Kickdown occurs when a driver pushes the gas pedal past a certain threshold, signaling the transmission to drop one or more gears for maximum acceleration. Older hydraulic transmissions use a physical kickdown cable connected to the throttle linkage to increase line pressure. Newer electronic transmissions rely on the throttle position sensor to execute the shift.
Heard on the job
The transmission shifts fine around town, but the kickdown cable is out of adjustment so it won't drop a gear when you floor it.
Insider tip
On older cable-operated transmissions, a misadjusted kickdown cable can cause stacked or delayed shifts across the entire RPM range.