Hello - my 2002 XL-7 4WD automatic had the transmission swapped for a wrecking yard (supposedly tested good) unit, and I just got the car back today. It has two problems: 1 - shift rpms are very low, kickdown doesn't work over 60 mph. I tried adjusting the kickdown cable as far back (i.e. putting more tension on it for a given throttle opening) and it made almost no difference. the inner cable still has noticeable slack at idle, and I don't know if that's correct or not. Now, I do notice that if I pull on that inner cable, I can feel a spring-like return resistance from inside the transmission (I'm assuming), so it does not appear to be broken or stuck.
Problem #2 - I have just had the car back from the shop a few hours, and 1/3 of the time, it will not start - no cranking at all, no solenoid click, nothing. After waiting a bit and wiggling the shifter, I was able to get it started, but it will not go into gear - the large button on the side of the shift knob will not press in. After more fussing, I was able to get it into gear, but when I got back to my house, I shut it off, tried again, and the car started, but still would not go into gear. This seems to me to possibly be a neutral safety switch issue, and maybe some other interlock of which I'm not aware - I'm going to take it back to the shop that did the swap, but any ideas?

I was going to suggest you take it back to the shop, but I notice you already plan on doing that - the shift cable sounds like it's either been damaged or out of adjustment, the kickdown I have no idea on.

I was going to suggest you take it back to the shop, but I notice you already plan on doing that - the shift cable sounds like it's either been damaged or out of adjustment, the kickdown I have no idea on.

Yes, I took it back today, after discovering that if I pushed the shifter handle hard forward, the engine would start, which implies shifter cable/neutral start switch adjustment is necessary. Apparently, this can also affect the shifter interlock, as both the brake pedal has to be pressed, and the neutral safety switch has to be engaged to release it. I was able to "trip" the shifter interlock manually (there is s little cover on the left side of the shifter console, and if you remove that, you can see a yellow plastic interlock with a n arrow on it. Push that forward with a thin screwdriver blade and the shifter handle can be moved) and get the car into gear to get it to the shop, where I successfully demonstrated these behaviors. I'm anxiously awaiting a call back from them that the car is ready!
The kickdown issue is something that may be related to the swapped-in transmission. I'll fiddle with that when I get the car back with the starting/shifting issues resolved.

I got the car back, and all works well now. It was as I had suspected - a misalignment in the shift mechanism. The kickdown issue is still ambiguous, but it runs well enough for us to be able to use it now.