allison 4060 tranny

[encantotom]

hi experts,

some of the time when i put it in gear (with emergency brake off and foot on the brake), the D or R just flashes. there is NO error code set (checked it).

there are "inhibitor signals" that prevent you from putting it in gear. i assume slide out is one, emergency brake on, foot not on brake etc.

when it happens, i can turn the engine off and back on and usually it goes into gear.

btw, it is warm and not cold so it is not becasue the tranny temps are not hgih enough.

any wisdom on it?

also, i know steve bare had his jake brake reprogrammed to come on in a lower gear. i need some wisdom from you steve or others on what to tell the guy to do....

i have to say, that this thing sure drives and rides nice. especially now that i am sure it will stop when i put on the brakes. the s60 has a lot of power pushing that 55k pound rig in a peppy way.

thanks as always.

tom

[rheavn]

Tom,
Just tell the tech you want the trans to shift to 4th gear instead of 5th gear like it is currently set when the jake brake is activated. I had Newell do it. The tech just plugged the reprogrammer into the port by the steering column. It was originally programmed to go to 5th gear when the jake came on, but that is only 300 rpm. I live in a very hilly area where the extra jake braking power is needed.

[davidmbrady]

If you set the transmission to pre-select 4th instead of 5th when the jake is engaged, you need to be careful that you don't overrev the engine. Max rpm under full load is 2100 rpm; max rpm under no load is 2225 rpm. Jake brake isn't quite full load but at 350 braking hp, it's not no load either. Having the transmission pre-select 4th can easily push the rpm's beyond 2225.

David Brady
'02 Blue Bird, Wanderlodge LXi
Series 60 equipped.

[rheavn]

David,
You may want to recheck your info. The engine will not over rev. On the interstate at 65 mph if the jake is activated mine downshifts to 5th gear until the coach slows enough to shift to 4th gear without over revving. It does not go straight to 4th gear when the jake is activated unless rpm wise it is safe to do so. I have even heard of people programming the coach to shift to 2nd gear when the jake is activated. Under this setting the trans would shift to the lowest gear possible without over revving the engine until it was down to 2nd gear. The Newell tech said he reprograms them all the time for people who live or drive in hilly areas. My Country Coach was also programmed to 4th gear. It performed without a problem for over 168,000 miles .

[davidmbrady]

It depends on where Allison has the shift points programmed on the HD4060 transmission, specifically on downshift with the jake brake engaged. I had mine changed from pre-selecting fourth to pre-selecting fifth. When DD/Allison did it for me they downloaded all the shift parameters for my transmission. One of the parameters is the rpm allowed when downshifting to fourth with the jake engaged. Allison's rpm parameter for this particular shift was 2300 rpm on my bus; Allison decided it was "safe to do so" at 2300 rpm... There's a little bit of a disconnect between what Allison wants and what the DD S60 is happy with. I'm not saying that all HD4060's have identical shift points. I am suggesting keeping an eye on it till you know for sure. Steve, sounds like you know that yours never exceeds 2100 on the jake. That's good.

David Brady
'02 Blue Bird Wanderlodge LXi
Series 60, Allison HD4060
NC

[RussWhite]

A couple more inhibits I have found:
Fast idle
Tag axle raised.

Previous coach selected second. Newell preselected 5th and seemed too high. I had it reprogrammed to preselected 4th. Always "assumed" Allison would not downshift too soon.
Russ

[encantotom]

hi russ, yea i knew about fast idle i just didnt put it. tag axle i didnt know.

do you mean you had it reprogrammed to 4th?

tom

[RussWhite]

Yes - post edited. Thanks

[encantotom]

btw, i talked to tommy at newell today. he said there is basically only 3 things that cause it to flash. we had them listed.

1. the emergency brake. they put some kind of switch on the back of it. i suspect that is the problem on mine as the emergency brake is slightly lose on mine.

2. fast idle

3. slides being shown as out. that should be eliminated on mine as the slide override switch is on.

so i will check them.

tom