Shift Pad Buttons

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jplante4
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 3:00 pm

Shift Pad Buttons

Post by jplante4 »

The buttons on the Allison shift pad are getting harder and harder to push far enough to engage a gear. Is there a quick fix like contact cleaner or do I need to replace the pad? If I'm replacing the pad, is it the entire VIM or is the pad separate from the VIM?
Jerry & Jeanne Plante
1996 Sahara 3530
CAT 3126/Allison 6 spd
2013 Equinox toad/Blue Ox
Ozium
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:45 am

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by Ozium »

Depends on shifter pad. Some you can get replacement board for the gear selector which is half the price of a new one. But most are a sealed unit and the whole assembly needs to be replaced. ~$900us 1500cad
wolfe10
Posts: 222
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:12 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by wolfe10 »

Contact John-- this is what he does for a living:

https://www.transmissioninstruments.com/
Brett and Dianne Wolfe
Ex: 2003 Alpine 38'. Ex 1997 Safari Sahara. Ex 1993 Foretravel U240
Moderator, FMCA Forums 2009-2020
Chairman, FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011- 2020
Moderator, http://www.dieselrvclub.org/ (FMCA chapter) 2002-
jplante4
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 3:00 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by jplante4 »

I wanted to update you on the shift pad issue. I sent it off to Transmission Instruments in TX and they turned it around in a week. $395 and it looks and works like new. Highly recommended. And another tip 'o the hat to Brett for his excellent advise as usual.
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Jerry & Jeanne Plante
1996 Sahara 3530
CAT 3126/Allison 6 spd
2013 Equinox toad/Blue Ox
dorismullinsagent@gmail.com
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:30 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by dorismullinsagent@gmail.com »

I am having a problem with my 99 Safari Zanzibar shifting like it should after my dog got in my chair while I was dumping and pushed all the buttons on the panel. When I got back in and started driving, it was making a loud scrubbing noise as if I was driving over grades or metal bumpers in the street. The higher the speed, the louder the noise. I tried turning all the button on the panel off but it continued no matter what I did. It felt like pushing the paddle was forcing the transmission to engage. I also notice the engine in high idle when my dog did this. After reading the manual again, I remembered something about not allowing the engine to idle, so every time I stop for any length of time, I should be turning my engine off correct? Please help, the noise is loud and annoying.
wolfe10
Posts: 222
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:12 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by wolfe10 »

dorismullinsagent@gmail.com wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:18 am I am having a problem with my 99 Safari Zanzibar shifting like it should after my dog got in my chair while I was dumping and pushed all the buttons on the panel. When I got back in and started driving, it was making a loud scrubbing noise as if I was driving over grades or metal bumpers in the street. The higher the speed, the louder the noise. I tried turning all the button on the panel off but it continued no matter what I did. It felt like pushing the paddle was forcing the transmission to engage. I also notice the engine in high idle when my dog did this. After reading the manual again, I remembered something about not allowing the engine to idle, so every time I stop for any length of time, I should be turning my engine off correct? Please help, the noise is loud and annoying.
Sorry, I am NOT clear on what you mean. Did your dog mess with the Allison shift pad (topic of this thread) OR jack pad? The scraping noise-- could the jacks have been down??? Did the noise quit? If so, what did you do to make it quit.

And, if engine is above idle RPM, the Allison will not shift into gear-- it will just flash "D".

And, yes, no reason to idle a diesel more than a few minutes to allow the turbo to cool down.
Brett and Dianne Wolfe
Ex: 2003 Alpine 38'. Ex 1997 Safari Sahara. Ex 1993 Foretravel U240
Moderator, FMCA Forums 2009-2020
Chairman, FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011- 2020
Moderator, http://www.dieselrvclub.org/ (FMCA chapter) 2002-
dorismullinsagent@gmail.com
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:30 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by dorismullinsagent@gmail.com »

