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**mad cyclist** · 28 May 2008, 15:45

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hi steve

fill the auto transmission fluid through thedipstick hole it is a purpose made fluid.

i'm a mod so i am sure the auto boys will confirm

rgds nick

**GDPR** · 28 May 2008, 16:06

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SwissSteve wrote:

I know this is a funny question but as this is my first stag and I am < 20 miles in the car since I bought it 2 years ago itis quite obviously different handling than with a modern car.

Firstly when I start the car I need 50% choke to accelerate away. How should one get thecarinto Drive ( automatic box I shouldsay ) as I get quite a large thump as it engages. I tried psuhing the choke in to reduce the revs but then I need the choke out to accelerate away whilst still cold. Now to operate the choke cable without snapping it one must push the accelerator slightly so that the choke comes out ok. I think you see my issue.

I also had a couple of times tonight when I engaged drive from cold and nothing was selected. After moving the selector a couple of time through the options it then engaged. Could this just be lack of use?

Once the car is warmed up, I still find the gear changes to be a little thumpyeven when no choke is applied. Is this normal?

The last issue is regarding whengear3 is selected. As 50KPHis th espeak limit in town, the stag seems to want to go into top at 60KMH this is a bit of a pain as I must accelerate to 60, foot off the accelerator and then she changes down after a couple of seconds. Is this normal behaviour? Can I ajust whentop is selected?

Lastly I checked the auto box fluid level and noticed it was at themin mark so I needtotop it up. Where does one add this fluid? The fluid in mine is pink is there anythingspecial I should buy to put in.

Sorry for the long questionarre and I appreciate the comments of others who have an automaticStag. I will obviously searc out someone over here to have a go in theirs to see the difference but until then I would appreciate any advice from you guys.

Need to answer this in bite-sized pieces - will return later.

Russ

**Kevin Garrod** · 28 May 2008, 16:10

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Hopefully your gearchanges will improve with the correct amount of fluid and everything warmed up. Mine clonks more than modern autos when selecting gear especially when on choke, this should improve when I've fitted my 4 speed auto conversion

.

60 k is about 40 mph I think, you should be up to top by then with a light throttle, if I'm very gentle with the loud pedal I think mine changes up well under 30mph, but I'd have to get back to you to confirm.

It may be that an adjustment is needed to the kickdown cable or maybe something more serious? Top the fluid and take it from there!

**Bazstag** · 28 May 2008, 16:36

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Mine changes about the same as Kevs,

Are you checking the levels when the car iswarmed up and idling? if soand it is at min', as i remember, it only needs about 1/2 litre to fill. Do not overfill! You might find it very slow topping it up and as Kev says top it up thru the dipstick, you can get a litre bottle with a plastic spout from all motor factors. As for more tech stuff i'll leave you in the hands of the 'magic mechanic' Russ.

Baz

**SwissSteve** · 28 May 2008, 16:44

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I will add the 0.5 litre and see what happens. Regarding the kickdown cable this was reassembled back into its bracket when all was reassembled after the cylinder head fix. To be honest I just put the pable pack in place without any ajustments to the setup whould not know what to adjust. Hopefully someone on the forum can advise.

Also the accelerator and Choke cables probably need some adjustment. Maybe the engine tickover is running a little jast which would also give the klunk I guess when selecting gears.

Is this a home activity to set all this up including tickover speed etc? What gear would I need? Is there any goods references regarding stag on how to do all this for a novice willing to learn.

**stustag** · 28 May 2008, 17:03

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Hi Steve

My car is an Auto BW35 Stag and until recently I had some of the symptoms you describe.

Firstly I recommend getting the throttle cable and tick over(engine hot)adjusted correctly.

Secondly adjust the choke cables taking care to cut off any excess cable and solder or use electric cable heat shrink stuff to cover the exposed ends so they don't fray and get caught in the linkage mechanism and jam the throttle open!

Thirdly adjust the kick down cable as per the e mail I have sent you.

This should go some way to curing the problems you are having.

Stuart

**SwissSteve** · 28 May 2008, 22:19

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Thanks I will take a look.

But just how smooth can one expect the operation of the automatic box to be?

