AOD kickdown

I have an 84' 302 with an AOD trans in my 29. I bought them together. Should there be some kind of kickdown cable on this trans? I read somewhere that it should and don't know anything about this type of trans. I can run a stock 65 Ford 2 brl or an Edelbrock 4brl. if one is better than the other. Also the trans has a small 3 pin switcth on the side. Is that the back up/neutral safety switch? I've built the car around this combination, so any help would be greatly appreciated,Thanks, Charles

 

Yes it definitely should, and if it's not adjusted right you can burn up the trans pretty easy. Lokar's cable is the easiest to setup.

 

where in cecil co are you??

I just got a 40 ford coupe with a 302 aod. so I am also looking for answers..

my car appears to have the remains of the stock linkage in tact, but I have no idea how its supposed to function..

 

For a Ford AOD (and a GM 700R4) a THROTTLE VALVE CABLE (TV Cable, NOT a KICKDOWN) MUST be used...

This is not an option, this cable controls tranny line pressure. The cable attachment at the carb linkage, cable PLACEMENT, and SETTING, HAS TO be "balls on right", proper geometry is a MUST. All of this HAS TO BE RIGHT or the tranny can (and probably will) be smoked in about a MILE.

I have not trashed an AOD, but me and my son have trashed a couple of 700R4s when the cheap ass aftermarket brackets came loose and/or we used the wrong attachment to the carb.

LIVE and LEARN,,, this is no place to b.s. around, or to be in a damn big hurry, and to say "good enough",,, cause it ain't...

 

So where does it go and how does it attach? It was missing when I got it. Also, does it attach to the shifter? I have a Lokar unit installed.

 

What everyone said about burning up that trans without the TV cable hooked up is dead on.

It should be hooked up to your carburetor. I know it may be a hassle but try looking up motorcraft carb pics from the early to mid 80's Ford cars and trucks. Maybe ford-trucks.com would have some pics readily available. I could be mistaken but I believe the TV cable hooks to the carb on the driver's side and used a ball stud like the throttle linkage to connect. I COULD BE MISTAKEN THOUGH... the last time I did anything with one of those transmissions was 7 years ago on my brother's '83 F100.

If you want to get a cable on the cheap, just go to a junkyard and pay close attention to how everything is mounted. Probably a 10 dollar part. Snag a junk carb for brackets and linkage too...

Good luck!

 

Lokar has the info you need, and the pressure issue is most important. I have the same setup in my F100. Beg, borrow, or rent a pressure gauge to set the pressure.

 

Thanks for the info. By pressure are you talking about spring pressure or fluid pressure?

 

Before you get confused any further I also have a 1984 302 & AOD,the Lokar kit is super EZ to work with, SO BUY IT! there are three websites I will send you to,save them in your"favorites" to refer to as needed.#1 www.becontrols.com/tech/aodfaq.htm #2 www.clickclickracing.com tons of info on forums #3 www.tciauto.com/products/instructions/instructions/431000_inst.htm AOD transmissions had several weakness prior to 1988 a good quality shift kit should fix most of those,also changing to a 88-91 Valve body is a good plan and big improvement,the '84 AOD had a "C' servo, change that to a "B" or "A" servo,if you are running 3:55 rear gears or more you need to change to a high rev governor Silverfox on clickclick can hook you up.The pictures show the Lokar cable and TV cable(not a kickdown!) on a Holley and The Carter AFB (I have it's twin for sale if interested) which is on the car now.

 

Here is the hook up at the tranny. You have to have a "down" arm. not an up arm. One was floor shift in original cars and one column. They can be changed by dropping the pan. Don't remember which is which. I added the small spring because the Lokar spring would not pull mine enought to get line/fluid pressure needed. It is the internal fluid pressure in the tranny that you need to set. The added link between the AOD shift arm and the shift rod from the column is to allow indicator location at the upper column. I believe Lokar now has a shift linkage setup to accomplish both areas of adjustment. Joe

 

Don't let the cable scare you off from doing what you want to do, do it but just get it right!

I will imagine that the Lokar cable is pre-engineered, and from all accounts, seems the way to go.

 

The spring you added is something Lokar should address but hasn't a lot of the AOD websites suggest this be done,also levers from AOD's from a floor shift car point down,column shift AOD's point up.If you use a B&M shifter you need to use their lever kit that is optional,I jerry rigged mine to work OK because I didn't want to disturb the valve body and drain all my new fluid.

 

Up to (@ least) '83 the AOD uses a rod, not a cable. TCI has a constant pressure valve body that removes the gnats ass adjustment, just get close with the cable & you're good to go with it. If you take a collumn shift AOD out of a van & put it in a collumn shift car, the shift pattern is reversed on the lever, don't ask how I know....

 

Use the Lokar cable, add another spring at the trans and then trailer it to a trans shop and have the pressure set up done or if your lucky like I was have a friend who has the correct tools and the know how to use them set the cable.

Chuck

 

Always double check the pressures in your aod, and make sure that they rise at the correct rate in conjunction with the throttle. Here's a recent run of events we have just experienced at great cost.

My mate has just fitted a tuned 351c (400 horses) and an Art Carr built aod box in his 32 roadster. He installed all the correct adapter brackets for his 750 vac sec holley to allow the use of a lokar tv cable.
We set the pressures to the correct settings (less than 5 psi at idle and 33 psi with the pehg installed on the tv cable), took the rod out and the clutches fried almost instantly.
Got the box rebuilt by a reputable transmission company ( £516 ,850 us dollars later), refitted it and took it back to them to check the pressures. They found that although we had the correct pressures at idle and with the peg installed, the pressure did not start to increase until at least half throttle.
We checked the linkage he was sold, it was the correct one for the aod and was a summit item. We altered it slightly but found that the main cause was the coffin shaped connector on the lokar shifter. It seemed to loose a fit and allowed the tv cable to twist down before it was pulled. WE removed the coffin shaped connector and installed a swivel type cable connector and the problem was solved.

Hope this helps Paul.

 

Thanks, guys. Now I have a good idea of how to hook this thing up. The trans was in an 84 Crown Vic with a column shift. Wil it work okay with the Lokar floor shift? It seems like the linkage is too long for the trans. Charles

 

Not to thread jack, but had a question for those of you with more experience. I just bought a '70 F100 with a rebuilt 302/rebuilt AOD in it as a donor for my F1. I was told it runs and shifts fine but will not go into overdrive. I have basically driven it on to the trailer and off the trailer at home, but don't know how much the PO has driven it. Is this thing smoked? Everything I read here says that it should be toast, but I expected if it was toast that it would not shift/drive??? Any help?

 

you need to first check linkage,carb,shifter both. make sure all is connected and working properly. then you may or may not have a toasted slushbox.

 

I have smoked 3 autos in my life and OD was always the first gear to go. I would take it to a good trans shop and let them look at it, go through it, and rebuild it if needed.