Hi, I have noticed my kickdown is not attached but it looks like something is missing, the rod doesn't reach what appears to be the hole where it would attach to. The carb is a 4v 1.12 Autolite 4100 on a 390ci 1965 Ford Country Sedan. Does anybody have the same set up they can take a picture of so I can have a go at fabricating the missing bit? I know the dashpot is missing, (It's had it! and a new one is on order). View attachment 14391 Many thanks Phil.
The linkage is in two pieces, and if you pull the tab towards the kick down rod it will likely reach. There is an adjustment screw on the linkage to allow for that difference in position. Do not drive much with the kick down disconnected, as it makes the transmission shift 'funny' and will cause a LOT of wear.
The linkage must be seized on mine then as the two plates move together, does it attach to the one nearest the carb, the one with the screw on it? If so I can't see where it would attach if it did go back far enough. Unfortunately the car is at my workshop (about ½ hrs drive from home and I won't be able to get out there until tomorrow evening) as I am itching to get and have another look at it now.
Phil, the kick down rod connects to that stud facing towards the left side of the car. When new, there was a rubber grommet in the hole of the rod. If that has perished, a spring clip to hold it in place works quite nicely. If it is stuck, then check the rest of the linkages, as they may all be binding up. I know I often have problems with carbs and throttle cables because I set the carb just right, and the idle stop has never been in so far. The cables tend to bind up at first until I get a bit of lubricant in there to free them up.
Still confused, sorry. That stud is where the throttle cable came off, (Its not connected to anything in the photo), does the kickdown go on there first, followed by the cable? If so I guess it mustn't be the original carb on there as if I pushed the plate back to meet it the throttle would be almost fully open. But if that's the case I can easily lengthen the rod so it meets it.
Have you crawled under the car and examined the other end of the kickdown rod? It could be stuck in passing gear which will eat your trans up in short order. My stepdad bought a new 62 galaxie and went thru 3 transmissions. They finally called a factory field mechanic in to look at it. He determined that it worked OK until the passing gear was used, and it stuck there. Ford gave him a new 1963 car for no charge, and this was before the Lemon Laws were in effect. There has to be a reason why yours is disconnected.
That was good of Ford to do that for him, cool. I've not got under the car yet, no, but it does easily move backwards and forwards by hand. I've not driven the car any distance yet, only around the farm, but yeah your right, it is worrying as to why it has been disconnected.
Sorry. I just looked again, more closely. It looks like there may be part of the linkage missing. There should be a second stud for the kick down rod to mount on.
Sussed it, someone had connected it all up wrong. They had connected a spring (circled) to the kickdown plate using the stud that should have been used to attach the kickdown rod, this was holding it tight against the throttle plate. Once I disconnected the spring I was able to move it back to the correct position and slide it over the correct stud. Now just got to sort out a spring to hold the throttle in the right place. Thanks for the prompts, I knew something wasn't right, just took a little while to work out why. Cheers Phil.
By George, you've got it! Some people do some strange things, and it can be a bugger figuring out what they did and why! It should work just fine now!
Kickdown Make sure that you adjust the screw so that when you are at wide open throttle the kickdown rod is all the way back.
