount...

20201219_221307.jpg


20201219_221723.jpg


20201219_221713.jpg
 
Also when adjusting the line a touch tighter it didnt want to shift into 2nd until much higher speed.
That is proof right there of an improper synchronization between the governor and gear-ratio. You gotta fix that, top priority, else you will be dicking with the KD system forever.

When you put it into Drive, the governor controls the upshift rpm, according to road speed and rpm. With the carb Wide Open, the upshifts should occur at a very high rpm, that you chose, based on where your peak power plateau is.
But, at lower speeds, if it remains set like that, the shifts would be very late and very harsh. So Chrysler engineered the KD system to reduce the internal pressures for a more comfortable driving experience.
But if your governor pressure is out of sync, too high in your case, then your adjustment window becomes too narrow. So then your options are to adjust the KD system to the max, or to crank up the line-pressure, both of which only bandaid a bad situation. Your governor is too heavy/and or too fast. You took a shortcut, and are now paying the price. Daymn covid........
The governor flyweight does not have to be lathe-cut. You can whittle it out with a grinder, just leave a bearing surface at each end. But, it may still require a different spring.

upload_2020-12-20_9-35-19.jpeg
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzAyAegIPjozsjgs_3FtnF3YyXRB82Gj8epw&usqp=CAU.jpg

BTW, the pressure sync will also, to some extent, change your automatic downshift speeds, which can be handy coming up to a corner,or climbing a hill, if your trans has a PT KD. Sometimes it's nice to be able to go down a gear, just by giving it a lil more gas-pedal, instead of to-the-floor, or manually down-shifting..
 
Last edited:
Some lessons just have to happen in order to truly comprehend how the system works.

Boy, that statement really hits home. Seems as though I don't like to learn anything until I've thrown a few wrenches and called the car some choice names - all of this AFTER I've already screwed up a couple times.
 
this is one of the reasons i prefer manual shift valve body's , i know there not for everyone .
 
I've never seen this before. Sweet, ill call around and see... you know what would fix this real quick??? Manual transmission lol....
manual valve body :D

Ok...I did a couple of things...

I had my kids press on the gas and noticed the throttle linkage wasn't bringing the lever all the way back.

So after putting the kids to bed I just corrected the throttle linkage and readjusted the kickdown linkage...

If all of my transmission problems are a result of my throttle linkage I'm going to feel like such an ***...
if you are going to have one of them not correct for now, make it the carb linkage. having the kick down lever working right is more important to keeping the trans from killing itself and making the car drive-able. not getting that last little bit of WOT can wait.
if the kick down and governor issues are figured out, it will down shift so much better, you might even take a break and enjoy driving it until spring :lol:
 
if you are going to have one of them not correct for now, make it the carb linkage. having the kick down lever working right is more important to keeping the trans from killing itself and making the car drive-able. not getting that last little bit of WOT can wait.
if the kick down and governor issues are figured out, it will down shift so much better, you might even take a break and enjoy driving it until spring :lol:

whoa... Take a break? what is this crazy talked? I've been only doing "little" projects lately

Plus we "need" every little bit of power...:poke: :p
 
Last edited:
Boy, that statement really hits home. Seems as though I don't like to learn anything until I've thrown a few wrenches and called the car some choice names - all of this AFTER I've already screwed up a couple times.


Well then you are doing it exactly right. If you don’t call your car names you don’t really love it. I try to control my swearing but Dammit, that ***** pisses me off. Fights me on everything, never gives much satisfaction and costs money just sitting there.

Part of it is making it YOUR car. I bought my car from my uncle after my cousin died. I’ve been making it “my” car ever since.

The biggest issues come up when I go against my gut and not make the car mine. Things like the fact that I hate, with a passion that worthless, idiotic spool Mount K member.

Hated that system since I had to work on the first one in 1980. And since my car is a 73, that’s what it has. When I went through the engine and front end back in 2014, I went against my gut and didn’t change out the K member.

And I kicked myself every time I looked at, every time I looked at and even thought about it. This time (because I went against my gut AGAIN) I’m changing to the biscuit Mount K member. Then I can run solid mounts and have a much better system for locating the engine.

That’s why you’ve got to make these cars your car and piss on what everyone else thinks.
 
In all your crawling under, have you disconnected the lever at the transmission to see if it can go back any farther? I know I keep hammerin on it, but it's that important. If all you're doing is just crawling under and trying to push the lever back, you may be missing it. Unless you disconnect the lever at the transmission, you're not eliminating "all the rest" from holding the throttle lever a little forward. You need to isolate that lever and make sure it has FULL TRAVEL rearward. You could save yourself pulling the pan.
 
You could even tie it all the way back with a zip-tie, and that will cause the shift to NOT occur until way up the Rpm band, so you could at least know if you are in the ballpark.
I think what Rusty is alluding to, is that the length of the lever on the trans,which determines it's "ratio" has to be synchronized to where on the throttle arm, the other end of the cable is working from.

If the trans lever relative to the throttle arm, is too long or too short, then it will not downshift satisfactorily; being either too late or too early.
Furthermore the normal shift quality could be too soft or too harsh. And as you may be discovering, there is no happy medium.
Furthermore, it is possible that with the cable pulling the lever all the way back, that the secondaries cannot fully open, or conversely, that WOT cannot pull the lever all the way to the back. But I think you might have that part figured out.
 
Ok update... fixed my hose... since I was fixing the one hose I fixed them all...

The trans was shifting a touch late, so I adjusted it like 1/2 turn on the adjuster nut. Tried it again and it was a touch better and so I adjusted again 1/2 turn and hopefully that puts it pretty darn close.

Tomorrow I will do a couple partial to WOT pulls and see what we got. I was getting yelled at for going out tonight, she said I should have done all that while the baby was sleeping.... instead of taking 2 naps today... :rolleyes:

I did notice that the trans was not flaring up at all when shifting. So thats good, the flare was im hoping caused by the carb not fully opening...
 
Did you teach the AC a lesson?

Lol no... I want to really bad all it does is look pretty and suck HP.

I was worried about pulling it and not having the brackets; causing problems with the length of the bolts that hold everything on. I'm probably over thinking it though...

20201220_173800.jpg


20201220_173819.jpg
 
-
Back
Top