Driving with the Allison Automatic Transmission

Thanks again for all the information
Learned a lot:)

One other thing that I didnt see in the list...

When it's cold out the tranny will hold in 1st gear for what can seem like a really long time. I cant tell you how many times I have heard the rv's leaving in the mornings driving thru the park at 2000 rpms trying to get the thing to shift up.

The newer ones may have changed that but just in case you experience it...

Good discussion! Thanks so much posters!

I drove transit coaches with Allison 5-speed and 6-speed boxes for nearly three years. I never tried to out-guess Allison's computer - it seemed to be a lot smarter than me, even though I'm a B.S. (Mech. Eng) guy.

If you're renting and not familiar with either diesels or Allison transmissions, my advice would be to put it "D" and let the computer take care of things. You could screw things up trying to out-guess the Allison computer.

Brett here.

The only reason NOT to use economy mode is if at least two of three things are happening at the same time-- engine coolant temperature is rising AND/OR you don't want to have to manually downshift (down arrow) AND/OR speed is dropping more than you want (and are willing to pay a lot more fuel for a few more MPH). Sorry, I know that is a mouthful.

But, we are back to the root question-- are you (and are you interested in being) smarter than something that can only see what has happened BEHIND you.

There is no right or wrong answer. I drive a manual transmission car (has have been the vast majority of my vehicles over the last 40 years) and am used to being proactive. Can I beat most others in MPG AND, repeat AND shortest drive time-- YES.

But, there is nothing wrong with saying "I bought an automatic, let it do its own thing".

The only time EVERYONE should use the down arrow is if you are climbing a grade and the transmission is "hunting". That is shifting between gears-- can't quite make it in the higher gear, so downshifts, then upshifts, then downshifts.......... Bad for any transmission. Use the down arrow to lock the transmission in the lower gear until the grade eases.

The beauty of the Allison is that you can drive it as an automatic, or you can use the shift pad to make it work like a manual.

This is probably another question for Brett, how does the economy mode work while towing. We tow a 20 enclosed trailer with a small car I was told never to use economy mode while towing. Your thoughts and thanks in Advance

Two more quick additions, that may or may not apply to the OP.

1) The gear that the trans will shift to when engaging the Jake Compression or Exhaust Brake assist, may vary. (I saw 2nd gear was mentioned in one post. In contrast, our 2004 Country Coach with the 30XX series trans - down shifts to 4th gear.) This is also something that can be changed, along with a few other setting related to how things behave with cruise control.)

2) I LOL at myself, after about 18 months of driving our coach, when I learned that on our rig (as it was programmed), that in order to down shift below 4th gear while in Jake Brake mode - you had to hit the down arrow button multiple times. (The trans still feel it is in 6th gear (or whatever gear you were in before activating the Jake). So to get down to 3rd gear, you need to tap the down arrow three times (5th, 4th and land in 3rd). And if on a real steep hill, one more down arrow will get you into 2nd:)!

For a short term usage, just get in and drive. If this is a rig you will own for along time, or put many, many thousand miles on - then do learn to read the road ahead, and use down shifts to keep the RPM's in the best power range for hill climbing. (CAT or Cummins can tell you the best RPM range for peak power, with a simple call.)

And after reading Wolfe's article back when he wrote it, and from other posts, we default drive in Economy - and manually intervene when we feel it is needed.

Best to all,
Smitty

Thank you so much,
As always you guys rule.
And Merry Christmas to everyone.

retiredtravelers2013 wrote:
Thanks so much. I maybe a little dim, but from what I gathered you just hit the mode button and it goes into economy mode? Hit it again and all is as it was?

Correct. Hitting the mode button toggles between power and economy mode. Each time the ignition is started, it starts in power mode.

Most shift pads have a light that illuminates when in economy mode, goes out when in power mode.

Brett

Thanks so much. I maybe a little dim, but from what I gathered you just hit the mode button and it goes into economy mode? Hit it again and all is as it was?