-
Allison reprogram
Called a Allison dealer to change the Pre select gear that trans shifts when jake brake is applied and they said 2 to 3 hours then test and around $375 bucks I thought that seemed high or is it? What do you guys think?
-
14 Replies
-
That’s a nice money making shop ticket….for sure !
-
When we first got the coach, we took it to Stewart and Stevenson in San Antonio to check the engine and transmission, and do oil changes on both. They also reprogrammed the Allison to the way I wanted it to work with the Jake, and they did not charge any extra for the reprogramming. They also included an engine history printout at no extra charge.
-
It takes 15 minutes to change that setting. This includes walking to the coach with the laptop, plugging it into the coach and changing the setting. That estimate is way too high.
-
I agree they here Prevost and here it comes, Per how did you program yours?
-
I programmed it like my previous coach, to downshift to second when the Jake is on. I leave the Jake off until needed, which of course drives the truck drivers crazy, because they have been taught to leave the Jake on at all times, which is what the Jake manual written for stick shift trucks says. The updated Jake manual written after automatic transmissions had the Jake interface feature, does not make that recommendation.
-
Jon…Bite your tongue please. I’m with you but let’s not open this can of worms again.
-
I’m not getting into this again.
-
We had the transmission reprogrammed last year at DD/Allison shop while passing through Wentzville, MO. It took 15 minutes. It cost a whopping $00.00. Happy camper.
-
The only reason I thought I would reprogram is when I’m going about 60 to 65 and apply jake it goes to 4th and RPM’s go over 2000 22 or 23 it worries me that it is to many RPM’s, I’m afraid to apply it at any higher speeds because it might over RPM it. How many RPM’s can it take?
-
There is NOTHING that will ever make your engine over rev. It is protected buy computers, tranny & engine, to prevent damage. The computers control the throttle and downshifts for protection
Example: while going down the highway at 70 mph you could select 1st gear on the touch pad and it will not go to 1st. It will only downshift to whatever the lowest gear is to attain redline or less.Like others, my previous coaches were programmed to aggressively downshift to 2nd gear. Works great, but to each his own. The higher the rpm, the more effective the jake brake is.
-
It is not the over revving that is a major concern, although it can happen if the hill is steep enough and the bus is pushing the retarder or jake.
The big concern is the downshifts are harsh and bang pretty hard on the drivetrain, especially when the torque converter is locked.
To ease the harshness of the downshifts I anticipate the need to downshift, either when ascending a hill or when I need to get the speed down to suit the gear I want for the downhill by manually shifting and applying pressure on the accelerator pedal so the engine is increasing its revs as the shift is occuring rather than letting the bus push the revs up.
-
I don’t have a Jake, just a retarder. I noticed on our recent trip that on steep inclines with the retarder level pulled down all the way (max effect) the trans would downshift, the retarder would “kick in”, the RPMs might increase, and after a few moments the “Oil Temp” (actually trans temp!!!!) would start to rise. Once the RPMs got to 2400 or 2500 the trans would automatically upshift (even though the retarder was on full blast. That told me that between the engine and trans computer, the max RPM is 2400 or 2500. There apparently is protection built in.
From this, can I presume the max RPM for the DD Series 60 is 2500? Maybe Brian Stanton from American Fleet can comment.
-
When we first got the coach, I asked for an engine history printout. Simple to do–just plug into the computer and download history. The history showed the maximum RPM experienced on the engine was 2550. I cannot imagine Detroit Diesel would allow Allison to program the transmission in a way that would allow over-revving the engine and cause damage.
-
That’s what happens when we allow the coach to push the transmission / jake / retarder.
As drivers we have to anticipate the situations that we deal with and work proactively to prevent an issue. When a downhill slope is pushing the coach we have to recognize that and use heavy brake application to get back to a level below target speed.
Log in to reply.