Braided replacement TV cable for the GM 700R4 that holds line pressure correct on carbureted, swapped, and aftermarket-intake engines.
If your 700R4 shifts early and soft, flares between gears, or burned a 3-4 clutch pack not long after it went behind a new engine or carburetor, look at the throttle valve cable before anything else. The Lokar KD-2700HT is a cut-to-fit Hi-Tech replacement for that cable, built for the street rods, C10 and square-body trucks, and Camaro and Chevelle swaps where the factory cable no longer fits the throttle linkage.
Lokar calls it a kickdown kit, but on a 700R4 the cable is far more than a passing-gear trigger. It strokes the throttle valve in the valve body, and the TV pressure that valve produces is what raises line pressure as you press the pedal and pushes the upshift points higher. The 700R4 has no computer doing that job, so the cable is the only thing telling the transmission how hard the engine is working. Sonnax's 3-4 clutch research makes the point directly: on the non-electronic 700R4, line pressure is set by the TV cable, and low line pressure is behind most burned 3-4 clutches.
With the engine off, pull the throttle to wide open by hand. The cable should travel smoothly and the inner wire should be pulled to its full stroke right at wide open, with no slack at idle being taken up halfway through pedal travel. If the cable binds, has a broken self-adjuster, or the slug at the carb end sits partway out at closed throttle, it is not doing its job. The best check is a line pressure gauge on the case tap: pressure should climb as throttle opens. If pressure stays flat with a good cable, the problem is inside, often the TV or boost valve, and our 700R4 valve body testing guide walks through it. For the full story on why the cable matters so much, read 4L60E electronic throttle control vs the 700R4 TV cable.
The KD-2700HT is Lokar's braided stainless housing kit for the GM 700R4, including the 1982-1992 Chevrolet and GMC C/K trucks, Blazer, Suburban, Camaro, Corvette and Caprice that came with one, plus any 700R4 swapped into an older car. Lokar's installation sheet covers the 700R4 with a two O-ring trans tube and a metric hold-down bolt. The kit is designed to mount to a Lokar carburetor bracket and springs, part SRK-4000, which is not included. It is meant for carbureted engines; a fuel-injected setup needs a throttle body that provides a TV cable attachment, and many LS throttle bodies do not. The housing is cut to length at install. If you are unsure your transmission is a 700R4 rather than a 200-4R or a 4L60E, check the tag or send us the year and VIN, and see everything for this unit on our 700R4 parts page.
If the transmission already slipped on a slack cable, a cable alone will not bring back burned frictions. Pair it with a 700R4 shift kit during the repair, and check our 700R4 common problems guide for the 3-4 clutch and sun shell failures that follow low pressure. A budget alternative is the factory-style ATP Y-228 TV cable.
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On a 700R4 they are the same cable. Lokar sells it as a kickdown kit, but it controls the throttle valve, which sets line pressure and shift timing, not just the passing downshift.
No. Lokar designed it to mount on its carburetor bracket and springs, part SRK-4000, which is sold separately. The kickdown mounting bracket that bolts to the back of that bracket is included.
Only if your throttle body has a TV cable attachment or you add a bracket that pulls the cable in the factory geometry. Many LS drive-by-wire or truck throttle bodies have no provision for it.
Lokar sets it with the throttle held wide open and the inner wire pulled tight. Verify with a line pressure gauge: pressure should rise with throttle, and a full-throttle 1-2 shift should be firm and late, not soft.
It fixes the cause if low line pressure from a slack cable was the problem and nothing has burned yet. If the 3-4 clutches or band are already damaged, the unit needs repair as well.
