Torqueflite Shift Points

How is the best way to adjust shift points on a torqueflite? I just did a band adjustment, fluid and filter change and now have all gears, but don't think it is shifting at the right time. 1-2 seems ok, good and firm, but seems to be a little late unless I manually shift from 1-2 then it's instant. Shortly after going into 2nd while either in D or shifting from 2 into D it seems to shift quickly to 3rd but the shift itself is a little more drawn out and kind of bouncy if that makes any sense. Anything I can do to adjust it and make it better?

The shift points are determined by the throttle pressure off of the kickdown rod on the carb. Making that adjustment shorter (screw the rod end in towards the firewall) will make it shift sooner, adjusting it longer will make it shift later at a higher RPM Let us know how that works for you

How do the governor flyweights play into this?

R.

Is this at part throttle or WOT? this might be too simple but would a weaker spring on the 1-2 shift valve let it move (shift) earlier and a stouter spring on the 2-3 shift valve so it would shift later. No expertise here just thinking out loud

""this might be too simple but would a weaker spring on the 1-2 shift valve let it move (shift) earlier and a stouter spring on the 2-3 shift valve so it would shift later. No expertise here just thinking out loud""

I tested with a couple different governor assemblies until I got my 1/2 & 2/3 WOT shifts in the "range" that I wanted. Then I started testing with different shift valve springs to dial in each rpm.
Since the diameter of both valves are different, they react different when changing the fluid pressure. My goal was to get my 1/2 and my 2/3 WOT shifts to be the same rpm. When I started, one was 400rpms different than the other with the stock springs. I found that dialing in the spring pressures was an easy way to tweak one or the other to bring the WOT shift points closer to each other. Now both of these WOT shift points appear to be the same on my tach (non digital). It should stay that way as long as I don't adjust the line pressure.

Note: I pulled the spring out of each valve hole. I used a digital scale and pressed each spring against the digital scale to just under coil bind. I wrote down what each spring showed on the scale and then got online and found a couple of spring manufacturers and bought springs with the same OD, but different spring rates (it was a guess, so I picked a few). Then once they were shipped to me I used the same digital scale and wrote down the readings (lbs @ just under coil bind) of each spring and placed them in their own plastic baggie. Then I just swapped in springs based on if I needed more or less spring pressure until I got my shifts where I wanted them. I found that the two spring companies that I used wanted me to buy a minimum of 2 springs of each size. I don't recall exactly, but I might have bought $10-12$ worth of springs plus shipping per each of the two companies.

Note 2: Before I bought the springs, I bought the Split Shift spring kit from A&A. This kit got me to within 200rpm between the two shifts. I wanted the shifts to be even closer together, so I bought the springs for testing. This is also when I bought the re-usable transmission pan gasket which worked out great when I had to pull the pan 4-5 times to get the springs correct.

Note 3: I found that the heavier shift valve springs delayed the WOT shifts as noted above. I also found that they delayed the light throttle shift points too when the tranny is in D.

YO7 you've definitely done your homework on this deal! Ok so the plan is to get WOT shift points in the ballpark with the right governor assy then work with the (2) springs. What should a person do with line psi? do you adj it first? how/when do you adj the TP (kickdown) rod

Part throttle. The 1-2 shift for me is acceptable. Good and firm. It's really how I think the 2-3 shift should be to me and probably just seems a little late because the 2-3 is so soon after and kinda bouncy. So my thinking was the spring in the governor for the 2-3 may be too weak. I was wondering if there was a good kit to try that may help the issue? I thought about messing with the throttle rod too, but that would affect both shifts and not really allow me to do anything specific with the 2-3 shift right?

What year torqueflyte are you working on? If pre 1971 it will shift a lot sooner in mph than the 1971 and later tranny with the part throttle kickdown vallve bodys in them On all the fully automatic stock torqueflytes the shift points are determine by throttle pressure based off of the kickdown rod from the carb.

My 67 torqueflite is in 3rd before I get through the stop lite.. Yes, if I throttle it up more ( more line pressure?) it shifts later but that's like having a drag race from every stop I make.. Have adjusted the kickdown may times..

Are you saying if I upgraded to a 71 later valve body with the PTK valve it would stay in gear longer??

Not sure what you mean by "bouncy" but a lazy 2-3 shift might simply be pressure leakage in the front clutch circuit due to age/wear or linkage adjustment.

For purposes of linkage adjustment, what carb do you have, stock or aftermarket? If aftermarket do you have the correct Mopar throttle lever extension?

Set line presure, select governer weights/springs to the desired 2-3 shift, then adjust (usually stiffen) the 1-2 shift spring. This is the best way in my opinion. If you have a tighter converter, and do actual track testing, you might find that you will et better with different 1-2 and 2-3 shift points.

got it, thank you!

It's a stock 1970 T/A stock carb.

The shift into 3 from 2 seems kinda springy. It's fine when driving although the shift itself is not firm and crisp like the 1-2, but happens quick after the shift into 2. When I had it up on jack stands and it would go into 3 it was like it was springy and at a certain speed the rpms would fluctuate, bouncy, as if on a spring and I could feel surging. Not sure how else to describe it. On ground with weight on it and in 3rd you don't get the same sensation, but the shift is the same, not crisp and firm kinda drawn out but quick after the shift into 2nd.

Also what would a transgo kit like the SK-TF do for it?

What is the best way to make sure the the throttle rod for the trans is adjusted correctly and what exactly does it affect?

Try screwing the throtte pressure rod out 3 or 4 turns and see how you like that Let us know how you like that or not

Never, never, (one more time for effect), never judge shift quality while the car is on jackstands.

I'm not really judging the quality of the shift from what it did on jackstands, just relaying what it did. I don't like the way it does a decent and firm 1-2 and then quickly goes to 3, but kinda seems to slide or bounce into 3.

I'll try the throttle rod adjustment, but would like to know more about what adjusting it actually does, what it affects, and how to properly adjust it. Where can I find info on that?

What about the transgo SK-TFSC?

This is all new to me so any help would be great. Thanks for the help so far.

The trans throttle pressure rod effects trans throttle pressure which effects the shift points along with gov pressure and the shift valve spring. What happens is the trans has gov press and trans throttle press working against each other basically. Gov press goes up as the driveshaft speed increases and as gov press goes up it will move the shift valve over when its high enough. But the shift valve has throttle press and a spring on the other side and the gov press has to work against trans throttle press and the spring to shift the trans. So as the car speeds up gov press goes up and when it goes fast enough for the gov press to overcome the trans throttle press and the shift valve spring the gov press moves the shifht valve over and the trans shifts. But as you know when you go faster the shift points go up. Thats because when you step on the gas more you move the trans throttle press rod and when you move the rod it raises throttle press in the trans so you have to go faster now for gov press to overcome the throttle press and spring and now the trans will shift at a higher speed. If the throttle press stayed the same it might shift into second gear at 10 mph on light throttle or at full throttle. So basically throttle press works with the gas pedal linkage so when you step on the gas the throttle press goes up to raise the shift points. Now if you lenthen the trans throttle press rod you will raise the throttle press at that point and the shift point should go up. But remember it takes throttle pressure and gov press along with the shift valve spring to determine the shift point. Basically gov press on one side of the shift valve works against throttle press on the other side of the shift valve. So anytime you change the throttle press , gov pres or the shift valve spring tension it will effect the shift pont. Hope that helps some as its just a quick reference to give you an idea of throttle press and how it works. Ron

Anyone have any input on the Transgo SK-TFSC?