More Kudos for Freightliner tech support!!

[ahicks]

So I found myself in a bit of a spot this morning. Stranded actually. We were leaving one campground for another 8 days into a 6 week trip - a LONG way from home. On the way out the drive way the "check trans" light came on and the transmission indicator went to "1". It had done the same thing 2 days ago as we left a different park. At the time I was searching the dash for a hint as to what was going on, I noticed the speedo jumping around from 0 to maybe 10-12mph. Pulled the coach over into an area where it wouldn't be in the way and found the shifter wouldn't go to neutral, reverse or anything - it was locked up? The computer back ground said try rebooting. So I shut the engine off, waited a second, then restarted. Everything went normal - so patting myself on the back for being so clever, we hit the road. We arrived at our new destination 4 hours and 200 miles later. Nothing missed a beat.

Today though, I realized that had been pure luck. I was now getting nothing from the speedo, and a sensor error when checking the error codes on the shifter panel. This is when Freightliner came to my rescue. I copied the second set of error codes and called Freightliner, hoping for the best. After giving them my VIN numbers, we went through what had happened and what it was doing now. That second set of error code numbers check out as a problem speed sensor - which might have caused that speedo to be jumping around - so that fit pretty well. Obviously, the trans is going to have to know how fast the coach is moving to do it's job correctly.

Suspecting a bad connection, I asked for and received the location of the speed sensor, and found there were 2 of them. One near the bell housing and the other near the output shaft, both on the drivers side. Thanking them for their services, I hung up, got some grubby clothes on, and crawled under the coach - where I found one of the speed sensor plugs had become dislodged slightly!!! Cleaned up, fired up the engine, put it in gear, and we were in business!

THANK YOU FREIGHTLINER!!!

-Al

[HeapBigEngin]

ahicks....that is very helpful info you provided. Also glad you resolved the issue as easily and quickly as you did.

I have had to contact Freightliner on a couple of technical issues....and they were outstanding! I also enrolled in and have access to their technical and parts website. I have found it to be useful, although going through the process of gaining access can be somewhat time consuming. You might want to contact them or visit their website to consider going through that process.

[Hootie-Owl]

Ahicks, thanks for this information. Well worth the read.