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Old 07-09-2019, 06:00 AM   #1
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Allison Trans Fault

After leaving our last two multi day full hookup campsites, within a mile or so I get the yellow transmission symbol on the dash and shortly thereafter transmission will not up shift. I stopped and had two codes on the ScanGauge which I then cleared. After clearing the codes (or maybe just stopping) the transmission worked flawlessly for the rest of the day.

Yesterday I went to Clark’s Power Service in Knoxville, TN to have it diagnosed. Their scan showed low voltage codes. The tech then checked the battery terminals and a ground was very slightly loose. He said he has seen this affect Allison’s as they are very sensitive to grounds. Other than that there were no issues.

Since this is a voltage issue and only happens first thing in the morning, I am thinking my now 2 1/2 year old chassis batteries may be getting tired. I will have to watch my voltage readings when we leave Friday morning.

Ps. Premier Freightliner in Knoxville, who I used for my transmission re-tune and were great was slammed Monday morning sent me to Clark’s Power Service. Clarks took me right to diagnose and the tech spent more than 30 minutes with me. The tech would not accept a tip and I was not charged. Wow! I would not hesitate to use either of these shops in the future.
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Old 07-09-2019, 07:00 AM   #2
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Love it when business's are understanding to customers issues and treat them fairly. Unfortunately we normally only hear the negative and not enough of us toot the horn for great customer service. Thanks for sharing Mark.

I will reach in and check my chassis batteries to be sure they are tighten down.
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Old 07-09-2019, 07:23 AM   #3
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A loose ground connection does not equal a bad battery, it equals a loose ground connection. Unless you have abused your chassis batteries by fully discharging them several times I wouldn't worry about them unless there are other issues down the road. If you want to make double sure have the shop load the batteries, but from your description of the issue and its resolution I think your problem is solved. Just what I'd do.
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Old 07-09-2019, 07:35 AM   #4
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A loose ground connection does not equal a bad battery, it equals a loose ground connection. Unless you have abused your chassis batteries by fully discharging them several times I wouldn't worry about them unless there are other issues down the road. If you want to make double sure have the shop load the batteries, but from your description of the issue and its resolution I think your problem is solved. Just what I'd do.
I have noticed after starting the engine, the voltage drops to about 11.7 before going up to 14.2. Not sure if that’s normal.
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Old 07-09-2019, 08:06 AM   #5
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... Their scan showed low voltage codes. The tech then checked the battery terminals and a ground was very slightly loose. He said he has seen this affect Allison’s as they are very sensitive to grounds. Other than that there were no issues.

Since this is a voltage issue and only happens first thing in the morning, I am thinking my now 2 1/2 year old chassis batteries may be getting tired. I will have to watch my voltage readings when we leave Friday morning.
OK more questions for ya... Which ground connection was loose? The chassis batteries are tied together with a bus and a bunch of cables are then connected to the ground bus. If it is one of the connecting cables, you could have a low voltage situation (especially when the intake heater is cycling on/off during warmup) I would have your chassis batteries tested, I had one go bad on us last year (while the other was still good) but the bad battery had a shorted cell and it drew down the other since they are connected in parallel.
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Old 07-09-2019, 01:11 PM   #6
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OK more questions for ya... Which ground connection was loose? The chassis batteries are tied together with a bus and a bunch of cables are then connected to the ground bus. If it is one of the connecting cables, you could have a low voltage situation (especially when the intake heater is cycling on/off during warmup) I would have your chassis batteries tested, I had one go bad on us last year (while the other was still good) but the bad battery had a shorted cell and it drew down the other since they are connected in parallel.
This one was wiggleable, but he snugged the others up as well. I would not have thought it would make a difference but we will see.
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Old 07-09-2019, 02:49 PM   #7
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... Since this is a voltage issue and only happens first thing in the morning, I am thinking my now 2 1/2 year old chassis batteries may be getting tired. I will have to watch my voltage readings when we leave Friday morning. ...
Hi Mark,


If I remember correctly, you ordered your Seneca (like I did) so it didn't sit in a dealers lot for a year without being run. That, along with our Senecas being on a constant charge (stored at home), I am expecting 5 years out of my chassis batteries before I start being proactive about replacement. I keep an eye on sitting voltage (engine not running, not hooked up to shore power) with a volt meter about once a month.
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Old 07-09-2019, 08:24 PM   #8
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This one was wiggleable, but he snugged the others up as well. I would not have thought it would make a difference but we will see.
Our Intake heaters can draw 95A + from each of them. Considering that you say the chassis voltage cycles to 11.7V... that is much lower than the 12.4 that my dash reading is when it is 10F at startup.

