Removing the kickdown cable (assuming it recoils in the transmission)will cause it to shift very quickly into higher gears- resulting in poor acceleration. You can overcome this by maually shifting. This is what I did on our 88DL until I was able to replace the cable. Our cable was hanging up in the housing which result in the transmission being reluctant to upshift to higher gears. Those shifts when they did occur were rough. You don't mention the mileage but age and mileage combine to wear things out. I bought a little time by lubing the cable but that didn't last long.

Randy