Allison Transmission Questions

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Flyinlow,
The dealer may be right that there is no problem. An Allison transmissions whole shift pattern is decided by the drivers position on the throttle. A very light throttle actually is worse than full throttle. What happens is the shifts come at a lower rpm and when it makes the shift, you are not in the correct torque curve and the transmission wants to shift back and forth trying to find the right gear for the rpm and torque. Just try pushing a little farther on the throttle and see if this resolves your shift cycling. If it does not, please let me know, then I need to dig deeper. Thank you and have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions


Hi chevy81allison,

I would think that could be an excellent solution, but I cannot tell you for sure since if anyone from GMC or Chevy read this, they could come down on me for saying so if not a true statement. I work for Allison and believe it or not, we cannot do a thing to a pickup truck. These are under strict GM warranty. Please let me know how things work for you and I appreciate the input! Thanks and have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Sailorman,
Wow, I need to get out in the shop more often. I haven't seen the new filters but we do use that same part number. All WT 3000, 3060, 3560, HD4000, 4060,4560, B300 and B500 transmissions with a 4"sump, use the same filters and always have, they may just re-design them. Same goes for the 2" sump. I hope you used the square cut o ring and the thin brown o ring and did not put on the gaskets or thicker brown o ring. I am sure you put back what you removed. They changed the filter covers around 96 but seals and gaskets for both are in the filter kit. Thanks and have a great day!

 

[Sailorman]

Allison Transmission Questions

Thanks AllisonMan, you are providing a great service to the members of the board and I am sure everyone appreaciates it as much as I do!

 

[John Simmons]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Allisonman Thanks for being here. We appreciate your help. I would like to know if cruising at 60mph and the tack showing 20000 grand is normal? I just bought the MH and it has a 230 Cummins with a freightliner, 1996. Also the dip stick shows a reddish color, would that be the new synthetic oil?Dipstick showed normal but the electronics said two qts low so I added some. What should I believe The dip stick or the touch pad?The former owner said he had the oil changed, do you think it might be syn. I read where you said the old oil would look brown.The trans seems to shift to quick from a stop be for I know it I am in 3rd gear and the engine seems to be behind the trans and takes awhile to bring up speed...Do you know what the shift points should be at different speeds Thanks.
:laugh: :laugh:

 

[genel]

Allison Transmission Questions

Have a '01 Class A DP with an Allison 3000(syn) that I purchased from the original owner with 15K. Apparently, the previous owner didn't have the 5K filter change done. Have now added 2K. No digital read out problems. Should I proceed with the filter change or a oil analsis or both! If I proceed with the filter do I need to replace all the existing oil. Thanks for any advice.

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hello Mr. Simmons,
Sorry it has taken so long to respond. I would say you probably have some low gears in your differential to make your coach run only 60 at 2000rpm. It is ok to run that rpm but your fuel milage must not be the best.
I believe you have regular Dexron III oil in your coach. Synthetic (Transynde) turn kind of orange-yellow after a month or so.I would trust your shift pad oil level sensor because your stick could be miscalculated.
As far as shifting harsh, check for the codes. Do this the same way you check oil except hit the two arrows twice intead of once. This will get you to where it says D1 and let me know what numbers it says after D1. If it only has D1-- then you have no codes. I would suspect maybe a code D1 21-12 so please let me know your results. Thanks for the question and have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi genel,
If this is a factory filled transynde (synthetic) transmission, I would just do the main filter change as soon as you can. The recommended time for an oil sample according to Allisons oil sample kit, is 50,000. Of coarse you could do one now to start a base and then again at the recommended 50,000 miles but it is not neccassary. You do not need to replace the oil, just the main filter. Thanks for the question and have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi genel,
If this is a factory filled transynde (synthetic) transmission, I would just do the main filter change as soon as you can. The recommended time for an oil sample according to Allisons oil sample kit, is 50,000. Of coarse you could do one now to start a base and then again at the recommended 50,000 miles but it is not neccassary. You do not need to replace the oil, just the main filter. Thanks for the question and have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi genel,
If this is a factory filled transynde (synthetic) transmission, I would just do the main filter change as soon as you can. The recommended time for an oil sample according to Allisons oil sample kit, is 50,000. Of coarse you could do one now to start a base and then again at the recommended 50,000 miles but it is not neccassary. You do not need to replace the oil, just the main filter. Thanks for the question and have a great day!

 

[Sailorman]

Allison Transmission Questions

AllisonMan, you are priceless. If I had checked my new Transynd fluid next month and found it had changed color to orange/yellow I would have flipped out. Thanks for the info. - might have saved me a heart attack!

Ron

 

[Sailorman]

Allison Transmission Questions

AllisonMan, could you give your opinion on the following.

Recently, I switched over to Transynd in my MD3060 and may have put in one quart too many - it is hard to tell by the dipstick and I suspect it's accuracy anyway. The manual called for 19 qts but also said to allow for extra cooling lines etc. I do have a cylinder type cooler inserted in the lower cooling hose (after market I think). I did check at 19 qts and it looked, on the stick, like it might be somewhat low - It is now running a segment above the "cold run" mark on the stick, on cold start up. It is not yet into the "hot Run" segment. How critical would it be to have it one half to a quart high? Should I drain some out?