If the code clears in the next few days... I would think that the loose battery connection would be the culprit. Now tell me that they also looked and tightened the + terminals too ????
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Old 07-09-2019, 08:44 PM   #9
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Hi Mark,


If I remember correctly, you ordered your Seneca (like I did) so it didn't sit in a dealers lot for a year without being run. That, along with our Senecas being on a constant charge (stored at home), I am expecting 5 years out of my chassis batteries before I start being proactive about replacement. I keep an eye on sitting voltage (engine not running, not hooked up to shore power) with a volt meter about once a month.
Have you looked for the date on your chassis batteries? They are all made by Alliance Truck parts... Ours were dated almost a year before the chassis build date.
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Old 07-10-2019, 07:14 AM   #10
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Our Intake heaters can draw 95A + from each of them. Considering that you say the chassis voltage cycles to 11.7V... that is much lower than the 12.4 that my dash reading is when it is 10F at startup.

If the code clears in the next few days... I would think that the loose battery connection would be the culprit. Now tell me that they also looked and tightened the + terminals too ????
Yes, he checked all the terminals. At first I was worried that this might be related to adding the OD switch, but tech said it was low voltage. We will see.
I will double check everything and the dates when we are home in about in about two weeks.
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Old 07-12-2019, 12:23 PM   #11
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Once again, as we left the campground this morning, after about 5-10 minutes of driving the transmission warning came on and it would not shift. I pulled off the road and turned the ignition off and then immediately restarted the engine and the warning and problem was gone. Today had many steep climbs heading up to Boone NC and the transmission was flawless after that.

The voltage on he dash read 14.2 the entire time. I knew the loose ground theory was too easy.
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Old 07-13-2019, 06:50 AM   #12
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Mark,
Too bad this isn’t three weeks from now or I would have drove over to meet with you from my home in Denver, NC. The gentleman at Freightliner Charlotte are not as accommodating at those at Knox Truck Centers and they are not careful about getting grease on the seats.
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Old 07-14-2019, 06:06 AM   #13
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Mark,
Too bad this isn’t three weeks from now or I would have drove over to meet with you from my home in Denver, NC. The gentleman at Freightliner Charlotte are not as accommodating at those at Knox Truck Centers and they are not careful about getting grease on the seats.
Ryan,

We will be in Breck and Ft. Collins September 12-24. We will be in Moab September 5-11 hanging out with Steve (SloPoke). Steve is going to “learn me” how to 4 wheel his Moab playground. Lol.

Consider meeting up with us in one of the places not far from you.

Mark

Ps. We will be heading back to south Florida next week to prepare for our Son’s wedding in Cancun and, no we are not taking the Seneca. I will take the Seneca to the Freightliner dealer that installed the OD lockout switch in case that is related to this issue.
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Old 07-14-2019, 10:52 AM   #14
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Ryan,

We will be in Breck and Ft. Collins September 12-24. We will be in Moab September 5-11 hanging out with Steve (SloPoke). Steve is going to “learn me” how to 4 wheel his Moab playground. Lol.

Consider meeting up with us in one of the places not far from you.

Mark
Mark,
We live in Denver, North Carolina. It’s about an hour south of where you had been in Boone. I would love to meet up with many of you here.
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Old 07-14-2019, 11:54 AM   #15
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Mark,
We live in Denver, North Carolina. It’s about an hour south of where you had been in Boone. I would love to meet up with many of you here.
Hahahah. I always assumed Colorado. I never knew there was a Denver NC. 😂

We are here in Boone until Thursday morning. We are pretty flexible, so if you have time, I would very much enjoy meeting up.
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Old 07-16-2019, 12:21 PM   #16
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Hahahah. I always assumed Colorado. I never knew there was a Denver NC. 😂

We are here in Boone until Thursday morning. We are pretty flexible, so if you have time, I would very much enjoy meeting up.
Mark,
Unfortunately I am up here in Illinois for another two weeks.
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Old 07-17-2019, 04:38 AM   #17
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Mark,
Unfortunately I am up here in Illinois for another two weeks.
Another time. Safe travels. 👍
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Old 08-11-2019, 02:48 PM   #18
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We are back on the road after a brief break back home and a pair of new coach batteries as well as much diagnostics by Freightliner. They said one chassis battery was bad and the other was marginal, causing a low voltage fault after start up and the transmission going into limp mode. And they found several loose connections and poorly routed cables.

The good news is that transmission did not malfunction when we left today. The bad news is that absolutely none of it was covered by warranty. $$$$
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