Shift Inhibit and a crash

[xctraveler]

I am cross posting from Tiffin Network since this could have been far more tragic.

I will accept that this was an anomalous occurrence. Unfortunately it resulted in the coach hitting 8 cars and essentially destroying the front end.

I pulled into a parking lot and found that there was insufficient room to complete my turnaround. I got out to guide my wife in maneuvering through the lot - this is not an uncommon behavior for us, in tight quarters I will guide and she will drive. She has over 100,000 miles over 15 years driving our coaches. When she attempted to engage D the dash lit up with "shift inhibit" and the shift panel went dark. Instead of shutting down she tried again and the engine revved and the coach jumped forward hitting 8 cars before stopping.

The great news is no one was injured, not even my wife. I was standing just enough off to the side to avoid getting hit myself.

My question is has anyone else experienced an issue with shift inhibit and subsequent loss of control? FL has declined to inspect the coach unless my Insurer insists. I will let it drop unless I hear about other instances even if no damage was done.

[wolfe10]

JumboJet wrote:
Foot too close to the accelerator while trying to actuate the brake pedal? I saw that happen in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

You mean like Audi sudden acceleration! Yes, driver error-- or blame Audi for having pedals too close together.

[JumboJet]

Foot too close to the accelerator while trying to actuate the brake pedal? I saw that happen in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

[wolfe10]

Have never hear of "sudden, unintended acceleration" from a diesel/Allison.

What was chassis battery voltage?

Both engine and Allison computers can do "stupid" things if voltage is below 12 VDC.

And, as a forensic detail, I would take a picture of a good digital voltmeter on chassis batteries IMMEDIATELY. That would rule out (or in) a voltage issue.

That would NOT rule out wiring issues such as loose or bad connection.

[rr2254545]

Freightliner told me that shift inhibit was due to the engine reving too high

I have had the problem but never any learching

[J-Rooster]

Paul, IMHO this needs to be seriously looked into! With all the experience your wife has driving RV's I would rule out operator error. It sounds like to me that this would of happened if you were behind the wheel. The coach shouldn't have lurched forward like that? Good Luck and keep us posted!

[xctraveler]

Thank you Ranger Smith. No indication which of these circumstances were present.

[Ranger_Smith]

This is what causes shift inhibit

The following conditions may cause an inhibited state:
Engine speed too high
Throttle percentage incorrect
Output speed movement
The transmission control system inhibits shifting to protect the transmission
from some types of abusive operation, in response to Diagnostic Trouble
Codes (DTCs), and to satisfy transmission feature/option requirements.
These shift inhibits fall within the following types:
Above idle neutral to range shifts
Forward/reverse directional shifts
Transmission problems
Auxiliary equipment operation