Allison Transmission Questions


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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Captain,
So sorry I did not return your call or answer sooner, very very busy at work (good thing). The cooler flush is done at the end but before you start up you disconnect line and then have someone start it up. I hope this is how they did it. They must have done it correct. What you are probably experiencing is the clean fluid will sometime make the transmission shift different. My suggestion is to take to an Allison Distributer (not dealer) and have them do what is called unadapt shiftpoints and then set up for fast adapt. This will blank out computer shift quality and then reset them during test drive. It usually will take care of rough shifting. You might also have them check the output speed tonewheel. Sometimes the pin that holds this wheel wears into the wheel and makes it loose causing erratic intermittent shifts. Good luck and let me know how things go. Thanks and have a great day! :)
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Larry K,
Again I am appologizing for not answering sooner.
You probably have a bad output speed sensor which are prone to fail more often when the transmission is warm or hot. This is an easy fix. To make sure it is the output sensor, there is a sensor on the front cover of the transmission. This would be on the right side of the transmission looking from the back. Your output sensor is located on the rear cover on the right side. To remove these sensors, just unbolt clamp using 13mm wrench or socket and pull the sensor out of the hole. Switch the engine (front) with the back one and then see if you get a new code 22-14 which tells you now the engine speed sensor has failed (which was originally in the output sensor hole) This lets you know the sensor is bad and you can buy one after you have diagnosed. You can leave older one in output hole and put newer in engine hole they are the same part.
I hope you understand this it should be simple but hey I am tired LOL and you might not be able to understand my gibberish LOL. Thanks and have a great day! :)
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Johnk36,
Unfortunatly I do not know of a rebuilding source. That is the correct range if it is the shift tower. What happened? Did the light go out? Did you get ** in the display? Was there a code 23 ?? Let me know and I may be able to help. Sorry it took so long to reply. All of a sudden we are swamped with business. Hope to hear from you soon. (By the way if it was the actual computer or ECU in tech terms, it would run around 2500.) I just thought of a possible source. Portland Freightliner sales and service in Portland Oregon has a trailer of used take off parts. They may have a used one in stock. Sorry I do not have number. Good luck! Have a great day! :)
 
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Capt Bill

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

They must have done it correct.

Hi Allison Man,

We're all glad to have you back on the forums! Regarding the change to Transynd, they only drained "what came out", changed the filters, and put 17 quarts of TRansynd in. WHen I asked about flushing, both the tech and the service manager acted like I must be an idiot, as the only way they ever heard of making the switch was by doing what they did.

After returning home, and now knowing that the transmission downshifts "harshly" sometimes, I called the top guy in the entire service dept. (he said he's his job is to resolve camplaints). He too said they did exactly what they should have done, and could not have caused a problem, and that "if there is one, it would be handled like anyone else who came in with a problem". This was at the Freightliner factory! Not sure what to do at this point, but I again thank you for sharing your wealth of information.
 
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johnk36

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

AllisonMan,

As it turns out the real price is your $2540.!!! $900+ is a new programing fee that is set by Allison and is apparently whatever the market will bear as the REprograming fee is a rationalizable $300.

Basically what happened was the unit began giving "do not shift" warnings intermitently and about the 3rd time ( within minutes) I noticed the spedo drop to zero. Aditionally the keypad would go dark and go to neutral and various other situations. It was a bit overwelming so many failures in a few minutes that I felt lucky to get back home (I was only a couple of miles away). Once I got back home, the first thing I did was check the connectors on the two visible speed sensors on the tranny-they looked fine. Well then I tried to start the engine. It was locked out and the shifter display was dead so I was never able to check for codes. I might have been able to check before I turned it off. So one lesson is that you always check for codes BEFORE you shut down!!!

Your reference to Pacific Freightliner (503-203-0345) was a good reference. They had 16 ECU's, brand new for $500 but they were apparently later model units and not interchangeable, 3 connectors instead of my unit's 2 con. Maybe this info will be useful to someone else.

Thanks for your help.

John
 
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Preacher Man

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Allison Man!

What a great forum. We will take possesion of our 04 Sportscoach Limited Edition in about 2 weeks. It's equiped with a 330 Cat and Allison 6 speed. Does it come from the factory with the synthetic fluid?

We'll be towing a 10,000lb trailer and traveling between 40 and 50,000 miles a year in fulltime ministry. Do you have any precations or special advice for us?

Thanks in advance!
Mark Walter
www.jamaministry.com
 
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airtime_262

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman, hope you can help. I've got a problem with my 02 gmc 2500hd/8.1 w/allison. In t/h mode, with a trailer (approx 6500lbs) when it shifts from 2nd to 3rd, sometimes (90% of the time) it will shutter. The same happens almost everytime during normal driving (t/h turned off) when it shifts into o/d. It sounds and feels like you're driving over those white painted rumble strips on the highway. It happens when the tranny and eng are warm. Also, don't know if this is related or not, when I come to a fast stop, occassionally it will slam into first. When I go to park the truck and come to a complete stop it takes approx 2 secs for the speedo to hit 0. If I don't wait for this to happen, and put it into park, it sounds like the truck is still moving and I shifted into park. It's been into the dealer 3 or 4 times for this same thing, and they can't (or won't) fix it. I finally got fed up w/ the dealer and contacted clark detroit/allison? here in Indy along with Allison directly to see if it would be covered under warr. They said the dealer would have to sub-contract the work to Clark. I need some help fast as 1500mi's is all that's left of warr. One more thing. I just bought 35" tires and will be in the same boat as chevy81. If I by a Hypertech programmer, to adjust the shift points and correct for tire size, will I be ok? I really don't want to re-gear my truck! Any help soon would be great, Tues is my appointment with Clark.
 
