Bouncy Transmission

[ZeroLux]

Hey that last topic reminded me to ask about this. Only a few problems left to hammer out with my LX-i now that she's running a lot better.

I have a problem with the trans. It's the auto, seems to work fine in lower gears, but it wont 'hold' 4th... at least that's what it feels like. The best I can describe it is if I am driving along at speed, and finally get to 4th, occasionally it does not last, it'll bump back down to 3rd (you can feel it pretty well), the rpm's don't change much from what I've noticed but you can feel the car slow down when you are trying to maintain speed. Most of the time it will bump back up after a second or two, just to repeat it's performance all over again.

Now, this does not sound like slipping to me. My main question is does this sound like a bad trans not having a good final gear -OR- is my lockup solenoid giving me fits and it's not telling the trans what mode to be in sometimes? Would that feel the same as what I've seen so far? Can't say as I've ever had this happen in a car before so I'm a bit unfamiliar with it.

I know the kickdown cable might be a part of it, but it ONLY does this in 4th, no other gear. If it was the kickdown, I would imagine it would do it all the time regardless of gear.

If it's the solenoid/lockup, how could I go about checking this? I'd prefer to save cracking open the tranny as a last resort. Oh and a side note: my fluid level is fine, I check it occasionally, the color is good, does not look or smell burned, no particles floating around in it either.

Thanks again people!

Zero

Edit: Checked out the FSM a little, and while I don't understand automatic transmissions very well, I do understand the difference between electronically controlled and hydraulic, and from what I can see so far I guess I can rule out the 'solenoid' part of the question. :) That is, unless I missed something.

[2oodoor]

I is the cable, but dont call it a kickdown cable because it also is a thottle pressere control for the "valve body" in the tranny.
the position of the cable determines if the spool valve on the other end of it lets fluid go to the actuation device for a certain range of gears.
Too far out one way or the other will cause the transmisson to either not even go into a forward gear, or in too high a gear, or it will not shift out of gear to the appropriate gear.
You will notice all the autos do drift in and out of torque conv. lock up (kinda a 5th gear when in D4) around 60-65. It should hold in 60 and come out when you accleerate to higher until you settle in a cruise speed. Very slight diff in rpms though.
Souinds like the cable needs a good lube to make sure it is not hanging and it returns to home position when you let off the gas. Then you can adjust it, keep in mind do not adjust it more than two to three threads at a time. You may have to experiment to get it adjusted in the right direction to get the shift you want.