Help! Allison transmission control problem!

[michaeldterry]

Good news/bad news... bad news first - The mechanic/technician from W.W. Williams called me this afternoon and said he had researched my symptoms and it sounds like I need a new shifter module. His location did not have one in stock and the closest location that does is in Alabama. He's having the part air freighted in to arrive tomorrow and is having it delivered to his home. When it arrives, he will call me and arrange to come to Woodstock and put it in (he is in Atlanta - about 30 miles from me).

Now the good news - he told me that I could try using the blunt end of a writing pen to push hard on the "D" pad and sometimes that would work as a temporary work-around. I grabbed a pen off my desk, headed to the bus, started and warmed her up, then held my breath and used the pen to push the "D". After poking around (literally "poking it with a stick") a bit, it clicked into gear! Yea! To make sure it wasn't a one time fluke, I shifted to Neutral and then poked "D" with the pen again and it eventually went into gear! Success! Now I was feeling brave to I took her to get fuel and then brought her home to load for the trip to Chattanooga tomorrow. We will decide what to do about the W.W. Williams guy coming out tomorrow depending on what time the part arrives. If it arrives in time to still get us on the road before 4:00PM, we can make our commitment in Chattanooga tomorrow night. If the part arrives too late to get us safely on the road in time, I've decided to take my chances with the "pen poke" work around and have the shifter replaced next week after we return.

Once again, thank you to all our POG buddies who responded with info, advice, and suggestions! You're the best!

[Ray Davis]

Well, that's good news. Poke carefully, and I'll bet you're good for at least this trip!

ray

[Orren Zook]

Michael, Today I had a driver for a tour bus company tell me that many of their drivers regularly use a pen to shift gears and for that reason the membrane piece with the letters is replaceable on some newer shift pads instead of replacing the entire module. Sounds as if this may be a common practice with professional drivers.

[truk4u]

Michael,

Williams has a place in Acworth, just about 8 miles west of you off Hwy 92 at I-75 and the phone is (678) 574-9251. They suck with buses, I do buy parts there, but maybe they have a pad in stock and since they're so close to you, you could run over there and talk to them.

I was also going to mention that the pads will go bad if they get wet.

[michaeldterry]

Michael,

Williams has a place in Acworth, just about 8 miles west of you off Hwy 92 at I-75 and the phone is (678) 574-9251. They suck with buses, I do buy parts there, but maybe they have a pad in stock and since they're so close to you, you could run over there and talk to them.

I was also going to mention that the pads will go bad if they get wet.

Tom - W.W. Williams in Acworth was my first call yesterday, but they couldn't get to me because they were covered up with road service calls. It was them that referred me to the Moreland Ave. location. The tech that I'm working with there did a search for the part and the closest one he found was in Alabama (being air freighted in today). I'm getting ready to call him right now (he gave me his personal cell number) and check to see if he's gotten the part yet and while I'm at it, I'll ask about trying to replace just the pad first to see if that resolves it. Either way - we're leaving town around noon!

[truk4u]

OK, good, your on the right track. I hesitated to even mention Williams at Acworth and they probably blew you off when you mentioned bus, but they are close enough for a face to face when buying parts. I complained about their lack of bus support while we were at OKC, but didn't expect it to go anywhere.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Just a general comment...don't overlook charter coach operators who have a Prevost fleet. Especially the larger charter companies because they have their own inventories, mechanics and have skilled mechanics. We have one near us that does work on Prevost conversions.

[michaeldterry]

We made it to Chattanooga - no problem! In the RV park now finishing lunch and preparing to go explore a bit before heading to the Tivoli Theatre in the toad tonight to see comedian Ron White. The "pen poke" method of shifting worked like a charm! We even stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop and had Evangeline weighed by individual axle. She was full of fuel, a little over half full of fresh water and grey/black bilge (plus two teen girls, a hot wife, 2 small dogs, and an overweight driver). Also, we carry our golf cart style electric cart in the front bay. The weight ticket shows:

• Steer axle - 15,340 lbs
• Drive axle - 19,580 lb
• Tag axle - 15,060 lbs
• Gross Weight - 49,980 lbs

That's almost 4,000 lbs heavier than I thought she was! How do I find out if this weight is within the acceptable range for my specific coach/chassis? Also, shouldn't the tires be inflated/adjusted depending on the axle weight at each tire position?

Once again, I find myself asking for the POG braintrust to educate me!

I'm going to also post this as a new thread to keep these questions from getting lost in the thread creep of this one. I apologize in advance for the duplication!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

It is on a data plate, typically located next to the driver's seat. It will list individual axle weight limits and maximum gross weight.

Using those weights you now need to look up the tire pressures for each axle.

http://www.michelintruck.com/micheli...ion-tables.jsp

My guess is you are seriously overweight and should start considering how to bring those weights down to something near the limits for your coach, or recognize that you may have to adjust your driving habits to compensate for the additional stresses those excess weights impose on your air bags, brakes, bearings, etc.

[phorner]

Michael,

For what it's worth, my 1999 XLV shell Prevost Data Plate reads:

Front : 16,500
Drive : 20,400
Tag l: 12,000

GVWR: 48,900