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Blown Trans 9,000 miles

gimmie11s said:
In February we got caught in the middle -- yes right in the middle -- of a 6 mile 6% grade going uphill. There was an accident at the top of the pass that effectively locked up traffic for the entire hill climb.

We were towing our 14k 5er. It took us 40 minutes to climb 3 miles up that grade, never going more than 1 or 2 mph... IT WAS ALL STOP AND GO.

I was VERY worried about the trans and temps. Interesting enough, my trans temp gauge never went above 195* even though the truck stayed in 1st and occasionally 2nd gear. Normal towing temp on the flat surface is 165-175* so yes, trans temp was up, but I was impressed it never went above 200 on what I would consider an AWFUL situation for the transmission that I likely will never encounter again.

That circumstance alone justified the extra cash I handed over for the HO/Aisin package.
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What a nightmare, and definitely a torture test. Reading that makes me pretty happy about my choice to trade up. I’m also extremely happy that Aisin locks the TC in 2nd.
 
Brutal_HO said:
Yes, TC locks in 2nd.

EB will also pull you down to around 11-12MPH depending on tire size before it drops out of 2nd and unlocks, 900RPM as I recall for the 20+ HO. Unfortunately, EB shuts off in 4LO (some of us have 2-LO lockouts.)
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So happy to hear that. Thank you.
 
Called ATS to see if they could build the trans to be able to withstand slow speed towing while climbing at high elevation, he was completely honest and said no, only option is to install an Allison conversion for 16k. Agree with all the posts if you are towing slow speed high elevation get the HO with better trans.
 
ColoMan said:
Called ATS to see if they could build the trans to be able to withstand slow speed towing while climbing at high elevation, he was completely honest and said no, only option is to install an Allison conversion for 16k. Agree with all the posts if you are towing slow speed high elevation get the HO with better trans.
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Sorry, the company that recently released an expensive Allison conversion with a proprietary bell housing is telling you that the only way you can tow slow and high is with their conversion?
 
ColoMan said:
My 2021 2500 Cummins blew the trans while towing 10k trailer in mountains. Coming back from weekend and doing the 3 mile climb from hwy to house when near driveway hear loud bang and the smoke everywhere. Was able to get into driveway, but stuck with 5th wheel attached. No forward gears only reverse and trans dip stick blew out spraying trans fluid everywhere. The road to house is only 25 mph so not racing it . Very disappointing to say the least, not sure if bad trans or this truck can’t handle towing at 9,500ft elevation . Hopefully dealer will give me loaner while in for repairs. Maybe time to jump ship to 3500? Looked at 2022 and still no Allison trans, come on 6spd is yesterday’s technology.
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I had a 3500 with a 68RFE towed thru the rockies , to Washington thousands of miles pulling 15 k . my son still has it .Over 100k. Sorry to say you got a bad one . It happens ,humans build them even Allisons . Glad u made it home .
 
Just put the new tranny in add an additional tranny cooler if you like . Heat is the killer .
 
After the new trans, torque converter, cooler and lines did first tow and same exact thing. Ram is a great truck but low speed towing climbing a grade it can handle it. Sold truck for $3k more than what I paid . Got at 2022 GMC did exact same route and Allison never went over 180 degrees vs 240 for Ram. Love my Ram and when they put a 10spd in it I’ll be back.
 
ColoMan, sorry to hear about your troubles, best of luck with your Duramax/Allison. The reason I went to a 3500 SRW HO was for the Aisin, I think you missed the boat on that one. I drove a 68rfe for 30K miles on a company owned Ram in 2014, never liked it, and it behaved like the 05 3500 DRW Duramax/Allison 5sp. I never liked the 5spd Allison as well. Good luck with your GM product.

Caveman programing on the Aisin? Mine works as designed and loving it.
 
So far, the highest I have hit on the Allison during my climb is 185. I really don't like the truck overall, but I can drive my trailer without overheating the trans on my hill home. I'm not even that heavy, just over 9,800 lbs.
I believe the slow speeds with high load lets the torque converter slip too much in second gear and the slip starts the fluid heating up, once hot it slips more causing more heat. It's a small percentage of folks who pull in these settings, and it's not on the radar to set up the trans to work at these conditions.
If they ever offer the 8 speed in the diesel I'd be interested again. The 10 speed Allison is nice, but feels too soft to me. The motor detunes a lot for each shift. The drive is basically a bit boring. But boring seems to get the trailer up the hill.
 
An old colleague and family friend just recently bought my old boat and showed up with his service truck, a F250 power joke 10 speed auto. When he would go into a right turn on a green light it would slip in ? gear, I mentioned this to him just after it would happen, he claimed its done that since new.
 
RVTRKN said:
An old colleague and family friend just recently bought my old boat and showed up with his service truck, a F250 power joke 10 speed auto. When he would go into a right turn on a green light it would slip in ? gear, I mentioned this to him just after it would happen, he claimed its done that since new.
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Yup sounds about right, not one person i know with a 10 speed Chevy or Ferd diesel is happy with their transmissions…

In my experience the 8 speeds in the 1/2 ton gas rams its a strong trans but i hate the way they shift and act when towing great unloaded though
 
superjoe83 said:
That is going to happen with any torque converter automatic towing heavy loads slow uphill with the converter unlocked.
Your best bet is manually downshift to 2nd or first and keep the RPM up, my Aisin will lock the converter in 2nd with tow haul on, im not sure if the 68 will do that or not, but would be worth trying to see if it will.
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Towing 9000lbs. up 9% grade in northern B.C. 45F outside temperature coming back from Moose hunting. 3500 68 SO Bighorn 2022 4x4 Transmission started to heat up manually shifted to2nd. to keep temperature down. It hit 227F by the time i got to the top
,slowed to a stop let idle in neutral to cool a bit. when I proceeded trans, would not shift out of 2nd. Finally after 6 miles it shifted. Not happy pulled the same grade in my old 2016 longhorn no problems. Traded for 2022 HO limited very happy with it so far. As long as snap ring holds.
 
Brutal_HO said:
I doubt we'll ever see the Allison. It's 90% probable that it will be the ZF Powerline 8-speed.

I'd love to see it, not so much for the gears, but the other features like skip shift and no load 2nd gear starts.
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Word on the street is ZF is struggling with reliability issues with those…a little bird told me.
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
The bird may be high..
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Little bird is not high. They had some issue on early 2022 models and they are dropping like flies. It's crazy because the Aisin is such a solid trans, but they got a bad run of something and it's caused issues. They fixed it on the fly, and apparently the late 2022s don't have an issue, but when it goes it wrecks the whole trans.
 
UglyViking said:
Little bird is not high. They had some issue on early 2022 models and they are dropping like flies. It's crazy because the Aisin is such a solid trans, but they got a bad run of something and it's caused issues. They fixed it on the fly, and apparently the late 2022s don't have an issue, but when it goes it wrecks the whole trans.
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He said the ZF that one i have not heard any issues about as of yet
 
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