**mad cyclist** · 29 May 2008, 01:31

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hi Steve

I did have an auto once and the changes between gears were noticeable but not worringly so,unless it was being worked hard then it was more pronounced, however on mine going into drive on the first movement of the day was quite harsh and i think that this is what your getting.

remember of course that this gearbox is the best part of 40years old in design and the operation is noever going to be as good as modern electronically controled auto box.

rgds Nick

**stustag** · 29 May 2008, 03:53

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The BW35 is not known for it's smoothness, R being particularly thumpy. When I select D in the morning it goes in smoothly and changes are noticeable but smooth, my gearbox was rebuilt 2 years ago so this may be why it is smoother than most.

The most important thing is to make sure the cables all of them are correctly adjusted as they all effect the auto box performance especially when cold.

When in D and on light throttle the box should change into top by approx 25-30mph and if the throttle is pressed more than 3/4 and I think below 60mph it should kick down and rev to 4-4.5k rpm before changing up.

Stuart

**SwissSteve** · 29 May 2008, 05:00

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Hi,

stustag sent me the pictures of the kickdown cable assembly.You say to make sure it is adjusted correctly, how easy is it to do yourself? Ialso get the same thump asyou guys mention but I think after I have reset idle etc it should improve some what I hope.

The real pain for me isthe change ot top is 35MPH which is just a little high for me. Can one adjust this or is it fixed if the cable is set correctly?

Iwill fill up the oil in the gearbox and then do some tests. then once I have a benchmark I will start to tackle the issues on the forum one by one.

Couple of last questions:

1.What do you guys use to set the idle speed?

2.Is it recommended to let the engine warm up before moving off?

**GDPR** · 29 May 2008, 05:37

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Not being lazy, but just copied and pasted something I wrote earlier this month and it is totally relevant regarding kickdown cable adjustment and shift speeds.....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes Steve, but it should be done by removing a plug in the gearbox, fitting a pressure gauge and adjusting the cable to achievethe correct pressure (50-65psi at 750rpm in D).

However a good rule of thumb is for the gearbox to change into 3 at about 24mph on a very light throttle, flat road- this should be a gentle change.

Slacken or generally adjust the kickdown cable until this occurs and you are pretty close to where you should be. The cable can actually become slack and the crimpagainst the cable adjuster if the crimp has moved or the overall internal box pressure has increased due to bedding in following rebuild, when the crimp would have been initially positioned and set by the transmission builder. This is of no consequence if you can be in top by 25mph and the kickdown works correctly.

Kickdown should then be checked that it works, and if it doesn't just check you are actually getting full throttle when the pedal is floored - you'd be amazed how many cars have badly adjusted throttle cables, chunks of carpetin the wrong placeor bent pedal arms and youare only getting 3/4 throttle!

Russ

**SwissSteve** · 29 May 2008, 05:47

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I like jobs that involve taking the car for a drive.

It could takehours to set this up

**GDPR** · 29 May 2008, 06:13

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If you need me to make up any other reasons for you to drive your Stag, please feel free to let me know and I'll happily oblige!

Good luck and happy driving.....

Russ

**alan_thomas** · 29 May 2008, 06:26

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As a 'auto' owner I have a couple of points to add.

My tickover is set to around 500rpm and even at this speed the tickoveris quite even andthis stops the 'clunk' when putting into gear.

Avoid high tickover for another reason - In stop start traffic with an auto it is easy to leave it in drive and just hold it on the footbrake, this will lead very quickly to overheating if the idle is too fast. To avoid overheating set the idle low and always drop it back to 'N' or 'P' when you stop (this also greatly improves fuel consumption in traffic!).

Make sure your choke cables are adjusted correctly as the first 10mm you pull out should only adjust the idle speed and should not start closing the chokes. This allows you to set the normal idle screw to idle very low and then you can 'fine tune' the idle with the first few mm of choke pull. It goes without saying the chokes should open together but it a common problem for the choke actuator nearest the front of the car to stick and not snap shut when the choke is pushed in.

The choke is a constant source of annoyance to me (so much so I am converting to fuel injection!) it annoys me because It is difficult to reach (its fitted on the side for LH drive cars!) and the caralways needs choke when startingfrom cold but only until the revsreach 1500rpm when I need to push it in only to pull it out at the next junction when the revs drop.

- Alan

- efi rules!

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