Kickdown Problem 94 Corolla 4A-FE

[samamorgan]

Hey all

My cousin has a 94 corolla with a 4A-FE and an automatic transaxle. Ever since he got it back from getting the engine swapped, its been sluggish, and doesnt shift down properly. For instance, When going up a hill, it should shift down into the next gear when it starts losing power. Not so with this car, you have to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor just to get it to kick down.

Anyone know the kickdown adjustment procedure for this thing?

I think its cable operated, looks like the kickdown cable is connected to the throttle arm. I didnt want to adjust it without knowing the proper procedure, since i know that an improper adjustment can screw up the flow of hydraulic fliuds and such. I havent been able to find out how to do it from this crappy chiltons manual.

Also, when accelerating, the car seems to have a lack of performance, like it has around 60 hp instead of the 100 something it should have. Any guesses on this?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance

[samamorgan]

Also, we replaced the head not too long ago, and i had a helluva time getting it timed right. I lined the hole on the camshaft pulley when the mark on the #1 cam bering cap, while the crank was on 0 degrees. The car seems to run just fine, but when i checked the timing, it was at 15 degrees. Im pretty sure its supposed to be at 10 degrees. Another thing is that the timing on this thing is set, there is no option of adjusting it, apart from changing the cam gear 1 tooth. The distributor has just a bolt hole instead of a slider hole, so no adjustment possible.

[Timberland]

Sounds like you just need to tighten the kickdown cable. I did that to my 4af a while ago and it's been great ever since.