Kodiak Tranny Broke!

[SteveR]

Our MH has 11,000 miles on it. We were on our first real trip on the MH when 300 miles from home and 80 miles from or destination the tranny stopped downshifting...a bad thing in the mountains. The tranny service light also went on. GM said to STOP driving and get a tow....back home. 300 miles in the wrecker cab bouncing our way back home with our tails between our legs and very very unhappy campers.

The repair shop said it was a shorted out solenoid and they replaced it. No word as to how it shorted out.

If your light comes on; stop and get a tow otherwise you could hose your tranny and these puppies are not cheap.

[SteveR]

Our MH has 11,000 miles on it. We were on our first real trip on the MH when 300 miles from home and 80 miles from or destination the tranny stopped downshifting...a bad thing in the mountains. The tranny service light also went on. GM said to STOP driving and get a tow....back home. 300 miles in the wrecker cab bouncing our way back home with our tails between our legs and very very unhappy campers.

The repair shop said it was a shorted out solenoid and they replaced it. No word as to how it shorted out.

If your light comes on; stop and get a tow otherwise you could hose your tranny and these puppies are not cheap.

[Jestme13]

Steve , I know that had to be a big bummer, but at least it wasn't a catistrofic failure. you could still be home! Onwards and upwards

[Steady Eddie]

Steve---

Our Allison Transmission also quit.

I spoke to several Allison Techs and they all
said that our specific type of failure was a
rarity, probably brought on by the previous
Owner towing something really heavy, like a
10-horse trailer.

The one thing that struck me at the Allison
Service Center was the huge number of Allison
Equipped rigs there--all with problems-all
waiting for repairs of some kind.

I had a F**d Sales Rep tell me once that fully
33% of all electronic Allisons will fail.
At the time I took it with a grain of salt,
considering the source. Does anyone here know
what the Allison failure rate really is??

[SteveR]

Here is an update:

The Allison tech showed me what they found in the tranny. It was a tiny (half the size of a very small sewing needle) that was stuck on the solenoid shorting it out. The tech said they have seen a few of these where the tranny would not shift properly and it would generate error codes on the diagnostic but would then go away only to come back days or weeks later. The tech said it wasn't until the night shift guy used a flashlight to inspect the tranny with the pan off did he see the tiny metal piece. Now it is the first thing they look for.

They flushed and refilled the tranny and it seems to be working fine now.

Now to get the ^%&*(@!! refrigerator working...but that is another whole thread.

[CrewChief22]

As the Service Advisor for Redlands Truck & RV, I've seen very few coaches with actual Allison transmission problems and I can say that we've not sent more than 5 coaches to the local Allison dealer for repairs in the last 3 years.

Thanks,
KC Cummins
Redlands Truck & RV