FIXED!! (tranny issues)

[rockcj]

It is fixed. Allison replaced the wiring harness and fixed other issues and we took it for 4 hours of hard uphill test drive up to the mountain with my Excursion as the toad. One tech. had the computer connected and reading and the other observing the shifting.

I will post some pictures of before/after pictures later when I get them from Allison.

I have to say that these guys were professionals and they did a great job of fixing all tranny issues and potential issues my coach.

I now have better than new installation of Allison components and wiring.

My coach is back at Saddleback for other shakedown issues (considered minor compare to this; generator, freezer....)

I am happy now and can sleep well.

David

[rockcj]

It is fixed. Allison replaced the wiring harness and fixed other issues and we took it for 4 hours of hard uphill test drive up to the mountain with my Excursion as the toad. One tech. had the computer connected and reading and the other observing the shifting.

I will post some pictures of before/after pictures later when I get them from Allison.

I have to say that these guys were professionals and they did a great job of fixing all tranny issues and potential issues my coach.

I now have better than new installation of Allison components and wiring.

My coach is back at Saddleback for other shakedown issues (considered minor compare to this; generator, freezer....)

I am happy now and can sleep well.

David

[Wayne R]

Cool, glad to here things are starting to go your way.

[Ted III]

Rock, glad to hear Allison got you straightened out. They sound as if they really put their best foot forward especially having a tech with you. It's a shame that Meritor would not help that way with the rear in my coach, but WRV certainly did. Coach is finished & we are going to pick it up in Harrisburg at Freightliner Saturday & take it to the dealer for other warranty work. All relatively minor, but must be taken care of.
Great to hear you got your trans straightened out.
Ted

[Audrey & John]

WooHoo! That's great! Please do post pics when you have them.

Audrey

[D & D Rich]

David,
I know all of us that have followed your tranny debacle are curious to know what was changed by the Allison techs. Can you share what components and wiring was redone? Is the trans the orginal one? Looking forward to your post.
Thanks,
D & D Rich
Great Salt Lake Route

[rockcj]

1. the dip stick tube rubbing against the computer. - fixed with rubber hose around the tube.
2. all signal wiring should be twisted but they are not - fixed with all twisted wires and routed away from possible bad feeds.
3. computer grounding mounted along with 5 other grounds (possible feedback from others) - found dedicated ground for the computer.
4. possible spark with positive wire (can start fire) - rewired one of the positive wire

I am forgeting other things but I will be getting the paperwork along with pictures from them. I will scan the paperwork and the pictures once I get them.

David
05

[EngineerMike]

Interesting "problem" issues. The Allison factory maintenance training manual recommends to spend about half your total time during the oil change/maint. process checking harness, harness securing, grounds, chafing issues, physical damage survey...
Maybe if Allison followed that proceedure immediately when the coach was first received...
I should send them a copy of this video.
Maybe WRV would be interested too.

[rockcj]

I just got back from my 1,900 mile trip. The coach ran very well even in the high heat of 119 degrees in AZ. Only thing was that the generator kept shutting off and had the faulty code 58, over-temp. I am not sure if that is normal in high heat.

By the way, I just got pictures from Allison today. I will post them along with the invoice from them as soon as I can.

David
05 - very happy with the coach now.

[Mike & Nancy]

David...

Glad to hear your 1900 mile trip was a success. Your posts on tranny issues has been very interesting.....looking forward to seeing pictures and invoice. It sounds like you can now start doing custom stuff like Walt Darden (Indio) has done. Once again glad your now happy with the coach.


Mike

[milliemae]

We have had a similiar tranny problem on and off for a couple of years with our 2001 Alpine Coach with the latest scary episode happening yesterday while traversing a mountain range in Oregon when after starting the coach on the interstate, it went straight to 5th gear, we stopped and started again and it still stayed in 5th gear. We stopped, turned the key off , it showed neutral and then would not move out of 1st gear when we started it up. We turned the ignition off again and were finally successful. The speedo went nuts and then to zero. A week earlier, when backing off the pacbrake we found we had no gears at all and this happened twice.

We have had the speedo replaced three times and Allison ran testing on the transmission a couple of years ago. They found nothing and it all remains a mystery. We are very discouraged about this coach and were hoping to get a copy of your Allison invoice which may show the remedy to this transmission nightmare. Your posting mentioned pictures and the invoice. We are pretty desperate to find the answer.

[rockcj]

That problem sounds very different from mine. You may have other issues. My issues were with signal wiring and grounds.

David
05

[EngineerMike]

Millie- Your problem could be grounds also. The tranny is electronically controlled & requires good clean ground connection to function. If the signal to the tranny is interrupted or fouled by bad ground your symptoms might result. Try tracing the ground connections, then regardless of the apparent condition, strip all wires off the ground studs, brighten them up w/sandpaper &/or wire brush, then reassemble connection w/no-ox grease & make sure it is good & tight. On our last coach, a Safari, ground connections were critical to proper electronic signals, & were found to oxidize & loosen over time; the older coaches in the midwest had the worst troubles, but many others had ground issues as well. This is an easy DIY project (tho will probably require some contortionalizationing), & if it doesn't fixit, then you can rule out grounds as a culprit.

[milliemae]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply about the grounds being a problem. Allison looked at the coach a couple of days ago and found an inactive code for the speed sensor, code 25-11. We had the speed sensor replaced and took the coach for a 2 hour test drive yesterday with 11 stops and starts and didn't encounter any problems. We do recognize there may have been a ground problem too so only time will tell if we finally got this fixed. Thanks again for the advice/ will keep it in our file for future reference.

Millie