M1078 little additions & mods

[Suprman]

Factory horn didnt work so I swapped the small horn behind the bumper for a Federal Signal speaker and put in a Whelen 100w airhorn/pa. Air horn honks from factory button still. Added some cheapo led lights in front, I have some nice CAT hid lights they were a bit too big to squeeze in that location though. I wired them with a relay to come on with the high beams. Added a keyed momentary start switch. I added led blinkers all around the truck already had the new style controller. Swapped the reverse light for leds. I had to disconnect the passenger side one though, the two of them were a bit much for the circuit. Down the line I can find the wire going back and add a relay. I want to add some more forward lighting I only have around 2 inches to play with or I wont fit thru many of the local RR underpasses though. Not alot of ventilation in the cab I have some small dual fans with louvered covers I was going to try and make a vent system on the back of the cab where a window would go.

 

[MaiNiaK]

Nice..

Is that the one you where waiting to get in Fayettville?

The momentary key is a nice addition.

 

[Suprman]

This one bikeman was driving. I got another one it was a non runner but runs now. This truck is more practical than ny m939 5tons for toy use. I always add gizmos I am going to add a rearview cam and some more lights.

 

[bikeman]

This was the brother/sister to ProximityX's LMTV. This is also the one that I used to pull Shandi's out from base. it's a great truck. It came out of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group (SWIC as we call it). only issue that was on it when it was with me was an inop speedometer. Didn't realize the horn didn't work (never needed it).

I also want to Thank Will (publicly) as he allowed me to hang onto it for a while longer that allowed it some cameo's at my VFW Posts' Memorial Day ceremony and at a motorcycle charity benefit.

 

[Suprman]

Thanks for retrieving it for me. Speedo works now it had a bad speed sensor on the trans. It's an electronic pickup shared between the trans ecu and the ctis control. It shifts fine now, no lag between gears. Motor has a 2012 rebuild tag on it. Bed is full of spent blanks.

 

[Shark Bait]

Thanks for retrieving it for me. Speedo works now it had a bad speed sensor on the trans. It's an electronic pickup shared between the trans ecu and the ctis control. It shifts fine now, no lag between gears. Motor has a 2012 rebuild tag on it. Bed is full of spent blanks.

5.56 blanks? I'd cut em down for Blackout's. I can't ever find nuttin nice. Lol

Dave

 

[bikeman]

7.62x39 blanks. Yeah, I thought you'd like them.

 

[MaiNiaK]

My transmission hangs up between 2nd and 3rd and a little between 3rd and 4th. It only does this until the transmission warms up then it shifts better. I figured there might be a little sludge in the fluid or some thing from sitting.
I'm waiting on transmission filters, then I'll drain the 8 gallons of tranny fluid.

If that doesn't fix it I was going to have a Allison tech chech the shift points.

I wonder if mine could be a speed sensor? My speedo works fine though.

 

[Suprman]

Do you have a ctis fault light on the dash? I was going to have the Allison dealer service my trans anyways I believe there are some adjustments available for it.

 

[Suprman]

And check the ecu harness connectors the plugs dont seem to stay in well they start to back out. The ecu sits behind the dash pushbutton control.

 

[MaiNiaK]

No fault light on the dash. My CTIS works.

A friend of mine works for Thorndike's and maintains thier fleet of log trucks, equipment and rock trucks. He told me he has access to thier laptop with all the diagnostic and programming for Cat engines and Allison transmissions. He is who I plan to have look at mine if the fluid change doesn't help.

 

[MaiNiaK]

I will check that.

Thanks

 

[Suprman]

Codes can be accessed from the mode menu on the display. The code ref guide is available online. I did find a few lousy grounds. Inside the batt box is a big ground bolted to right side of the dash I added a star washer and really tightened it down that seemed to help also. Funny when I was swapping over the front blinkers there were a few grounds that I took off temporarily since they grounded to the back bolt drivers side blinker I turned on the power and the wipers came on even though the wiper switch was off. It went back to normal operation once the ground was back on though.

 

[MaiNiaK]

Yeah I've tried the diagnostic codes. d1 "- -" , d2 "- -" , d3 "- -" , d4 "- -" , d5 "- -"

I went out, started the truck (in neutral), pushed the up and down arrow at the same time, then flipped threw the mode button to each code position. It says codes become historic codes after engine shut down. So I'm assuming I have no transmission codes.
Which is odd, because like I said, when cool I have to wined it right up to shift to 3rd. 4th not as bad and 5th and up is smooth shifting. That's in highway mode too, not off-road. Once the transmission warms up it shifts a lot smoother.

 

[Suprman]

Mil trucks in general you have to wind a bit to shift. There may be a trans fluid pressure adjustment. Once you warm up the fluid may thin out a bit. Probably motor oil in there. Switching over to allison dex 3 may help along with filter change and tuneup.

 

[MaiNiaK]

Thanks for the help.
I hope I didn't hijack your thread.

I have a set of transmission filters on the way. I just need to source Allison Dex 3 or equvilent in 5 gallon jugs somewhere close to home.

 

[Suprman]

It's ok its all fmtv talk what does it matter. I have not been impressed with all so called equivalent. I have found you get what you pay for when it comes to fluids.

 

[MaiNiaK]

Also good to know.

I will find the Allison Dex 3

 

[Tetz]

It looks like the TM specifies 15w40 for the transmission, so that's probably what it has in it. Will switching over to a DEX 3 fluid make a difference in performance? I'm not familiar with automatic transmission fluid requirements. Frankly, I'm kinda surprised that there's motor oil specified. Makes sense from a logistics point of view, though.

 

[MaiNiaK]

My fluid looks like oil.

Here is what I've found:

Now it kinda makes sense why it shifts harder when the transmission isn't warmed up.

Source: Allison MD series transmission pdf.
http://www.utxchange.com/pdfs/MechanicsTips/MT2923EN.pdf