MD3000MH "refill capacity"

[tennsmith]

I've got a MD3000MH in my Itasca Horizon and it is hooked to a 300 HP CAT diesel. A few days ago, I started a changeout of the transmission fluid and filters. Thought I knew what I was doing, and now I have questions. Reading the Allison Owner's manual, it says the 2" pan transmission requires 10.5 quarts on a filter changeout. I pulled both main and lube filters and drained the pan and got a whopping 18+ quarts of fluid!

Uncertain as to what was going on, (I thought the PO overfilled the transmission to the total capacity, including torque converter) I only replaced 10.5 quarts and did the electronic fluid level check and got a message that the transmission was low 4 quarts. Being a bit nervous, I added 2 quarts and checked it again, expecting it to say 2 quarts low, but instead I got 4 quarts low again.

Now I'm wondering what is going on and I go back and reread all the info and discover that the 10.5 qt spec does not include any external transmission cooler or the cooler lines. Ah ha!! Feeling a bit better that I have 14 quarts in the transmission and it wants more. My question is does anyone have a "reference" figure of how much fluid to add on this CAT diesel (3126) and Allison MD3000MH combo?

I'm puzzled a bit as to why the oil level readout showed 4 qts low and then after adding 2 qts, it still shows 4 qts low. Only way I can rationalize such a happening is that 4 qt low is the "max" the system can detect. Anyone have any information on this as well?

It would seem that I need to add at least 4 more quarts and that'll bring me to 18 which is just shy of what I drained out. I don't want to overfill it, but think that everything is probably working right, it just takes a couple of gallons to fill the external cooler and hoses.

[04Crescendo]

It really sounds like you have the 4" sump as I do in my 2004 Gulf Stream Crescendo with 330 Cat engine and Allison MD3000MH transmission, and not the 2". Did the filters you bought match the ones you removed? Mine took a 5 gallon pail (what I could reasonably get out) of Transynd and said 2 quarts low on the keypad after full hot (long drive). I downloaded a document from the web (can't remember site) with the number SA5429EN in the title, and it lists capacities and part numbers. For the 3000MH it says the 4 inch sump takes 29 quarts initial fill, 19 quarts refill. The 2" sump takes 26 quarts initial fill and 17 quarts refill. I heard the electronic keypad levels are sensitive to the levelness of the coach. Hope this helps. I can learn how to attach a doc to PM if you can't find it on the web.

Tim

[04Crescendo]

The brochure/booklet first page says "Allison Transmission Fluid and Filter change recommendations."

Just found the link:

http://www.fcocrv.org/Documents/PDF/...r_SA5429EN.pdf

[Norm4015]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennsmith I've got a MD3000MH in my Itasca Horizon and it is hooked to a 300 HP CAT diesel. A few days ago, I started a changeout of the transmission fluid and filters. Thought I knew what I was doing, and now I have questions. Reading the Allison Owner's manual, it says the 2" pan transmission requires 10.5 quarts on a filter changeout. I pulled both main and lube filters and drained the pan and got a whopping 18+ quarts of fluid!

Your transmission should take 19 quarts to refill.

[Chuck 1935]

I also have the Allison with the 2in pan and mine took 19+ quarts. I called Allison and gave them the numbers on the tag on the side of the trans. They can give you all the info you need. Like the other post said, level the coach and use the electronic leve after you have it warmed up. You can then check to see how accurate the trans dip stick is.

[tennsmith]

Thanks guys, I notice that the information in the link provided by 04Crescendo says 17 qts for the 2" pan and when I add for external cooler and lines, 19 qts seems about right and that is close to what I drained out. I was sweating bullets that the transmission had been overfilled and possibly damaged by too much fluid, but apparently, it was right on the mark.

[1ciderdog]

I attended a session put on by Allison this past week at the Redmond FMCA rally. The man said the maximum number the electronic readout will show is 4 so if you are 5, 6, 7 etc. either above or below the OK level the readout number will max at 4. And he said if it shows 4 low only add a couple of quarts, allow it to settle, then check it again. He also said the electronic measurement is more accurate than the dip stick measurement.

[SpursMVP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog He also said the electronic measurement is more accurate than the dip stick measurement.

This was my next question so thanks!

For our MH3000 I added 19 qts and the control pad showed us as being 2 qts low. Put the final 1 qt in and got the OK reading.

College football kicks off in 2 weeks so we are now officially prepared to make the road trip back home for the season opener.