Thread: D1 300tdi auto - kickdown adjustment

I've just been out and played a bit with the adjustment. My problem was that the transmission wouldn't kick down at all, eg 90km/h in 4th (~2000rpm), floor it, but no kickdown.
I'd already checked that the throttle cable was adjusted correctly and getting to full travel (against the stop on the pump body).
What I've done now is to adjust the kickdown cable a small amount at a time until it now kicks down nicely if you floor it at 100k.

Its made a huge difference to the way the car drives, and in general seems to be much more responsive and stays nicely in the 2-3000rpm band under medium throttle.

I've read through the road test procedure for the auto, but its a bit scary.
Not sure I want to do the likes of Check 20: "at 128km/h select 2nd - no downshift should occur"

My question now is: Is it OK just to leave the adjustment as it is, or am I setting myself up to do some major damage (ie should I be taking it to someone who knows what they are doing)?

All i can tell you is that from what i have read, if you set the kickdown incorrectly you can kill the trans, i think it is meant to have some slack in it at idle but yet still achieve full travel when required ? Hopefully JC will come along with the lowdown.

That's my concern.
I'm surprised that I couldn't find any specific 300tdi adjustment info, as its definitely different from whats in Rave (unless I've got an old version or something).

Ok, the correct meatho adjusting the kickdown cable is as follows.

Disconnect it from the Pump end,
You then adjust the pin to have between 3mm>5mm of space between the pin hole and the pin.
You then pull the cable up and slip the pin in the hole.

In reality this is a PITA as the tension on the cable is fairly strong for just fingers (but it shouldnt be too tight) so I normally just make sure the slack is out of it and then go a turn and a half or so more and lock it up.

Your trans needs to have tension on the Kickdown cable to achieve for line pressure so it is important to NOT HAVE ANY SLACK but also not to have it too tight as if you put too much tension on it it can break the end off in the trans and then you have no kick dowon cable and minimum line pressure meaning you will burn out your clutch packs quicker.

Thanks mcrover, I'll give that a go.
Mine definitely has slack in it at idle - I reckon about 5mm or so.

Do you know why there are 4 holes in the pump arm?
I realise that the outer ones will give greater cable movement, but is there one that is normally used, or what determines which hole to use?

I dont know the reason behind it but mine is in the second hole from the outside.