I too am seeing transmission temperature gauge strange behavior. It's an Allison 3000MH driven by a 330 ISC Cummins, Roadmaster chassis, and 2001 Monaco Diplomat coach. No Aladdin or other electronic read-outs.
The gauge generally reads approximately 160 degrees. Whether the ignition is on or off, engine running or not, running on a flat surface, climbing a long hill, going 65 or 35MPH, it does not seem to matter.
I put this on the to-do list when the coach was in for preventative maintenance and the tech said it was OK. He said that he checked the sensor/sender output and that it varied as expected. He "stall-tested" it. I gather that means foot on the service brake while jacking up engine RPM to cause the transmission temp to rise.
I asked the tech, "in your opinion, if operating conditions cause the transmission oil temperature to rise to say 190 degrees, the dashboard gauge will reflect a reading close to that within the normal tolerances of gauges such as this one?" He answered with an unequivocal "yes".
In the 9 days following that conversation we crossed the Siskiyous twice pulling the 3,700 pound toad with outdoor temperatures in the low 60's at times and the dash gauge did not budge.
However, when we got home yesterday afternoon, DW and I were jockeying the coach around in the driveway and I had occasion to have it in gear at idle for a couple of minutes at a time interspersed with nudges of engine speed to get it up on its wood leveling blocks. Lo and behold, the transmission gauge registered up to 180 degrees during these machinations.
This would not be so puzzling except that the gauge still reads about 160 when the ignition key is switched on after the coach has been sitting for weeks in cool weather.
So my question is; is it normal for this drive-train/transmission configuration to run under heavy load at 160 degrees "all day long" and only start to break a sweat in the driveway with some maneuvering, albeit against some minor, short-duration, small-magnitude resistance?
Am planning to call Allison but saw this thread and wondered what the group's experience in this area is.
Thanks,
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Dave & Cathy, 2002 Country Coach Affinity, 42', #6103, CAT C12, Sold - Retired From RV'ing, Linux Mint
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