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usam

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

I have a 2000 Freightliner chassis with a 3000MH. with about 25,000 miles on it. My question is about operating temp for the Transmission. It rairly gets above 140 F so the only oil level check I can do is the manual cold level check. I have never been able to get a manual hot level check because it never gets to the manual check operating temp level, and the only time it got over 140 F was once in the summer in the mountains. So the ECU will not let me use the Oil level sensor to check the level. It gives me the sump temp to low code. It has always been like this. How do I check the level? The last time I tried to check the level, it only got to 125 F after about 35 miles pulling a car. I have a Greenleaf display, so that is how I get the actual temp reading. The analog gauge never gets much past the low temp mark and it has never reached the "Normal" temp range.

I became concerned when at the Freightliner M3 service the Freightliner dealer indicated on the bill that they put in "4 quarts" of transmission oil. In addition it looks like they did not use Transynd. So my conceren is do I have an oil leak, or did they put too much oil in or what? Also I am concerned that they messed up my transsynd.

Other than rough shifts in very cold weather it never gave me any trouble, and the rough shifts were reduced when I changed to transynd at 14,000 miles. The unit has always run cold and I was told by several people, including the local Allyson dealer, that is how they run. So how do I check the oil level?

Thanks, SAM
 
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tuckertrax

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

dear allison man i have a 540 at in a 1980 tucker sno-cat. i want to put a temp gauge in it how do i do it? thanx rh
 
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DRackley

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman,

I appreciate reading about your comments on our transmissions.

I have a 98 Dynasty motorhome with Allsion 3060 and Cummins C8.3 325HP, transmission has recently had Dextron & filters replaced.

I noticed D1 codes of 14 23 (high fluid sensor?) Before I take it to the shop about how extensive (expensive) should this be.

Regards,
drackley
 
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garryp

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

AllisonMan,

Just discovered this site/thread. I have a used RV without documentation. It was sold 1996 (built late 1995), Barth with Cummins M1 400 hp pusher. Has Allison 6 spd.

What is the best guess for the model Allison tran that is married to the M1?
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Sailorman
1 qt is no big deal when you are talking the whole system holding 5-6 gallons. Have you used your dhift tower to determin if you have an oil level sensor? Turn the key to ignition then press two arrows at the same time and let up. If it says O then L then you have a sensor which is more acurate than the dipstick. You have to have a sump temp of over 140 to get a clock to count down and of course this is while engine idling, over 140 and in neutral. It will start with an 8 flashing and count down to 1 then it will say hopefully OL OK which means oil level is "OK" It may say OL HI 1 which is 1 quart high or could say OL LO 1 which tells you how many quarts you are low. Good luck I hope you have a sensor. Have a great day! :)
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi John Simmons,
The pad will say mode on if you have 2 green numbers (WTECII) or have a red light on in the corner if you have 1 red number in display (WTECIII) Mode will only help you on hills and in town light to light when you are stepping on the throttle more than 80%. Most drivers are around 60 to 70% throttle and the economy mode will make no difference. Explanation is that if you drive at 100% throttle with the MODE on, it fools the transmission into thinking you only have 80% throttle on and lowers upshift points so you dont rev the engine to the highest point and use more fuel. I hope this answers your question. Thanks and have a great day! :)
 
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garryp

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Repost due to typo:

AllisonMan,

Just discovered this site/thread. I have a used RV without documentation. It was sold 1996 (built late 1995), Barth with Cummins M-11 400 hp pusher. Has Allison 6 spd.

What is the best guess for the model Allison tran that would likely be married to the M-11?
 
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jrdragdad

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Allisonman,

I posted this before I knew you were the "Tech Man" for Allison Tranmissions:

We have a 1997 Discovery motorhome with 5.9 Cummins and an Allison MD3060 six speed transmission on a Freightliner chassis. Yesterday we loaded up the motorhome and was backing up to hook up a trailer. The transmission went into neutral and the shift panel display for the Allison went blank. The engine and all other electrial systems continued to work. I pulled the parking brake. I shut the engine off. Then I could not restart. I checked all the fuses I could find. I even opened the cover to the VIM and verified those fuses. I measure 12.4 V on the Ignition fuse and 3.4 V on the ECU power fuse inside the VIM. Is this normal? What else can I check? I wish I could get electrical prints for this stuff.
 
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jrdragdad

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

I finally spoke with a my local Freightliner service tech. He researched the problem and called me back to let me know where the fuse is for the ECU on the Allison for our coach. It was right above the main chassis battery. It was the only fuse I didn't check. I opened the cover and the fuse looked good. I put the fuse back in an closed the cover. I checked the voltage at the fuse in the VIM for the ECU and it now read 7.4 V. Still the display would not operate and the coach would not start. I knew I was on the right track. I then removed the power and ground wires associated with the Allison at the chassis battery. I re-installed the terminals. I checked the voltage at the fuse in the VIM for the ECU and it now read 12.4 V. I turned the ignition switch and the Allison display lit up! The coach now starts and I drove it around in joy. My thanks goes out to the tech guy (Little Joe) at my local Freightliner dealer (Duncan Freightliner, Waco, TX).
 
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airtime_262

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

AllisonMan,
This is a repost, I don't think you say my original. Go to page 5 under the name airtime_262 to review my question. I would rewrite it, but it is rather lengthy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks bro,
Airtime
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi Jrdragdad,
yes he was right on the money. I get this complaint quite a bit especially if the coach has been sitting for a while. I am glad you can get on your way.Good job F/L man. Have a great day! :)
 
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AllisonMan

New Member
Allison Transmission Questions

Hi John,
What you are describing seems to me as a power loss. I would check the two fuses in your VIM box if you have one and also at the battery for aany fuses or wires in the area. You may just have a loose wire on the battery. Good luck and have a great day! :)
 
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