The cable affects shift points. It was used on all models up until the mid 90's when the electronic transmission 722.6 came along. If the cable is broken or has too much slack, you shift into higher gears earlier, and you don't get downshifts when expected.

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I wouldn't mess with that cable unless you had the correct procedure in front of you. You might piss the fuel computer off and put the car in limp home. Cleaning these early air mass sensors rarely yield any difference and they rarely failed. Do yourself a favor and go after the obvious before wasting your or anyone else's time.

OK, it looks like the 722.6 tranny first came to the W140 in 1996, so your car will have the control pressure cable and vacuum modulator. There is no limp home with those trannies, and the cable has no input to any engine computer. The cable should be adjusted to about zero slack.

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