wolfe10 wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 12:35 pm
dorismullinsagent@gmail.com wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 11:18 am I am having a problem with my 99 Safari Zanzibar shifting like it should after my dog got in my chair while I was dumping and pushed all the buttons on the panel. When I got back in and started driving, it was making a loud scrubbing noise as if I was driving over grades or metal bumpers in the street. The higher the speed, the louder the noise. I tried turning all the button on the panel off but it continued no matter what I did. It felt like pushing the paddle was forcing the transmission to engage. I also notice the engine in high idle when my dog did this. After reading the manual again, I remembered something about not allowing the engine to idle, so every time I stop for any length of time, I should be turning my engine off correct? Please help, the noise is loud and annoying.
Sorry, I am NOT clear on what you mean. Did your dog mess with the Allison shift pad (topic of this thread) OR jack pad? The scraping noise-- could the jacks have been down??? Did the noise quit? If so, what did you do to make it quit.

And, if engine is above idle RPM, the Allison will not shift into gear-- it will just flash "D".

And, yes, no reason to idle a diesel more than a few minutes to allow the turbo to cool down.
Yes, he did step on the shift pad and the jacks were extended when he stepped on them but I caught that before I drove off because the buzzer was on when I got back in the RV. I'm not sure what above idle is, nor do I know where it would flash D? My pad is below. I had to label it because when I bought it i did not know what these button were for.
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astrnmrtom
Posts: 167
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:49 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by astrnmrtom »

What you describe is very odd. The Allison keypad is pretty foolproof. The brain won't let "bad" inputs damage the transmission. One example is it won't shift into gear when the engine RPM is faster than a normal idle. If the engine was set to high idle, pressing any of the gear buttons won't do anything other than flashing the gear indicator. If you push the D button, D will flash a few times, and the indicator will return to showing N. Same if you try to shift into reverse with the engine on high idle. That's what's meant by "above idle" - an engine speed faster (above) normal idle. I occasionally forget to drop my engine out of high idle, press D and wonder why it isn't shifting. Then I realize my mistake.

If you were outside dumping your tanks and the rig was shifted into gear by thew dog you would have noticed. Even if it didn't overcome the parking brake, you'd hear the transmission shift and the rig would move a little.

Something else is going on here. Is the parking brake releasing? Is the shift indicator flashing any codes? Does the strange vibration and noise happen in reverse too?
Tom and Pris Masterson, w/ Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat.
1998 Serengeti 3706
300hp Cat 3126, Allison 3060
900 Watts of Solar
17cf, Fisher & Paykel residential Refrigerator
Dragging four telescopes around the US seeking dark skies.
dorismullinsagent@gmail.com
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:30 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by dorismullinsagent@gmail.com »

astrnmrtom wrote: Thu May 05, 2022 10:20 pm What you describe is very odd. The Allison keypad is pretty foolproof. The brain won't let "bad" inputs damage the transmission. One example is it won't shift into gear when the engine RPM is faster than a normal idle. If the engine was set to high idle, pressing any of the gear buttons won't do anything other than flashing the gear indicator. If you push the D button, D will flash a few times, and the indicator will return to showing N. Same if you try to shift into reverse with the engine on high idle. That's what's meant by "above idle" - an engine speed faster (above) normal idle. I occasionally forget to drop my engine out of high idle, press D and wonder why it isn't shifting. Then I realize my mistake.

If you were outside dumping your tanks and the rig was shifted into gear by thew dog you would have noticed. Even if it didn't overcome the parking brake, you'd hear the transmission shift and the rig would move a little.

Something else is going on here. Is the parking brake releasing? Is the shift indicator flashing any codes? Does the strange vibration and noise happen in reverse too?
I did hear the transmission, it sounded like an airplane taking off and the coach did move a little because the back jacks came all the way out, the coach was leaning to one side when I got inside to get the dog off the buttons. No the noise is not in reverse.
dorismullinsagent@gmail.com
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2022 2:30 pm

Re: Shift Pad Buttons

Post by dorismullinsagent@gmail.com »

Update, they changed the air bags, $2400 cost parts and labor. called me after they drove it and said it is still making the noise so they pulled the rod out the rear end and drained fluid. Now because there was excessive metal in the oil from the rear end they will have to replace the rear end. That is another 2500. Good news is this all happened before we left for vacation.
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