 

[John Simmons]

Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman, Checked the codes D1 you are right, no other codes
Shifting to soon may be just the driver. I need more windshield time.(First Diesel.)I have another question.On the control pad it says economy.Does this older trans(1996) have that feature? I know there is suppose to be a diff shift point. To enable I select mode than look to see if there is any difference.I cannot detect any difference. How do I know if I am in economy. There is no lights on the pad other than the shift read outs. Thanks John

 

[John Simmons]

Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman, Checked the codes D1 you are right, no other codes
Shifting to soon may be just the driver. I need more windshield time.(First Diesel.)I have another question.On the control pad it says economy.Does this older trans(1996) have that feature? I know there is suppose to be a diff shift point. To enable I select mode than look to see if there is any difference.I cannot detect any difference. How do I know if I am in economy. There is no lights on the pad other than the shift read outs. Thanks John

 

[John Simmons]

Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman, Checked the codes D1 you are right, no other codes.
Shifting to soon may be just the driver. I need more windshield time.(First Diesel.)I have another question.On the control pad it says economy.Does this older trans(1996) have that feature? I know there is suppose to be a diff shift point. To enable I select mode than look to see if there is any difference.I cannot detect any difference. How do I know if I am in economy. There is no lights on the pad other than the shift read outs. Thanks John

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi there Sailorman,
Have you checked to see if you have an oil level sensor that you can check your oil level with your shift tower? With the ignition on, Push both arrows at the same time. If you get a reading that says OL, then you can check your level with your shifter. It has to be over 140 degrees so check after you have stopped somewhere for a break. Press the two arrows at the same time. A clock counting down from 8 will start. Once you get to one, watch and it will change to OL OK (I hope) which means the level is ok. If it says OL LO and a number, that is how many quarts you are low. If it says OL HI and a number, that is how many quarts high you are. 1 or 2 qts high is not that bad. You cannot really go by your book. If you change filters and drain the fluid, it should take around 15-17 qts. I hope you have this sensor but not all OEM's elect to install. Have a great day!

 

[AllisonMan]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi John Simmons,
The only light will be on the shift pad and yes you should have the feature. What it does is if you are a full throttle driver which I am sure you are not, instead of the transmission shifting at its highest setting, it will trick the computer into thinking you are only stepping on the throttle at 80% and lowering your shift a little. Thus the name economy because you are not using higher rpms to shift. The only place you will notice is in the hills where you probably do step on the throttle all the way, or if you do, then let off and you get what is refered to as a shift cycle, use the Mode. This should take care of problem. Another scenario is in town goinglight to light, you may have a harsh shift because you are on throttle 100% to take off. Try the mode in these cases. Thanks and have a great day!

 

[Capt Bill]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Allison Man

In a previous post I asked you a few questions about the 3000MH in my recently aquired '02 Horizon, 22,000 miles. Since I didn't know service history and Freightliner wants the M3 maintenance performed at 24,000 or 2 years (which the MH is this week), I decided to have everything done at the factory in SC, 'knowing' that factory techs are the best. Hmmm...

They changed to Transynd, new filters, but didn't flush the system. (Didn't find that out til they were finished!). They set ride height and did the other lubes, coolant change, wheel alignment, etc. Total bill about $800.

Now when the transmission downshifts, it is usually VERY harsh, especially 3rd to 2nd, and 2nd to 1st, decelerating from highway speed to a stop. But not always. It never did this before. I used to think that in some city driving I did (if leaving xmsn in normal) that it downshifted a little harsh, but that was nothing like what's going on now.

There are no error codes, and fluid level checks normal. Could there be some dirt that was introduced into the system, causing a valve to malfunction? Any suggestions? I am so sorry that I didn't just do the work myself. Help appreciated.

 

[Larry K]

Allison Transmission Questions

Allison Man. Have 98 eagle with md3060. 26K miles. I am getting the "do not shift" light when restarting the engine after running during the day. Sometimes takes 2-3 restarts for the light to clear. When starting for first time in morning light rarely stays on. I ran codes and got only one code: a D1 - 2216, which my data says is the output speed sensor. Okey dokey whats that? I do not know the service history of the coach, was told it was fully serviced at 22K-but have my doubts.

Will surely come and see you next spring, as I summer across the river from you in the Portland area. However, am currently in Casa Grande -- Help!

thanks, Larry K

 

[johnk36]

Allison Transmission Questions

Hi AllisonMan,

We just had the computer fail on the MD3060. Fortunately I was just leaving home to get my tire balance corrected and so returned home.
Check all connections to no avail and the MH couldn't be restarted so hadto have it towed to the shop.

Haven't gotten the exact price yet but just the computer/display apparently will be $1000-$1500. I'm told that Allison doesn't rebuild so my question is anyone else rebuilding? Or do you know of a source for used ones?