Community Forums

Joe Hamilton · 07-03-2007, 05:24 PM

Last Sat. I was coming back from Las Vegas Motor Speedway pulling a 14' enclosed trailer with two road race motorcyles when I noticed the speedometer moving from 60 to 35 mph and then finally went to zero. After that the trans shifted to 4th and would not go to any other gear but stayed in 4th. I stopped at State Line and then it seemed ok until I started down Baker grade and then it went back to 4th again. I stopped in Baker and put it into neutral and then it would not go into any gear. I was towed from Baker Ca. to Mira Loma Ca. which is about 150 miles. I had a symbol come up next to the mode button that appears to be an 8 with lines through the top and bottom of the 8. I was told at the repair shop that I was towed to it was a symbol of lack of voltage to the trans computer. They found lose battery cables and I was told today that could be the problem. They need to re-program the computer but as of yet they have not been able to due to the server being down.
Has anyone had this experience?
Alpine 2002 36 ft.

Joe Hamilton · 07-03-2007, 05:24 PM

Last Sat. I was coming back from Las Vegas Motor Speedway pulling a 14' enclosed trailer with two road race motorcyles when I noticed the speedometer moving from 60 to 35 mph and then finally went to zero. After that the trans shifted to 4th and would not go to any other gear but stayed in 4th. I stopped at State Line and then it seemed ok until I started down Baker grade and then it went back to 4th again. I stopped in Baker and put it into neutral and then it would not go into any gear. I was towed from Baker Ca. to Mira Loma Ca. which is about 150 miles. I had a symbol come up next to the mode button that appears to be an 8 with lines through the top and bottom of the 8. I was told at the repair shop that I was towed to it was a symbol of lack of voltage to the trans computer. They found lose battery cables and I was told today that could be the problem. They need to re-program the computer but as of yet they have not been able to due to the server being down.
Has anyone had this experience?
Alpine 2002 36 ft.

Dave Fernandez · 07-03-2007, 08:03 PM

Hello & Welcome Joe:

Sorry to hear about your problems. The Allison Transmission went into a limp mode and it will continue to operate minimally until you shut it down then it will not operate at all. It designed to get you off the road for your safety. I have not had this problem but I remember a year or two ago some had a similar problem and posted it on this form. I hope you had towing insurance for the tow.

I believe the operator's manual will indicate how to find the code stored in the computer and what the symbol means on the display.

There are several Allison service centers in your area, Valley Power Systems, Inc. 11300 Inland Ave. Mira Loma, CA 91752, Phone: 951-681-9283, Prevost Car, Inc. 3384 DeForest Circle, Mira Loma, CA 91752, 951-360-2550, Los Angeles Freightliner 13800 Valley Boulevard, Fontana, CA 92335, 909-356-2800, Trans West Ford Truck Sales, Inc. 10150 Cherry Avenue, Fontana, CA 92335, 909-829-8801. The first two are right off of Etiwanda Ave just north of the 60 within 1/2 mile of each other. They all should be able to reprogram/repair/diagnosis the transmission. I think I seen your Alpine in a storage yard off of Van Buren & Rutile in Mira Loma.

rockcj · 07-03-2007, 09:01 PM

that was me. The problem was wiring. WRV did some funky wiring and didn't follow specific instructions from Allison. The Allison boys came out and made new harness and took care of the problem. Their comment was " we can't believe anyone would do such a Mickey Mouse job on a coach like this. I went to Valley in City of Industry and they took three days to fix the problem.

Good luck.

rockcj · 07-03-2007, 09:08 PM

also the ground connections were all incorrect.

Joe Hamilton · 07-04-2007, 01:00 AM

Thanks for your replies. We were towed to Valley Power Systems in Mira Loma and they are the people who are working on it now.

Thanks again
Joe Hamilton

rmmpe · 07-04-2007, 01:31 AM

It would be helpful for those of us not knowing about things like this if the model year and driveline were identified.

Or does this apply to all Alpine Coaches?

Joe Hamilton · 07-04-2007, 04:30 AM

Dave, I went through the operators manual front to back several times and could not find that symbol and even ask a person on the Allison "Hotline" what it meant and got nothing from that person. I only found out what it meant when I talked to the Transmission foreman at Valley Power Systems and he called it "Cat Eyes" and told me it indicated lack of voltage.

Joe Hamilton · 07-05-2007, 05:56 PM

Today after the re program of the computer Valley Power Systems found the computer was only receiving 7 volts. After checking all fuses they found a ground wire that became loose. After that was corrected the "Cat Eye" symbol went away and the coach went into gear and shifted. I was told I can pick it uo tommorrow morning.
I feel a lot better.

Ted III · 07-06-2007, 02:23 AM

How long do think it will take to check every ground wire in these coaches. We seem to be hearing more & more of loose ground issues.

Joe Hamilton · 07-06-2007, 03:28 AM

In all fairness to WRV this loose ground wire was not created by them. It was done during some previous work.
Ted, It would take a long time to search each ground wire out with all of the electrical in these coaches. But it didn't take long in looking for the ground for the Trans problem we had.

Jim&MaryJo · 07-06-2007, 06:07 AM

Joe,

Glad to hear it's worked out!

I'm curious. Who towed you and were there any issues/tips that would help the rest of us, if we ever need to be towed.

Frankly, I wasn't sure our Alpines were "tow--able", at least without high risk of damage.

Thanks

lundy · 07-06-2007, 07:26 AM

My '06 had to be towed. A big-rig unit was used and they cradled the front wheels and removed the drive-shaft. An issue to be solved is the air supply to the air bags. The air came from the tow rig but the only input is at the air valve in back. An air hose had to be suspended the full length of the coach but there is nothing to support it. He made ties at the windows and refer vent. He (as well as myself) learned another lesson. With the emergency brake tied to the drive-shaft,removing it means there is no brake!! and when he let the coach down, the coach and tow were not perfectly lined up and caused a bind. He could not slip the cradle from beneath the wheels. He said the next time he get a call to tow one of these things, he will have just gone off duty!!! On some roads, they will use a low-boy trailer but due to low clearance of some bridges, they cannot always be used.

Joe Hamilton · 07-06-2007, 12:47 PM

I drove the coach back home today after the ground wire was corrected and it shifted perfect as it did before.
We were towed with one of the big rig tow trucks with no damage at all. The guy that towed us had a lot of experience at this. He removed the drive line, I started the engine to get the air up and we were away for the 150 mile tow. We stopped after about 75 miles and I started the engine again to check the air and we were off again.
When we arrived at the repair shop around 4:30 am the driver blocked the wheels and let the coach down without any problems.
It all went well except the price of the towing.