so if push comes to shove, I may just throw the towel in and buy a new solenoid to fix my late 4th gear engagement. tomorrow if the weather is right I'll play with the KD cable. right now I don't think it's the relay, as I still get the on/off orange arrow light with the O/D button. also I will take a look at the solenoid connector where it plugs into the white wire near the rear of the tranny. last I remember it was pretty grimey and oily. maybe this could be the culprit. thanks faq for that tip! I'm not too thrilled about spending loads on a new solenoid. I'm fairly small, with small hands, so I'm hoping I can do this without removing the center tranny support. if it's what I think, it should be a cinch: clean the area around solenoid very good, use a special wrench to remove both 12mm nuts, unplug solenoid from white wire, put in new solenoid and plug it to the white wire.

I have yet to try a new relay, play with the KD cable, and check under the shifter console and solenoid connector under car to see if these are the culprits before dealing with the solenoid. yes, I've flushed the atf and the level is up to par.

I just want my O/D to shift at the normal 40-43mph range! and not the 60mph O/D kick in I've been getting the past two days. it used to be 50-55mph.

get a bag and something to lube your kickdown cable before you go through the pain in the ass that i changing the od solenoid.

a bad solenoid isn't necessarily a go no go thing. my solenoid worked intermittently for a month before i replaced it and now it works all the time.

oh and if you do end up replacing the od solenoid, save yourself the bloody knuckles and just drop the tranny a bit with a floor jack (it's only 4 bolts to let the thing drop) and buy some degreaser and a long bristled brush to clean the hell out of the area before you take it off.

it took me all of about a half hour to replace mine and rewire everything with silicone jacketed cable (i figured since i was already under there i might as well make it so i didn't have to go under there again for a while).

If there is a problem with the OD solonoid, wiring, relay, switch this will typically prevent OD (4th gear) from ever engaging at all. If you have a bad solonoid or relay for example, speeding up will do nothing at all to encourage it to engage or shift. If it is merely late engaging this is almost certainly a problem with the KD cable. As you probably know it can get sticky and not slide back when gas pedal is released or reduced for cruising, tranny thinks you are still stepping on the gas hard and refuses to upshift. Of course this would result in the apparent slack or looseness at the pulley. No amount of adjusting will solve the problem when the real problem is that it sticking inside it's sheath. It can be lubricated, freeing it up to allow the cable to be pulled back by the spring inside the tranny. There is info on this in the FAQ I believe.

Perhaps try flicking it to see if it will return further or all the way to confirm this possible diagnosis.

Driving on the highway in 3rd will not hurt a thing, in fact your engine likes higher RPM's up to a limit of course. I drove for a while with no OD, just kept it under 65 or so.
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David Hunter

If it is merely late engaging this is almost certainly a problem with the KD cable.

I believe the KD cable tension affects shifting on all gears, not just OD. And UD the poster said the direct gears shift at the proper speed -- only the OD is late.

At least that was my experience with the Throttle Valve cable (Ford name for KD cable on the V8 Auto OD tranny). When the cable broke, all shifts were early, and I could get OD at 35mph. Increased tension delayed ALL shifts.

I think it's possible that due to contamination, wear,etc., the solenoid-controlled oil flow could be reduced or restricted such that only the OD engagement is delayed.

Hope we get feedback on the final fix.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current) — 240s (one V8) — 140s — 122s — since '63.

Bruce, I agree that other gears would also be delayed but I am assuming that the poster has not noticed this or the change in the lower gears was marginal. I always like to try the easy and more likely things first.
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David Hunter

For what it's worth, I don't think you're going to solve your problem by replacing the solenoid. Your solenoid is more like a go/no-go component, either allowing the transmission to shift up, or not (and likewise for the relay and the shifter switch); and since your tranny can shift up (albeit at higher rpms than you prefer), I look elsewhere, especially at the kickdown cable, and the freedom of movement of the linkage controlling the tension on that cable.

If I were you, I would persistently look into the cable and it's connected parts, not only for it's adjustments (i.e., how it links to the throttle), but also whether it's binding or sticking in its sheath. This really sounds more like a kickdown cable problem.

Good luck.