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Transmission Service & Coolant Service Costs?
Hello and good Friday afternoon fellow Veterans, and fellow PC colleagues. I have a quick question.
It is time to get Transmission and Cooling maintenance performed. I have been provided an over the phone estimate by WW Williams of ~$500 for Cooling System Service, and ~$500 to $600 for the Transmission Service. Does this seem about right?
I will check the box the is supposed to inform me of a provided answer, but it never works for me. So best to respond to this request on PC, or highlight my username on the post and send me an eMail. A few of you have my personal cell phone number which you are welcome to use to speak with me,
R
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7 Replies
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The transmission on your coach originally called for ATF fluid and a filter change. I think your filter is external. A lot of folks have switched over to Transynd or equivalent. I cannot remember the amount of fluid used but Transynd is very expensive. I think it is now in excess of $50 per gallon so that would be a large part of the cost of that service.
ATF has a limited life compared to Transynd but is less inexpensive and for a while I believe Allison was allowing a specific grade and weight of motor oil but I cannot remember the specifics so both of those would bring the cost down.
As to coolant, our capacity is in the range of 24 gallons. It varies based on what devices the converter added to the cooling system such as house heat exchangers or coolant heated water tanks, but it is going to cost some dollars for the coolant, maybe include a flush, and to be honest is a pain to properly drain and burp. The cost can vary a little based on if you use conventiuonal 2 year coolant that meets the Detroit spec or a six year coolant with OAT technology.
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Ron, what Jon said plus:I don’t know what quantity or quality of coolant, ATF and filter(s) your bus requires, but:Here is an estimate of what it would cost retail to have coolant and tranny service done on our 96 Liberty w/60 series DD and B500 Allison trans.$15/gal for conventional HD ethylene glycol coolant, need about 24 gals of 50/50, and a $15 water filter, $100 of distilled water, plus labor.$50/gal of Synthetic ATF, need about 7 gals, 2 Allison filters for $75, plus labor.I have friends(3 brothers) whose father worked for Trailways bus company for 40+ yrs. They run 15-40w conventional motor oil in their older Allison transmissions. Trailways did the same, and it was approved by Allison.Call Tom Johnson @ JG Lubricant Services @ 8776-971-7799 ext#2, he usually picks up. He is known as “Mr.Transynd”. He worked for Allison for 20+ yrs and developed the current specs(TES295 & TES368) for Allison transmissions.
Allison Approved(synthetic) TES 295 Fluids:
Castrol TranSynd
BP Autran Syn 295
BASF Emgard 2805
International Trucks Fleetrite Synthetic ATF
Mobil Delvac 1 Synthetic ATF
CNH HD Synthetic ATF
Mack Bulldog Synthetic ATF
Shell Spirax S6 ATF A295
Renault Trucks Oils Starmatic A-Max
Allison Approved(non-synthetic) TES 389 Fluids:
Petro-Canada ATF D3M
Shell Spirax S2 ATF A389
Fuchs Titan ATF 4000
Mobil Multipurpose ATF
Ravenol ATF III H
Raloy Trans Fluid RDX-III MB
Castrol Transmax DEX-III Multivehicle
Castrol Transmax ATF Heavy Duty
Renault RTO Starmatic A3
Chevron ATF HD 389
Here is a link to a DDC approved coolant list – 93K217:
If your switching from conventional (2 yr) HD ethylene glycol coolant to an extended life coolant(6 yr ELC) also know as organic acid technology(OAT), the installer/retailer will need to flush the system 3 or 4 times with distilled water to get all the old conventional coolant out and good water chemistry in. This requires a lot more $time/labor$. -
As usual, Don did an excellent job of providing details.
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Second that. Don has the details! Although…i am a little worried that ive never changed my transmission coolant. Must be a mistype there on Dons post.
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I assume you meant transmission fluid.
The fluid does require changes and on the 5 speed you have options as to the length of the intervals based on what you use for fluid.
https://kwds.at/fileadmin//user_upload/Downloads/Service/FluidIntervals-Allison.pdf
That should help you decide your options
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Thanks, Jon, Jeff, and Don for your responses. My intent is to keep this coach maybe another two to three years and then into a newer one as Tammie retires and we go on the road for a month or two at a time. However, if I find a newer coach I really like ( up to and including year to 2000), I might go sooner.
Jon, I am talking about Transmission fluid service.
The WW Williams person said “Drain, Flush, Fill” for the coolant system, and mentioned bubbles/burps a few times.
I had not thought about changing to Transynd but I have read on the forums that it is a good choice for consideration when doing a transmission service.
Thanks, again for the responses. If you would like to give me a call to discuss all things related to these services, feel free to click on my user name and send em an eMail to which I will respond with my personal cell phone number.
Warmest regards to all of the PC.
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Oooops, I fixed it. I meant to say “Detroit Diesel Corp – DDC”
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