???????Xmsn/Electronics

[fayjim2]

I put a lenghty problem on yesterday about my 8.1 2003 WH Trans fail light /no power and now its ok after 3 days of camping. Now I can,t even find my post in the forum I think this is why I gaveup the forum when we still lived in AK> So if someone has the time to respond and tell me what the what is I would really be grateful Jim Athol Id.

[njs42]

Keep in mind this is a holiday weekend many people are traveling and maybe just have not seen your comments or had my same reaction.

I did have one thought---but it does not coincide with all your information so I believed it irrelevent, so I did not respond---now you can decide. I once had a loud banging in the area of my transmission, actually shook the MH----scare me to pieces------but no lights went on etc;

I finally deduced that it was something I was carrying in the basement that slid then hit with a bang. Carrying anything like that???

I looked at your problem but I haven't the faintest idea what to say about it. It certainly is not that I---and many others are not sympathetic---but didn't want to waste your time with sympathy rather than expert help.

People on this site are very helpful and very responsive-----but they have their lives as well. I really am sorry you are having difficulty and I wish with all my heart I had an answer a solution and I am quite sure many feel the same way.

A tad more patience may bring you a response from someone truly qualified---and there are many on this site.

Good luck---I wish you well--I'm sure we all do even if we do not know how to solve the problem.

[Rjhuser]

Your original post is in the Allison transmission sub-forum in the Power Train Garage forum.

[Duner]

To make it a little easier, here's the text from the 1st post:

Quote:

Originally Posted by fayjim2 Was traveling down the road just after fuel/propane fillup. We were at approx. 45 mph and then a VERY loud bang from underneath the MH. A sound that I can.t really explain. I thought I hit something and the wife said it sounded like the emergency brake ????? I have no idea how she came up with that. Anyho the dash lit up with that exclamation mark with a gear symol. I pulled over wal;ked around kicked the tires ,crawled underneath and all looked fine. We proceded with the lights still on to our campsite, top speed attainable was 45 mph, and the eng. was flat with barely enough power to get us to our site. After a 3 days of fun we cranked her up no lights and all was well ???????????????? So anyone want to comment please do and don.t pull no punches. We are hoping to go to the east coast toards the end of july. Currenly I,m going to pull the main xmsn oil filter and cut it open and see if? Rig has 40100 miles HELP Jim

Jim, you're in the right forum now....since these weird tranny problems happen on WH chassis somewhat frequently. I've been on the forum for 9 yrs and never read the Allison forum.

I had experience like yours 2 or 3 times. Just before my 3 yr warranty was to expire, I had Allison pull my tranny to replace a leaky seal on the input shaft. They over filled the tranny with fluid. When I left the Allison shop in Ontario, CA, I immediately went up the 20 mile Cajon Pass. I didn't know but it was spewing a mist of tranny fluid all over the underside of my coach and my car in tow...... what a huge mess!!!! During the next year I would get many crazy symptoms, like yours Jim and several others too. Like drop into neutral while taking off from a dead stop...got a heck of a bang. Or it would do the 5-4-3 down shift and then go into limp mode (reduced power). It was always intermittent and would fix itself so my plan was to wait a little longer til the problem would pop up when I was near an Allison 1000 dealer (which are a lot less than the bigger Allisons).

Anyhow, I found the problem myself. It was tranny fluid that had seeped into the sealed connector on the side of the tranny just below the shifting linkage. When I sprayed electronic contact cleaner inside and out, the problem went away....Hurray! Never came back in 4 yrs now. So that is something you can check yourself. The problem could be at the other end of that cable at the tranny control module right above the engine. Maybe water or coolant is in that connector. Or maybe it's just not seated well.

My guess is that the loud bang you got (and I got) is the tranny switching to neutral under load, and then instantly engaging back in gear. It has to put a tremendous strain on the whole drive line and if happens too many times, the odds are that something is going to break into pieces....like a u-joint or the tranny itself.

Good luck Jim.

Bill

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duner Anyhow, I found the problem myself. It was tranny fluid that had seeped into the sealed connector on the side of the tranny just below the shifting linkage. When I sprayed electronic contact cleaner inside and out, the problem went away....Hurray! Never came back in 4 yrs now. So that is something you can check yourself. The problem could be at the other end of that cable at the tranny control module right above the engine. Maybe water or coolant is in that connector. Or maybe it's just not seated well.

Duner, Would you say that the connection had anything to do with the NSBU (Neutral start backup switch) ??

[Duner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Duner, Would you say that the connection had anything to do with the NSBU (Neutral start backup switch) ??

Ya, that'd be the one.
Here's picture of it:

I got so many different problems, I couldn't possibly think it's just a simple reverse or neutral switch connection. Sometimes the whole Actia display panel would go bonkers... flashing, buzzing, gauges going to zero, and the gear symbol staying on. Sometimes just dropping out of overdrive on flat smooth highway. Most often it would act up when I hit a jarring bump in the road (construction or RR crossing). Never touched the Actia after the recall back in '06. But after cleaning the tranny connector, I never had the Actia act up again.

I know lots of us have had Actia act up, and sometimes the engine go into "limp home" mode. My experience is that can happen when some of the data sensor connections go open or short together as in my case. Looking back in time, the cause & result is totally black and white to me. Nobody has touched my engine/tranny in 4 yrs except me. Oh, except Steve Brazel who did the UP update about 3 yrs ago.....and all he touched was the OBDII connector.

I think most of us owners got used to the Actia going bonkers and knew it would settle down and we keep on rolling. But when the tranny slams in/out of gear with a loud BANG, you get worried that there are some of your drive train parts laying on the highway behind you.

After I got the loud bang, I was heading to the Allison dealer in Memphis. On the way I called Steve Brazel and he had me looking for a loose connector and suggested re-seating several connectors. When I saw the wet pins on the NSBU connector I figured we found the problem so I didn't continue on the 150 miles to Memphis and started heading to Richmond Va towards my destination and another Allison dealer if necessary. Thank God, I didn't have to make that visit or get towed along the way.

Happy 4th of July everybody!!!
Bill

[njs42]

Come on back Fayjim2 we got some good stuff for you here.

[fayjim2]

tHANK YOU FOR THE HELP, GUESS i SHOULD BUY SOME ELECTRICAL CLEANER. i,M 10000 MILES SHORT OF THE SCHEDULED XMSN FILTER CHANGE MAYBE i SHOULD CHANGE IT EARLY AND CHECK THAT MAGNET FOR ANY LOOSE PARTS ALSO? wHERE DO YOU BUY A aLLISON 1000 OIL FILTER Sorry about the capitals I have trouble seeing that. Jim

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fayjim2 WHERE DO YOU BUY A ALLISON 1000 OIL FILTER Sorry about the capitals I have trouble seeing that.

Jim, You can buy one directly from an Allison store, from Chevrolet dealers OR you can buy an equivalent from NAPA in a Gold Series.

[oemtech]

Personally.... Allison only! I have tried others and there were not a perfect match.