AgRunner06

I'm not sure if this will apply to newer 4runners and Tacos but this is what I've found for my 3.slow/auto. The other day I noticed my kickdown cable was loose so I tightened it as far as it would go. Now I get quick, crisp shifts. Now the transmission doesn't feel near as sluggish as it did. The firm shifts are very nice. It also feels like I'm getting more useable power but I did advance my timing another degree or two the other day so that could be why.

This is a must-do for you auto guys.

:bounce2:

Bigblock

been there done that;i dont know about longevity though.

Del

How does one go about doing this?

gohawks

I wanna know too!

ChickenLover

It's the cable next to your throttle cable. It extends to the passenger side and goes under the truck to the tranny. Tighten 'er up! It makes quite a difference. I've got to agree with Agrunner, it's a must do. Just don't tighten it so tight that you can't push the throttle. (they kinda work against each other).

dibble9012

Ill have to try this, sometimes my truck waits to shift for a long time, the RPMs will almost get up to the red line, all I have to do is let off the gas, then push on the gas a little and it shifts, maybe this will fix that?

2001Millrunner

dibble, is urs a 5speed?

Del

Ok so WOW! That made a huge difference. Before I tightened it, I'd have to let off the gas a little so it could shift. Now it has no problem! This came right in time too because I had just noticed it was loose and couldnt figure out what it was. But now I have a question...

I adjusted it to the max, so what happens when it comes loose again?

dibble9012

its a 4 speed

dibble9012

heres a pic of all the cables. None of them are "tight", they are supposed to have some slack in them right? I looked and did not see and tightening screws. The loosest cable is the cruise control one (one farthest away in pic), which probably would explain why my cruise control sucks (slow response).

dibble9012

ok, I dont know the "official" way of adjusting these, but maybe i figured it out, lol. I just moved bent the gas pedal a little bit. hahaha, j/k. I just moved the nuts (top left) towards the end of the 'bolt' (where the little rubber boot is). WOW IT MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I could feel it before I left the driveway. Now I am still going to go out and adjust it a little bit cause the shifts are still a little too far apart. I really didnt think about the fact that I could change the idle, from what ive heard anyways. But I didnt notice any difference in the idle, so all is well!!!

mkodish87

There is supposed to be 1 millimeter of slack inbetween the rubber boot and the mark on the cable that is either a lead ball or a yellow mark. Adjust it with the gas pedal to the floor.

dibble9012

I looked, didnt see any marks or lead balls, just a metal crimp type thing that cant be moved. Why adjust it with the gas pedal to the floor? seemed to work fine when I adjusted it with the pedal in a normal position.

elnido

bump...

mkodish87

well that metal ball is the piece. I don't know why your supposed to do it with the gas peadl to the floor, I was just following the instructions out othe haynes book.

toyotaoffroad91

if you adjust it to far out you will damage your valve body pressure will be to high!

AgRunner06

How do you know? I've put over 1000 miles with mine tighted up and have had no problems.

I adjusted mine with the pedal in the normal position and then just tightened it all the way up. That was only about 1/4" or less from where I adjusted so that it had no slack in it so I'd bet my cable has stretched a little over the years.

I'm still happy with it.

elnido

where do you tighten these cables? Mine have the ball on one end, and two nuts holding the cables where they are mounted. Is this something I have to do at the pedal? The gas pedal will open the butterfly at the TB all the way on it's own, I'm woundering about the one to the Transmission(auto).

94x4

The two nuts that are holding the cable to the mounting plate are how you adjust the slack by loosening one and tightening the other as the cable itself runs through a thread bar:

Take two 14mm (mine were 14mm, yours may be 12 or 13mm) box wrenches and place them on the two nuts;

With one wrench on one nut and the other wrench on the other, push/pull the wrenches in opposite directions to one another to break the nuts loose;

You should then be able to move the nuts with your fingers which you will use to turn the inner nut (the one closest to the end of the cable) as close to the end of the thread bar as you dare to go and/or as far as the slack in the cable will allow you;

You then screw the other nut in towards the first nut to tighten the assembly up on the mounting plate and, placing both wrenches on the nuts, push/pull the wrenches in opposite directions to one another to tighten the assembly back down.

Jump in, fire the truck up and take off, but be careful as it will kick as it goes through gears, more so depending on the amount of throttle that you're giving it, so be prepared.

Tacoma Dude

You don't want to do this - it'll mess up your tranny pretty quickly.