Workhorse Allison Jumped from 5 to 6 Speed (on its own)

[berfle]

I have a 2010 Bounder 33u on a Workhorse Chas is with Vortec 8.1 and Allison 5-speed (approx 26,000 miles). I've read that the 5-speed can be changed to a 6-speed but this is pretty strange. We've been on the road for several days and 2 days ago I noticed that the dash display is now showing 6 speeds. Also maybe my imagination but when it goes into the 6th speed, it's smoother and quieter (as if it's shifting into OD).

[-Gramps-]

I started to say, that there is a power/economy button somewhere, which allows the transmission to go to 5th or 6th gear. We had that on our 04 bounder but it was 4th, 5th gear. I think the switch was labeled OD for overdrive.

[Jef9909]

My Workhorse chases has a toggle button by the driver window for overdrive - has 3 settings for either 4th 5th or 6th gear to be the top gear the transmission can go up to. Sometimes I put it in 4th going down hills and only put it back in 5th. Revs are usually a little higher reminding me to hit switch again so 6th operates.

[23hotrodr]

Are you sure there isn't a selector switch somewhere that determines the highest gear the transmission will use?

Our 2007 Itasca on the W24 chassis has a dash mounted 3-position selector switch that will determine if 4th, 5th, or 6th gear is the highest gear the transmission will shift up to. Both 5th and 6th gears are overdrive. This selector switch can be very useful in hilly or mountainous terrain. For normal, mostly level driving, we leave the switch so that the trans will go all the way up to 6th gear.

From your description, it certainly sounds like the transmission is now going all the way to 6th gear which makes a big difference on normal highways. If you do not have a high gear selector switch, I'm sure an authorized Allison center could install one for you. It seems really odd to me that the coach builder would build a mh that would not have the ability to use the transmission as built by the chassis builder.

Good luck and enjoy the 6th gear.

[berfle]

wa8yxm wrote:
Workhorse went to the six speed in 2006 (Six in Six makes it easy to remember) I drive a 2005 5 speed (5 in 5 likewise) your tranny did not "Suddenly" go to six,it always was.. I do not know why you did not notice.

We'll... there was nothing there to notice... for 6 years and over 20,000 miles of travel I've been very aware that the gear display had a "5", on the bottom and I watched as the the top number stepped through 1,2,3,4,5 until both numbers showed "5".

Please understand that I'm tickled that it's now showing 6 gears. My whole purpose in this was to see if anyone had seen anything like this and more importantly, could this be something I needed to be concerned about. I'm guessing that the consensus would be that I needn't be concerned.

[Rocky2]

Actually, the Allison 1000 built in 2005 after July, 2005 installed in the 2006 model year Fleetwoods are six speeds. I missed it by 3 weeks and have the 5 speed.

[wa8yxm]

Workhorse went to the six speed in 2006 (Six in Six makes it easy to remember) I drive a 2005 5 speed (5 in 5 likewise) your tranny did not "Suddenly" go to six,it always was.. I do not know why you did not notice.

[wallynm]

Then I would say you have a 6 speed.

berfle wrote:

wallynm wrote:
What does the tac say? Any drop in RPMs?

berfle wrote:
I have a 2010 Bounder 33u on a Workhorse Chas is with Vortec 8.1 and Allison 5-speed (approx 26,000 miles). I've read that the 5-speed can be changed to a 6-speed but this is pretty strange. We've been on the road for several days and 2 days ago I noticed that the dash display is now showing 6 speeds. Also maybe my imagination but when it goes into the 6th speed, it's smoother and quieter (as if it's shifting into OD).

Yes the tach does drop a few 100 rpm' when going to 6th

[wolfe10]

berfle wrote:
I will say that I've always noted that the transmission seems to subtly shift twice in 2nd gear but never sought to see if this was true or my imagination.

The transmission torque converter is locking up in higher speeds in 2nd gear. It is always locked in higher gears. Feels like a "mini-shift" when it locks up in 2nd gear.

[berfle]

We purchased the 2010 coach in 2011 and have used it several times a year ever since. It is indeed a "W" chassis and not a "P". It was sold as having a 5-speed and has performed as such fo 6+ years. The dash display has always shown a "5" as the highest gear when in the "D" drive position. I never really thought much about the 5-speed/6-speed issue or differences over the years but was aware of the discussions on the forums about making the change from 5 to 6 speeds. I will say that I've always noted that the transmission seems to subtly shift twice in 2nd gear but never sought to see if this was true or my imagination.

[berfle]

wallynm wrote:
What does the tac say? Any drop in RPMs?

berfle wrote:
I have a 2010 Bounder 33u on a Workhorse Chas is with Vortec 8.1 and Allison 5-speed (approx 26,000 miles). I've read that the 5-speed can be changed to a 6-speed but this is pretty strange. We've been on the road for several days and 2 days ago I noticed that the dash display is now showing 6 speeds. Also maybe my imagination but when it goes into the 6th speed, it's smoother and quieter (as if it's shifting into OD).

Yes the tach does drop a few 100 rpm' when going to 6th

[nevadanick]

If you search the medium duty GM trucks like Kodiak you will find info about the Allison having 6th locked out and a way to enable 6th. Many people with the truck based motorhomes have done it.

[s_N_s]

wallynm wrote:
What does the tac say? Any drop in RPMs?

berfle wrote:
I have a 2010 Bounder 33u on a Workhorse Chas is with Vortec 8.1 and Allison 5-speed (approx 26,000 miles). I've read that the 5-speed can be changed to a 6-speed but this is pretty strange. We've been on the road for several days and 2 days ago I noticed that the dash display is now showing 6 speeds. Also maybe my imagination but when it goes into the 6th speed, it's smoother and quieter (as if it's shifting into OD).

What actual Workhorse chassis do you have? If it's the "W" series I do believe all Allison transmissions that were installed from 2005 and up have the 6 speed transmission. Now if it's a "P" series chassis it may have something different.

[rgatijnet1]

I believe that in 2005 the Allison 1000MH transmissions ALL went to 6 speeds. By 2010, you already had a 6 speed transmission from the factory. If it was NOT shifting in to 6th gear, which is a double overdrive(5th and 6th are both overdrives), it is because of some problem with the transmission control module(TCM).

[wallynm]

What does the tac say? Any drop in RPMs?

berfle wrote:
I have a 2010 Bounder 33u on a Workhorse Chas is with Vortec 8.1 and Allison 5-speed (approx 26,000 miles). I've read that the 5-speed can be changed to a 6-speed but this is pretty strange. We've been on the road for several days and 2 days ago I noticed that the dash display is now showing 6 speeds. Also maybe my imagination but when it goes into the 6th speed, it's smoother and quieter (as if it's shifting into OD).