STEVESCHMITT Report post Posted May 19, 2016 We flat tow a 2015 Jeep Wrangler behind our Freightliner m2 with a c 7 and Allison 3000 Can we use economy mode when towing? woodbe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted May 19, 2016 22 minutes ago, STEVESCHMITT said: We flat tow a 2015 jeep wrangler behind our freightliner m2 with a c 7 and allison 3000 can we use economy mode when towing? woodbe Woodbe - Welcome to the FMCA Forum ! Yes, remember the the transmission will shift down if wind or rate of climb requires more power for the drive train. Allison transmission works different then other transmissions. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted May 19, 2016 Steve, we tow our Wrangler in Economy mode, its not a tow/haul function like some transmissions. Economy only really works on heavy throttle applications (or it only does on our coach). Just normal driving I notice no changes unless I stand on the accelerator, my downshifts are slight in economy and aggressive in regular, it also appears to upshift faster keeping my RPM's lower in Economy when the accelerator is on the floor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gelsw Report post Posted May 19, 2016 You must be a mind reader!! Was just trying to find the info in the manuals and gave up. Opened FMCA and there it is on top..... One other question, Allison 2500, there is an led (or whatever) above the pushbuttons but can't find what it means, etc. Have noticed that it say "61" sometimes. Note I don't have 70 miles driving time on the coach yet... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted May 19, 2016 I use economy mode all the time. We tow a GMC Acadia now and for years before that a Chevrolet Trailblazer. Economy mode simply changes the shift point slightly. In 6th gear with our coach the normal shift for 6th down to 5th occurs at 60 MPH. In economy mode the transmission will stay in 6th gear until the speed drops to 57 miles per hour. At any time if the turbocharger hits 100% the transmission will downshift. Towing a vehicle would affect the turbocharger level as it would reach 100% a little faster than if the load being towed were not there. My understanding is that the shift level for other gears is also slightly lowered but I haven't tried to determine that. The indicator on the Allison 3000 that we have simply indicates the selected gear, not the actual gear we are using at any particular time. We have a computer system that was used by Monaco for a number of years. The Aladdin system displays details of the engine and transmission performance in real time. I can watch the speed, gear, turbocharger level, instant fuel mileage statistics, temperatures and other data all on the display screen on the dash. I would guess that the display that ShortBus questions is a display showing the selected gear. Shift down manually (up and down arrows for manual shift - if you have them) and see if the display changes. When you select D, you are setting the transmission for 6th gear. If you manually shift down you would be selecting 5th gear and the display should show 5x, x being another number. Gear displays on the Aladdin system are two numbers, 12 being first gear mid range, 23 being second gear high range. So 61 would be sixth gear, low range. I may have the high and low range numbers reversed, 1 may be high range and 3 may represent low range. I believe these are pre-programmed into the transmission per motor home manufacturer data on the application and weight of the vehicle. Basically the transmission can be used in a number of different applications and Allison programs it for optimum performance for each application. Economy mode is an alternate to the set programming that emphasizes economy over high performance by altering the shift patterns. Allison transmissions are intelligent transmissions, they learn drivers habits and work to adjust to the way different people drive. If you have two drivers this may cause some confusion for the transmission computer. That may account for hard shifting. We had that condition with a coach that we bought used. We took it to an Allison shop and they cleared the transmission memory so it could learn our driving habits. I believe most of this information is related to how aggressive you are with acceleration when starting out or when climbing hills and long grades. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted May 20, 2016 It might depend on the rear end ratio. Mine is into 6th gear at 54 mph. I usually use economy mode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gelsw Report post Posted May 20, 2016 Found the answer to my own question. While the manual is rather obfuscated, I eventually found the answer. The left digit is the selected gear and the right is the gear that it is actually in. So in my example above 6 (or drive) is the selected gear and 1 is the current gear. Gary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted May 20, 2016 2 hours ago, ShortBus said: Found the answer to my own question. While the manual is rather obfuscated, I eventually found the answer. The left digit is the selected gear and the right is the gear that it is actually in. So in my example above 6 (or drive) is the selected gear and 1 is the current gear. Gary Correct. For two window Allison shift pads, the left window is the "go to" gear, so 6 if in forward. The right window is the gear you are actually in. There were several years when there was only a single window, and that was the "go to" gear. Yea bean counters! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted May 21, 2016 Another little tid bit of information on the Allison 3000s and 4000s. They are both limited by horsepower and torque only (450/1250 and 650/1950 respectively). There is no tow limit or weight limit you can pull. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
