Economy mode on 3000 Allison

[jetfromtn]

Getting ready for first long trip and need advice on how and when to use economy mode. Will be going from E. TN to Bonita Springs FL. Will it work in cruise control? What exactly does it do, lock the converter? Is it like tow-haul mode on a diesel PU?

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Jim & Tanya Thompson
07 40' Pathfinder
07 HHR Toad

[Algoma]

It is programmed by the coach manufacturer and normally tells the transmission to shift up at lower rpm and thus be more economical. It also delays the shift down so you could find the engine lugging up hills. I have not found it makes much difference to my mpg and in hilly country I leave it in normal mode. It does not affect the cruise control

[Don M.]

I talked with an Allison Exc. that works in the engineering dept. He told me the economy mode was there for in town stop and go. It would not help any running down the highway for better fuel mileage. Of course this is one person opinion. I haven't been able to tell any difference on the highway.

[Spikester]

Allison tells people that attend thier Seminars during the FMCA convention to run it in the "Economy" mode for the best performance and fuel economy, especially when hill climbing. "Economy" mode only allows the tranmission to downshift when a "Wide open throttle" is sensed with the engine operating at max torque RPM. "Normal" mode uses pre-set shift points.

Spike

[skigramp]

I travel Interstate highways most of the time ... I have found Economy ON or OFF to have almost no effect unless I am travelling on rolling hills and a substantial headwind ... so I ignore it anymore

What I have found is that it is more important to watch the RPM of my engine on long sustained climbs (5 or 6% grades that are a couple of miles long )... it is important for me to keep the RPM's above 2000 to prevent my engine from overheating ... so I manually shift down to maintain RPM under those conditions ...

I have a 2004 Journey with a CAT C7 engine

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skigramp I travel Interstate highways most of the time ... I have found Economy ON or OFF to have almost no effect unless I am travelling on rolling hills and a substantial headwind ... so I ignore it anymore What I have found is that it is more important to watch the RPM of my engine on long sustained climbs (5 or 6% grades that are a couple of miles long )... it is important for me to keep the RPM's above 2000 to prevent my engine from overheating ... so I manually shift down to maintain RPM under those conditions ... I have a 2004 Journey with a CAT C7 engine

Exactly my experience and conclusions.

Rick

[GaryKD]

I do not use the economy mode. I have found no advantage to having it. Mr. Allison knows what gear the coach needs to be in.

[PlayItForwrd]

The Allison is fully programmable with a computer and other necessary equipment, and 'economy' mode could be anything the programmer wants it to be... 'stump-pulling' mode, 'first-2-gears-only' mode, 'hill-climb' mode... So what I wonder is, does Allison have a typical 'economy' mode that most or all motorhome mfr's just use, or do the mfr's do their own programming?

That said, what I've noticed about MY economy mode is that the shift points are noticeably lower, at least thru 3rd gear. Aside from that, not enough experience yet.

[Spikester]

I would think that the Chassis manufacture has it programed based on the Model, Engine, Transmission, and rear end gear ratios for the particular chassis, prior to it be delievered to coach manufacturer. But this is just a guess.

Spike

[Dave1956]

I am new at this but have noticed a slight difference in "economy" mode. In Texas where I live, using the normal mode, my Newmar DP (300 cummins) wanted to shift too often when going over interstate overpasses at 60 mph. When using the "economy" mode or actually just turning on the "mode" function, my coach will maintain a steady speed of 60-65 without hunting gears on overpasses. I like that as I prefer 60-65 mph on our busy highways.

[B Bob]

I never use mine. I keep reading these threads to see if anyone writes and raves about the fact that economy mode really does something significant. Since I have never seen that I just put my coach in drive and let it shift for itself. When I first bought my coach I tried doing manual shifting up long hills. I have stopped doing that and just let it shift for itself. This summer the one time I manually shifted the trans down I promptly forgot about it and only noticed it when the motor home would not go over 60 mph. The engine rev limiter kicked in. And then I realized I forgot I left it in fourth. So that is the last time I shifted manually.

[stuplich]

I use the "mode" quite often.
I figure that Allison put that feature in for a reason and I might as well use it.
I can't realy feel or calculate a difference other than you can tell that it does not downshift as often when driving on a very hilly route. (It tends to upshift sooner and downshift later).
If you have an overheating issue "mode" may agravate that problem, but only on long up hill grades, because it does tend to keep the RPMs lower longer, causing the engine to work harder.
Mel
'96 Sahara, 35', 250 HP, 3000 Allison

[skigramp]

there are two hills on northbound onI-15 in CA ( north of San Berdino & north of Baker) that are in the 5 to 6% range and both at least 5 miles long ... that is where I learned to manually downshift and to keep my RPMs above 2000

the first time through in my diesel the lights started flashing, the buzzer started buzzing, and the missus started dissing ...

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skigramp there are two hills on northbound onI-15 in CA ( north of San Berdino & north of Baker) that are in the 5 to 6% range and both at least 5 miles long ... that is where I learned to manually downshift and to keep my RPMs above 2000 the first time through in my diesel the lights started flashing, the buzzer started buzzing, and the missus started dissing ...

Mine wasn't far away on the Grapevine... I'm a slow learner and ended up getting towed to a Cummins shop in Bakersfield when the Stop Engine light came on. It was that Cummins tech who "educated" me.

Rick