VMSpc 6 Pin or 9Pin Found 6 Pin No Good!

[Flagelpater]

I just tried to hook up my new VMSpc to my 2005 Knight and can not get transmission data out of the 6 Pin Port under the dash at the drivers side. Has anyone used this port without problems? Has anyone found a 9 Pin Port?

I was at an Allison Center last month and they did a data dump of transmission info from what I thought was the same port we can not get info out of. Mark at Silver Leaf is having me looking for another port, but so far I have no found one. I did find another in the forward electrical bay but it was ABS Only.

[Rex]

You will either have a 6-pin or 9-pin port, but not both. Some of the newer coaches had a change in the information reporting method (latest requirements vs older ones) and may not provide the data you are looking for. Go to the Silverleaf Forum and ask there. They monitor it and will provide you answers. They do not work on weekends, so post early in the week. Be sure and provide complete information there such as engine make and HP, transmission type, year-model-manufacturer of coach.

[Flagelpater]

Rex Thank you for your reply. I have been on the phone with Mark at Silver Leaf. He is the one having me look for another port, either 9 or 6 pin that will have the transmission data on it. He is also wondering if somehow the Allison data has been turned off. The format needed is J1708 / 1587. It would be nice to hear from someone with a similar coach to my 05 Knight that has it working.

[JDT]

Don't know if I can help but I do have the same coach, mechanically speaking, as yours and I have a VMSpc. I got it in April and it worked exactly as advertised from the first hook up. Our coaches have the six pin connector. There may be another one next to the engine under the access hole in the closet, or bedroom, can't remember. At least I saw what looked like a hook up when I was checking out my PacBrake the other day. I am not aware of any others.

I have the VMSpc set up to show me transmission temp and gears and it works fine. I'm not a very techy type so I don't know why you are not getting the info. I will say that if mine is working yours should be too.

[Diplomat Don]

Flagelpater......Will it at least show the two trans windows? Have you tried rebooting the system with the engine running?

[Flagelpater]

Don, No Transmission data at all. Not even the 2 gear windows. I did try exiting VMSpc and reloading with no change. I will go out and try you suggestion. the strange part is that the Allison service Center did a data dump from this same port 2 last month. Thank you for you reply.

[Flagelpater]

Don, I just did the restart as you suggested with no change. I tried it several times. The data bus is working because the engine data is there. No Engine Oil Temp and No Coolant Level. Silver Leaf said they are not supported. I also tried the default screen just in case I messed something up. No change.

[Flagelpater]

UPDATE MY BAD The Allison tech went outside to the forward EBay and connected to a diagnostic port I had not seen to get the data. It is called a J1939 Buss, Grey Rectangular, 12 pin, 4 used, and it looks like 6 wires going to the back of the port. Now the question is whether both the engine data and the transmission data can both be found here. If it has both I should be able to get Silver Leaf to make a cable to go here and get me up and running! Need to wait for the Oregon Coast to wake up before I can call.

[Flagelpater]

Further Update Found a Monaco plug Not plugged in! It goes from the back of the Transmission Diagnostics Plug, located in the forward ebay, to the 6 pin Engine Diagnostics Plug near the steering wheel. It had been disconnected for years. Never noticed a problem with systems, unless, this is also responsible for the low RPM with the PacBrake operational. There is a good chance the engine and transmission have not had complete communications.

[Diplomat Don]

Is the VMSpc working now. Isn't it rewarding to find and fix a problem like that?

[Flagelpater]

Yes it is Don, very satisfying. I will take it for a test drive in the morning but all seems to be working except the Coolant Level and Engine Oil Temp. Not sure if they are supported at this point. I can live without them if needed. I look forward to using it in the mountains. We head out Thursday morning. I will give progress reports if anything looks interesting. Expecting to put on about 10,000 miles in 10 weeks!

[JDT]

FP, glad it's a go. I cannot get engine oil temp and coolant level either, so I'm pretty sure it is not supported. I would suggest you check your odometer mileage on your dash vs. the mileage it shows from the engine computer. Mine was off about 5%. The ECM was higher than the odometer. I checked it against some mile markers and the dash odemter was pretty accurate. The VMSpc reading was registering a mile too quickly throwing off the mileage calculations. If yours is off and you verify it is the VMSpc reading that is wrong you can correct under the engine corrections screen in the advanced section. In the odometer multiplier you can show a number to make the readings the same. I wound up with .942. You can actually do this live by putting in a multiplier and watching the mileage on the screen change accordingly. I kept putting in a small adjustments until I got it to match the reading on the dash odometer. My fuel mileage went down from over 10 to 8.5, which is much more reasonable.

[Flagelpater]

Thank you JDT. My mileage is off about the same % as yours. I will start off with the adjustment value you ended up with and start from there. The speedometer has always agreed with the GPS but I never checked the odometer against the GPS. I did have a friend I was following in a Dynasty that had and odometer off by 10%! When he confirmed it against his GPS his MPG took a big hit! I also lost .5

[Diplomat Don]

JDT & Flagelpater.....It's funny, because my adjustment for mileage was about .945