Tranny failure

[PKontheroad]

04 Workhorse. Climbed steep hill from camp to main rd. Unit not fully warmed. Outside temp around 70. At top of hill, transmission failure light came on. Rig was in L2, shifted to D & rig barely moved. Reading later, I figure I was in Limp Mode. Got to shoulder, shut down, waited a minute & restarted. Transmission failure light off. Put rig in D & took off. Operation seemed normal. Drove about 30mi & stopped at rest area. Checked fluid. Approx 1/4 qt low. Added fluid (Mobil 1 syn) & drove additional 100mi to camp. Climbed several fairly steep hills & geared down on descents. No more problem.

Heading to Calif, wondering about mountains. Was this a one time thing?
My thinking: Unit was not fully hot/slightly low fluid level/fluid to rear of tranny due to incline. Was cause merely low fluid?

Appreciate any help.

[dcellisesq]

I had an 03 Adventurer on a workhorse chassis which did the same thing. It turned out that the coolant in the overflow tank was a little low and that triggered the limp mode during a steep climb. Took it to workhorse dealer and they diagnosed low coolant and adjusted the sensor in the overflow tank. They also added a small amout of coolant. Never happened again.

Daniel C. Ellis
2005 Journey 39F
Portland, Oregon