I know this is not a new discovery whatsoever but just wanted to report that by adjusting the outer cable (closest to camera) so that the bead sits just at the opening of the sheath my shifting got meaningfully smoother. Slightly slower to shift but much smoother and basically imperceptible in most circumstances and what I want from this car. I was feeling discouraged because I got my suspension perfect but could still feel more shifting than seemed normal for this car. Now it feels like I would imagine it was supposed to. I thought maybe it was my fluid level or something with my transmission but it turns out this cable just needed re-adjusting.

Before:


After:

 

There is supposed to be 0-1mm of play, pull back the rubber boot so you can see what it actually is. And yea if adjusted wrong shifts will be hard.

 

Hmm the factory manual I recall said make sure the cable isn’t slack, and then you are making sure the bead is 0-1mm outside of the edge of the sleeve. Which may be kind of what you are saying but it didn’t say to pull on it to test how far you can pull it…I have it about flush but it may be just ever so slightly inside. Weather was horrible so once calms down a bit I may undo a slight bit of what I did.

 

There is a crimped collar on the cable that is supposed to have barely any slack against the threaded portion. Can check this by simply pulling/wiggling the cable.

 

Ok thanks. I will look for that and continue to fiddle around with it to try to get it right. Certainly a big improvement right off the bat.

 

very good job! i thought that was just for the kickdown to the trans for downshifts, but it makes sense it's related to upshifting as well.

 

Adjusting this cable absolutely made my every day shifts smoother. At this point, almost imperceptible on most shifts it seems. Anyone with hard shifting should try this first in addition to basics of fluid level and color etc.

For the other cable that connects the accelerator cable to the butterfly, does anyone know any official procedure to adjust? Or just general principle of a slight bit of slack but not too much?

 

A few years ago I adjusted my throttle cable, I had too much slack. The pedal did nothing for the first 1\2 inch of travel (annoying on highways), the car was shifting early when I floored it and the car wasn't actually making full power. The other extreme is a high idle because it's constantly holding the throttle slightly open. Finding the balance between these two actually took me a fair bit of adjustment. In my case, the sweet spot ended up being where the cable still feels "supple" and I can push it down with my finger maybe 3\8 to 1\2 inch before it overpowers the throttle spring and starts opening it.

As the cable stretches due to age, I would imagine everyone is on the too loose side of the tolerance gap and will be tightening their cables.

I checked my repair manual for my 98 and there is no torque speculation or tolerance specified. It just says "reinstall cable".

 

Sounds good thanks and that’s basically the approach I took. I didn’t want it taut but it was a little too sloppy after 30 years.

On the “other” cable (kick down cable or whatever it’s called) I lined up the bead right at the opening of the sleeve (so 0mm on the 0-1mm spec) and that seems to be where it is happiest after a little trial and error. Was getting some jerking in the shifting before and it was because I was definitely >1mm.