Let Me Know if You Have Allison Transmission Fluid Questions

My Allison transmission has an oil to water cooler so it always runs at the same temp as my coolant once the engine and tranny are at operating temp. If the coolant is at 191F so is the Aliison.

I have a VMSpc and I can track the coolant and tranny temps down to the degree.

The big question I have is how can I save money on TES 295 approved fluid?

Most of the TES 295 approved fluids on the Allison list I can't find for sale. If I can find them for sale they cost as much or more than Transynd. I have numerous places I can find Transynd locally.

I probably should change my Transynd as it has been almost 5 years and 25,000 miles. The fluid should probably have been chnaged even earlier as I had non TES 295 fluid in there before so I have a mix right now.

Welcome!
Ok .We have a 2000 Beaver Marquis with a Cat C12 coupled to an Alison HD 4060 6 speed Transmission. In January 2011 we switched to TranSynd TES-295 . We did not flush,just drained,changed the filters and refilled with 7 gallons TES-295 .
Total capacity is 9 gallons. We were told to drive 25,000 miles before refilling with TES-295 . The second fill would give us better than 95% TES-295 and Alison would warranty it after this .
As a matter of interest, we have noted the operating temp has dropped from around 200 deg F to 175 deg F. An amazing drop,which we know will give us better longevity . We have put 10,000 miles on the coach since we purchased in March 2010 with trips from Florida to Canada ,Cabo San Lucas, Baja.Mexico and now back to Florida from San Diego.
Do you have any additional information for us?
Lookin forward to your comments.

Of the differance between the two types of transmission fluid? As I understood in the response to me they all could be red ect

bsimonds wrote:

hzjcm8 wrote:

SpinRite wrote:
Hi, hzjcm8,

If using this method:
1. Drain old Dexron and re-fill with Transynd.
2. Remove return hose from transmission cooler and aim it into a bucket.
3. Have a helper start engine, then shut it down as soon as you see fluid color going into the bucket change over to Transynd.
4. Re-connect hose, top off with Transynd.

Does this only replace the fluid in the cooler, or does it also take care of the torque converter?

Spinrite,

Your technique is OK (kind of like a flushing machine but better). Just make sure you get the cooler hoses tight. Your technique gets everything (sump, torque converter, cooler, cooler lines). As soon as you start the engine the transmission pump is turning and will pump fluid through the torque converter and to the "converter out" circuit which is "cooler in".

No problem !!!

PS: The reason I didn't mention this is because most folks won't go to the measure and Allison doesn't recommend it for most people. The double drain does the same thing.

How do you identify which cooler line is the return?

hzjcm8 wrote:

SpinRite wrote:
Hi, hzjcm8,

If using this method:
1. Drain old Dexron and re-fill with Transynd.
2. Remove return hose from transmission cooler and aim it into a bucket.
3. Have a helper start engine, then shut it down as soon as you see fluid color going into the bucket change over to Transynd.
4. Re-connect hose, top off with Transynd.

Does this only replace the fluid in the cooler, or does it also take care of the torque converter?

Spinrite,

Your technique is OK (kind of like a flushing machine but better). Just make sure you get the cooler hoses tight. Your technique gets everything (sump, torque converter, cooler, cooler lines). As soon as you start the engine the transmission pump is turning and will pump fluid through the torque converter and to the "converter out" circuit which is "cooler in".

No problem !!!

PS: The reason I didn't mention this is because most folks won't go to the measure and Allison doesn't recommend it for most people. The double drain does the same thing.

How do you identify which cooler line is the return?

hzjcm8 wrote:

mci7 wrote:
Reference to the 4000MHR transmission, using the Detroit TranSynd oil, What would the max safe temp allowed when decending a mountain using the retarder ?
So far, have not let it go above 220F.
Many thanks

MCI7,

I would say you could let it get to 250F but only intermittently. The transmission will allow a max "converter out" temperature of 330F so 220F sump temperature is not too high. The transmission will go into the "inhibit" mode to allow better cooling once it reaches a pre-set sump temperature but I'm not sure what that point is. I'm thinking it's probably around 250F though.

Tom,

Let's back up a minute. There are three different (very different) location for the transmission temperature senders on RV's I have worked on. I have seen them at the transmission sump, line into the transmission cooler and the line out of the transmission cooler.

Each will have a maximum recommended temperature, with the sump temperature likely being the most "accurate" and critical in reflecting what is happening in the transmission.

If you could share temps for each of these locations, it would be of assistance, as the readings are so different.

Snowman9000 wrote:
I read the whole thread and if I missed this, I apologize.

Let's say there is a drain interval of 150,000 miles or 48 months, whichever comes first. Or 50,000/48, whatever.

And let's say in 48 months the vehicle is actually only driven 20,000 miles. I understand that sampling and testing can be employed to extend the drain interval. But...

What is the reasoning behind specifying a calendar time? What happens to the fluid as it sits in the transmission in a low mileage situation? ie How does it go bad?

Thanks!

It could get contaminated with water but that's about it. The fluid won't go bad (from a performance standpoint) by just sitting. I never believed in the calendar time limit but got voted down on this. The fluid if just left to sit and without contamination should be good for 10 years or more.

mci7 wrote:
Reference to the 4000MHR transmission, using the Detroit TranSynd oil, What would the max safe temp allowed when decending a mountain using the retarder ?
So far, have not let it go above 220F.
Many thanks

MCI7,

I would say you could let it get to 250F but only intermittently. The transmission will allow a max "converter out" temperature of 330F so 220F sump temperature is not too high. The transmission will go into the "inhibit" mode to allow better cooling once it reaches a pre-set sump temperature but I'm not sure what that point is. I'm thinking it's probably around 250F though.

DannyLeininger wrote:
Tom, having you here is amazing! Thank you. I have read all the posts so far....wow!

I recently purchased an 07 Mountain Aire 45' with an Allison 4000 with Transynd. It had been repo'd so I'm missing most documentation and have no maintenance history.

I assume the 4000 requires the first primary filter change at 5K like my last 3000 did???

You have stated a 4000 could go 100K+ miles between fluid changes provided proper filter changes and oil analysis. But, not knowing if filter changes have been done, what steps would you recommend I take? Should I go ahead and change the fluid and filters so I have a good starting point? Or just change filters?

Can you take the original Transynd to 100K+ miles? Or is this done after the first complete change?

Danny,

Since you don't know the history it's probably best to start fresh with new filters and fluid and then you've got a "baseline". Otherwise, you could change the filters, do an oil analysis, and then do a top off. I'd be happy to take a look at the oil analysis for you. Once you've drained and refilled twice with TranSynd in a 4000 Series, you're good for 300,000 miles on the fluid and then just change the filters as recommended by Allison. Note: If you have a retarder then the fluid is good for 150,000 miles since a retarder is considered "Severe Duty".

hottubkid wrote:
If a person doesn't know which trans fluid his coach has. Is their a way to tell what fluid is in the coach???? Color?

If it's red, it could be any number of ATFs including DEXRON-III, DEXRON-VI, TES-389, TES-295 or TranSynd. I'd need to know a little bit of history if you have it. You could do a fluid analysis and that would help to identify it. I could look at the results if you'd like.