My 85 V6 automatic Fiero, from the day I got it, shifted at an abnormally high RPM from first to second gear. It also shot clean into the redline if I floored it from a cruising speed as it shifted into first (I think it was going to first gear- I never really held it long enough to find out). I was bummed and thinking my 31,000 mile original fiero needed a new tranny. But I was going to live with it, as the fluid smelled good, level was good, and it really just looked like I needed to "drive aggressivlely" to get it into second gear.

Another way to describe the 1-2 shift- if you were cruising a few blocks, with minimal throttle input, you were always going to be in first, there was no chance for second until you gave it some RPM's.

So I started to read up on the auto trannys on the forum, and found this thing called the TV cable. I read and printed the directions to adjust it, and tried that this afternoon. No difference. As a matter of fact, I pushed the button to re-set the cable (assuming that resetting it meant pushing it towards the passenger side), it let out one click, and when I turned the throttle cam, it ratcheted right back. I put a few shims on the cable ball end to shorten it, and it shifted even higher.

Not completely satisfied (and not really able to find a nice description of the whole mechanical and engineering thought process to how this cable actually works) I went back out and wanted to see what difference would be made if I went the OTHER way with the cable. I ratcheted it in about 7 notches TOWARDS the drivers side, and gave it a test drive- holy cow- it shifts like it should now. First-second happens as one would expect it to. 2-3 goes with no hitch (never did have one, but anyway). Still give me the jeebies on the downshifting from cruising speed. So did I luck out and hit this right in a completely blind attempt?

I have nothing to compare mine to, if you look at the pic, you will see a crimped ball on the cable end, is this what the factory TV version would look like, or was mne replaced at one time?

Am I understanding the whole adjustment thing correctly? Or was I going the wrong way with this TV adjsutment? Any other insight on this is appreciated.
Plus I just saved a grand! ; )
Here are pics of the crimped ball on the cable end, and the pic with the screwdriver is pointing to the adjustment I have on it now- initially, that entire section was not visible, as it was bottomed out in the cable adjustment fitting piece
Am I doing this right?

1. Push button.
   
2. Cable should move to unadjusted by itself.
   
3. Let go of the button. Note: Button should look the same as it started and notch section is at/near end of travel.
   
4. At TB, Move throttle to WOT. Do not push gas pedal!
   

That's it.

See cave, auto trans

Anything else, you need a gage for tranny so you can see the pressure.

TH125c uses 2 thing for shift...
TV cable for pressure
Governor for shift timing.

Bad or dirt in Governor kills shift timing. I think you have a Governor problem. Mess it up a trans will never shift right until you visit a trans shop.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top of every forum page...)

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-14-2010).]

Thanks for the reply- I am still unclear as to what way the cable "resets" to- does the piece I have my screwdriver pointed on move towards the driver (extended) or passenger (retracted) side when you push the button? More importantly- what way does that same piece go relative to shift points? ie, towards the drivers side (lowers/raises) the shift points, and towards the passenger side (lowers/raises) the shift point?
And do I have an original TV cable on my fiero or not?

edit... read again...

"Reset" move to retracted, ie passenger, right

I think your's it OE.

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 04-14-2010).]

Yours is OE. How easy is your button to press down? I can't push mine at all without using some serious force and the only way to do that is to remove the cable from the metal bracket. Mine won't "ratchet" when I open the TB either, so I just had to remove the cable and guess at the proper position. Maybe I just need to buy a new cable from Rodney...

Here is a good website explaining how the TV cable works and how to do fine adjustments for optimum settings:
http://www.tvmadeez.com/article/index.html

That being said the TV cable you have could be bad.
If the cable is stretched you would need to adjust it towards the driver side as you did.
The cable over the years has stretched a little causing you to be off when you attemp to adjust it by the book.
If the locking switch is too loose it could cause the cable to not adjust correctly as well.
So getting a new TV cable might make it so you can adjust it by the book.

The basic idea of the TV cable is to move the pressure controller inside the transaxle. It generally needs to move the distance of the pressure spring. (On a TH125 it's about 1.25")

------------------

Happiness isn't around the corner...
Happiness IS the corner.
ZZ4 Powered !!

My fingers could not depress the switch without removing the switch to access it. I do have huge hands, tho. However- it removes quite easily, so no biggie there. It takes some effort to depress the button even with it removed, and when I do the adjusting "by the book" it only ratchets out one click. By ratcheting it out manually about 4 more clicks, I get the shift point to where I want it to be. This does make me think that I have a governor problem. Which leads to my next question- anyone got a link for the gaskets and parts I will need to open this up? It looks like I can do it on the car without disturbing much of anything.
Thanks Oreif for that link- that is exactly what I needed to read, yet could not find on my own!

[This message has been edited by Ikester (edited 04-15-2010).]

Back when I had an auto tranny, I used a big pair of channel-lock pliers and a small piece of wood to depress the TV cable button. I put the little piece of wood on the button, and held it there while I used the channel-lock pliers to squeeze on it. That saved me from having to disconnect / reconnect the cable.

Also note that when you turn the throttle to WOT to adjust the TV cable, you MUST turn the throttle by hand. Pushing the gas pedal will not turn the throttle valve all the way open, resulting in improper TV cable adjustment.