Adjusted the shift cable to 2 mm and the shifting was worse, higher rpm and more jolt when shifting. Went back and loosened the cable to a point where the ferrel stop was touching the housing which improve the shifting. Is in normal for the cable to have a catch when pulling on it by hand? It is a pretty heavy resistance when pulling by hand before the cable releases from the bottom of the housing? I sprayed a small amount of lube in the housing to try to free up the sticky catching of the cable. This did not help the cable move more freely. Guess that I'll just live with harsh shift and ease up on the throttle to get a lower rpm shift point.
The downshift cable runs from the throttle linkage, through the guide housing, and down into the transmission where it is connected to a little cam. Perhaps the snag/'catch' you're feeling is either the lobe of the cam as it rotates along it's axis, or just the cam's stop at the end of its rotation?
Though from what you report, it sounds like the cable might have somehow fallen out of its track guide and is snagging on something until more pressure is applied to pull it loose (possibly explaining the 'catch'), maybe from a cable that has stretched over time or from over exertion, or from where the downshift cables' cam set screw has worked itself loose'?' Just a guess really.
Look, in all honesty, I'm no shop mechanic, no ASE certified ever and whatever, have no actual shop type equipment (just a box or two of mis-matched wrenches and what have you), and have received no form of automotive mechanical training at all whatsoever.
If anything, I'm just a knuckle scrapping, wrench slinging (occasionally beer swilling), weekend wrencher with an affinity for Saabs that can only impart to you the wisdom (if it can be called that) I've accrued from reading off the shelf repair manuals (like the Haynes, item# 84010) and the experience gained from spending laboriously long hours on my back under, or hunched over at some oblique angle not specifically designed for the human body, this or that model Saab.
Be that all as it may (or may not?) be, I can tell you that you can access the kick down shift cable by draining the trans fluid and dropping the pan, taking care to collect the excess fluid that will be sitting in the pan and have a new gasket on hand when you're ready to reinstall the pan.
There, on the far left rear of the valve body (if you were facing the vehicle, upper right hand corner if you're on your back and looking up) of your Borg-Warner Type 37 automatic transmission just next to the pickup tube's base where it enters the valve body (you may want to temporarily remove this to give yourself a little room to work), you will find the little 'cam' I mentioned earlier with the kick down cable resting in it's catch and threaded along it's guide around the cam. Check to make sure that the cable is in the track around the cam and that the cams' set screw is properly tightened down and not loosened or back out where it would allow the cam to wobble.
Now, using a cinder block (yes, I'm referring to an actual structural block of concrete), or some other equally heavy object, place it on the pedal to hold it on the floor. While the pedal is in this position (the "kick-down" position), look at the cam gear to see if the highest point of the cam gear (its highest point is approx. 180 degrees opposite its cable stay) is in contact with the valve point.
If it is not, then you will need to adjust the cable at the throttle body linkage until it is. Mind you though, these will be marginally incremental adjustments (if you're lucky) and, should you encounter anything else, you'll need to replace the cable and adjust it as described.
Once you have everything where everything is meant to be, reattach the pickup tube (if you've removed it), clean both mating surfaces of the trans and it's primary cover/pan, install a new gasket and attach the pan, tightening it's mounting bolts to
6 - 9lbf ft. Follow this with cleaning both mating surfaces of the oil pan, installing a new gasket, and torquing it's bolts also down to
6 - 9lbf ft., and pour in a quart of oil (the trans actually holds
1.5 quarts, but I'm assuming the the .5 is lingering somewhere in the valve body) and remove the cinder block (or what have you) from the pedal,checking to make sure it returned to it's normal resting position.
Alright, now this is where we come to the required pressure gauge adjustment. There is a plug located on the front right hand side of the transmission that you'll need to connect a pressure gauge to. Once you have, block the wheels, firmly set the parking brake and start the engine, allowing it to run until it's idle has smoothed out and is idling at the ideal 875 +/- 50 rpm.
Now shift the car into 'D'rive (you
did block the wheels and set the parking brake, riiiiight?) and loosen the kick down cable at the throttle body linkage. Next, with an eye on the pressure gauge, first adjust the cable to give the lowest reading on the pressure gauge and then adjust the cable to the increase the pressure by
1.4 lbf/in^2, or
0.1 bar (depending on how your gauge reads).
Put the car back into 'P'ark and check to see if the line pressure is now between
59.0 and
69.0 lbf/in^2, or
4.2 and
4.9 bar. If you've managed to achieve these results, you may now switch off the engine, disconnect the pressure gauge and refit the line pressure plug. Take the car for a spin to test the results and, if everything's okay, return keys to your wife.
If this process doesn't fix it, we can move onto adjusting the braking bands but, since you've mentioned something about a 'catching' cable, the indications point to a loosened cam set screw or perhaps a down shift cable that has jumped it's track so, if you're lucky, you'll not have to go any further through these steps than dropping the pan and having a look to see what's what and making the necessary adjustments accordingly.
Good luck.