[xj40] shifting 88 Jag XJ40 (XJ6)

XJ40
1

Thanks to Brian and Elliot, I am working successfully on low
pressure brake problem. Now another cropped up. When cold the car
wont shift out of 1st. It just started doing that. We found a
totally rusted air intake valve and cracked hoses, and repaired
those, but apparently have new tranny. Could it be kick-down? Car
goes like alittle ol lady on onramps and passing. Same problem? Or
two seperate things going on? Thanks for any input…Susan–
Susan
Santa Barbara CA, United States
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2

Susan

Not sure since you need to post the year and model of car as well as
country in some cases to be able to answer these questions.

Not sure what you mean by rusted air intake valve either. Do you mean
on the transmission or brakes or elsewhere?

Goes like a little old lady on on ramps. Kick down? Can you get it to
‘kick down’ by stepping hard on the gas? It should down shift or kick
down one or two gears.

Have you tried using the J gate? That is moving the lever to the left
and shifting manually? You can shift the top 3 gears. You can try the
J gate downshift if the foot pedal doesn’t downshift as a test to see if
its transmission problem or kick down cable adjustment.

The 88-89 Federal Cars had the HP 22 transmission the 90 -94 cars had
the HP24 which had the added option of an electronically controlled
shift. The HP24 cars have what is known as a Sport Mode Switch on the
console near the astray. If this is engaged it lights up and says sport
on the dash. If you are in Sport mode and kick down the car should take
off like a rocket.

As for not shifting out of 1st when cold there could be a number of
reason but one needs to know what model car and transmission to answer
so I wont suppose here.

Jay 90 VDP Majestic

Vasil wrote:

Thanks to Brian and Elliot, I am working successfully on low
pressure brake problem. Now another cropped up. When cold the car
wont shift out of 1st. It just started doing that. We found a
totally rusted air intake valve and cracked hoses, and repaired
those, but apparently have new tranny. Could it be kick-down? Car
goes like alittle ol lady on onramps and passing. Same problem? Or
two seperate things going on? Thanks for any input…Susan

Susan
Santa Barbara CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–

Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !

Visit the Jag Lovers homepage at http://www.jag-lovers.org for exciting services and resources including Photo Albums, Event Diary / Calendar, On Line Books and more !

3

In a message dated 8/3/2005 12:20:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time, “Vasil” smvasilakos@hotmail.com writes:

When cold the car
wont shift out of 1st.
There are several things that can cause the transmission on your '88 model not to upshift. Perhaps the two most common are (1) sticking kickdown cable, and (2) dirty governor. Since the kickdown cable problem is easy to see & fix, have a look at that first and post back.

If the problem is the kickdown cable, it will actually upshift at around 4200-4500 RPM. The kickdown cable runs from the throttle body, where the throttle cable from the throttle pedal is attached, rearward to the transmission. Over time, this cable can chafe against the firewall and rub a hole in the cable cover, letting water in, and causing rust & corrosion that prevents the inner cable from slipping smoothly in the outer jacket. This causes the cable to “stand open” where it is telling the transmission that you have near WOT (Wide Open Throttle), and so it does NOT upshift until higher RPM’s, as it would if you had WOT.

With the engine off, pull & push the cable to free it up, and/or remove the cable from the throttle attachment and put some light-weight oil on the interior cable, letting it run into the outer cable sheath to assist in lubrication. If that doesn’t fix it, replace the cable.

goes like alittle ol lady on onramps and passing. Same problem? Or
two seperate things going on?
Probably separate problem. If the upshift problem is the kickdown cable or governor, that would NOT affect acceleration when you floor it in 1st gear. If you don’t know when they were changed, I would change the (1) air cleaner element, (2) fuel filter, and (3) spark plugs. These are all relatively simple and cheap to do, and any one of them could cause your problem.

I would suggest you first fix the trans upshift problem (it could cause clutch damage if you delay) and then you can tell more about the performance with normal shifts.

George Balthrop, Clifton, VA USA
85 & 89 XJ-S Coupes; 89 XJ40 VDP

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