My kickdown cable recently broke at the connection to the throttle. The car now upshifts really fast (too fast sometimes) and obviously won't drop gears as i hit the pedal. Is it bad for the tranny to drive like this, other than having to manually upshift for rpms? I'm going to get it replaced soon, but i'm working out-of-town for two more weeks and only trust my mechanic. The car in question is my 90' 240.

I have been driving around with a disconnected kickdown cable for almost 2 years now. I shift it manually when I need some decent acceleration, other than that I have had no problems. My cable is stuck in the no throttle position so position isn't an ussue with mine like your may be. I would have replaced it but I could not get that damn pan off.

Just thought I would let you know 30,000 miles with it disconnected and no problems.
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1989 Volvo 244 DL 218k Miles, the proper color brick red.

I think that if you have a few inches of cable sticking out, you maybe can cobble something together to make it work. You get a cable clamp at a hardware store. You might even use just a knot in the end of the cable, tying a cord to the knot. Leave enough space in the existing cable so it can get pulled into the sheath when you accelerate, and attach a heavy cord or appropriate cable to link to the pulley. You'd have to adjust your cord to approximate the effect of a properly installed cable. That is, just a small amount of slack when the foot is not pressing on the pedal.

I never did this - but if it happened to me and I was away from home, I'd have a look to see if it could be done.

Is there enough cable coming out of the sheath so you can secure it?

I don't know for sure that it's dangerous, but wonder if it might slide back in and cause problems inside.

I hope you get some knowledgeable responses.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.