CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THE 1ST TO 4TH GEAR LIGHT ON THE DASH AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN. READ THE MANUAL BUT STILL A BIT CONFUSED WHY ID DOES THAT. :confused:

 

It's called CAGS. I believe it stands for Computer Aided Gear Shifting. Someone might have to correct me on that. Basically when you are stopped and accellorate slowly, the light will come on at around 1500 rmp's. If you accelorate to, I think, 2000 rpm's the light will go away. Basically this is what GM did to get away from the gas guzzler tax. So either pay a hefty fine for the GG tax or you can buy a $20 for the kit to diable it. I've even heard that people will go to Radio Shack and buy the part for like a buck and install it in 5 minutes.

 

PK is correct. If yours is not forcing you into 4th when the light is lit and your shifting out of first your car may already have the CAG eliminator installed. The only way to get rid of the light going on is to have a LS1 edit preformed. They will reset the rpm set point for the CAGS so that it can never come on. :D

 

Just put some electrical tape around the plugs when you you unplug it.....and all will be good!

 

OK, pardon my ignorance, but where exactly are these plugs? New owner of an '04 Z06 and I can't stand the damn CAGS :confused: Thanks!

 

Hey Chief,
It is located on the drivers side of the trans, up kinda high. You will need the car up to do it and it is very tight with the pipes but if you are careful, it can be done. Many of the venders sell a plug that will do the job, and plugs the selenoid and the conector to keep it dry and clean, and a zip tie to secure it. It's a great mod and it is so much better with out the damn CAGS. Hope it helps.
Dave

:flag

 

OK, another neophte. I just ordered my Z06.

I have heard of CAGS on the forum. So, if someone doesn't mind explaining just a bit further. So there is a light that comes on the dash that "forces" you into 4th gear? Not sure what that means. The revs are limited at some point until you shift into 4th?

I also don't understand the earlier point about CAGS being GM's answer to the gas guzzler tax. it is rated at 19mpg city. half of GM's fleet probably is not rated that high(most of their fleet sales are trucks).

any help would be appreciated. This is a little disturbing. I'm not buying a $50k car so it can force specific shift points on me??

 

Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned that you must either get the CAGS eliminator kit or install the correct resistor on the CAGS wire to keep your computer from displaying a trouble code because the wire is disconnected. I got my CAGS eliminator kit from Mid America Motorworks for 17.99. It comes with instructions and is very easy to install and works great. The hardest part of the install is jacking the car up.

As was already mentioned, after the install the light will still come on, but you can shift to any gear you want.

 

Ok I will give a shot at explaining it a bit more detailed.

As stated earlier the CAGS (computer aided gear shift) is there to make you shift from 1st to 4th gear when driving in higher traffic stop and go areas like downtown cities. So instead of constantly shifting from 1st to 2nd and moving a little down the road to the next light and then going back to 1st and all over again, where the engine runs at higher RPM's thus using more gas and producing more exhaust fumes, they try to make you shift to 4th which lowers the emissions. This was done to keep GM from charging a gas guzzler tax. I think states like CA and NY may have caused this but not sure.

Here is what happens when it works normally. You start out in 1st and if you are between 1500 and 2500 (not sure about the upper RMP) the light comes on in the dash. During this RPM range a lever of some kind engages to force you into 4th gear and as you pull the shifter down, you can't go into 2nd, but it guides you to 4th. Here is a simple picture to help you visualize it.



I know this is not how it actually works but it lets you visualize the concept.

The upper part shows the CAGS in the normal position and the lower one shows the CAGS when enabled i.e. in the RPM range.

If you are in the CAGS enabled RPM range and you pull down at constant pressure, you can't get into 2nd. If you are at the point where you are attempting to shift into 2nd and you are past the neutral area and you feel the barrier and then you briefly go back to neutral and then try to go into 2nd it releases the "lever" and you are allowed to go to 2nd. The other way of avoiding it is to not shift into 2nd until you are above the upper RPM limit.

As far as the CAGS disable unit goes, you get a unit that separates into two pieces. You find the CAGS harness and unplug the one half from the other. The two pieces of your disabling unit is basically two caps that you then snap onto the two ends of the harness. One end is literally a cap, and the other is the resistor that keeps the computer from engaging the CAGS. Once both ends are "capped", you use zip ties to secure the two ends to whatever is close and not hot to keep them from dangling around and getting harmed. Once this is installed, the light will still show, but the "lever" no longer prevents the 1st to 2nd shift while in the RPM range. As stated earlier the way to get rid of the light on the dash is to have the computer edited with a software program called LS1edit. I don't know what this would cost as I have not done it. Also I think some programmer units can do it also.
This was my first mod as I'm sure it is for many owners.
Hope this helps without boring your to death.

 

:iagree: Great explanation Piranha. Also to add, when the CAGS forces you into fourth it's real smooth. Heck the first few times I did it I didn't even realize I was in fourth. At first I was a little worried, because it took so long too accelorate. :lol:


[Modified by pk2401, 5:07 PM 5/6/2004]

 

i think i avoid it a diferent way. I could me mistakened, but if the light is activated i go into the neutral gate towards second like normal (letting off the throttle of course), but i wait longer so the RPM's have dropped out the CAGS range. I call it waiting out CAGS.

I actually dont mind CAGS, if i am feeling lazy, I'll just let CAGS do its job.

 

thanks for the help guys.

I was doing my search incorrectly before I posted this. I found all kinds of info. on CAGS, so I appreciate your patience and I will try not to let it happen again....

later....

 

Thanks, Shipmate! I'll be looking for these wires the next time I've got my car on the rack.

:thumbs: