Auto Transmission 6k RPM

[Austin Gillespie]

My automatic cappuccino is awesome. Went with auto as LA traffic is sadly no place for a manual and I'm pretty happy with that decision. The one weird thing is that the revs seem to be limited to 6000 rpm and when accelerating it will just hold gear and top out at 6k and you have to let off the throttle for it to want to change. I know the redline/rev limiter is supposed to be near 9k rpm so this is quite odd to me and annoying that I can't use the higher power band. Does anyone know why this is or how to get past it? Or do a manual swap lol? Any help would be much appreciated from the few of you with auto caps or if anyone on the manual side has any insight. Thanks!

[Ian Linden]

I would guess that the Aisin torque converter is unlikely to perform well at over 6000 rpm - it is probably a standard design used in small cars and not a "racing" design. We do not have the performance data for the K6A engine fitted to the auto Cappo, but the F6A develops maximum power at 6,500, and there is not much point in taking it any higher, even if it is redlined at 8500. I suspect the K6A is similar.

[Keith Branch]

My K6A 97 auto has a redline of 7500 rpm, my 92 F6A 5 spd has an 8500 rpm redline. I notice the same problem but mostly in 1st gear. When you start it up and head down the road 30 seconds later it wants to wind to 5500-6000 rpm before it goes from 1st to 2nd. Once warmed up it seems to rarely want to start off in 1st unless you come to a complete stop.

[Ian Linden]

I'm not much of an expert on the subject, but I understand that the K6A ATX is controlled by hydraulic logic, not by electronics, as is the case on more recent cars, so the actions may well be sensitive to the temperature of the transmission fluid.

If you suspect it is not performing correctly, it may benefit from a complete drain, flush and refill, with the filter(s) renewed/cleaned.