Our coach, which we just purchased, has an economy buttom. I found it okay on flat land but going up hills the transmission kept gearing up and down. Without it on, it didn't gear up and down as often. Any advise.
Also, when is good to choose a lower gear when going up hills, or is it best just to leave it alone.
Sounds backwards to me... In ECON, the trans shifts for peak torque so it normally shifts down later. Rolling hills is where econ will really help. In the mountains I turn it off - I prefer it downshift earlier to keep cooling fan speed up.
Jimmy,
Welcome to the forum.
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Welcome again,
Pierce & Gaylie Stewart
1993 U300/36 Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA
Jimmy, I also have the 2001 320, 36' and I never use the Econ mode. I do not like the retarded gear changing, I prefer it to select the proper gear for the situation.
Everyone Here will tell you something else, as it is a personnel thing, do what you like after you experiment with the choices.
Cheers and Welcome
Dave M
I agree with Dave, that the tranny shift is delayed in ECON mode.
I use ECON when "in cruise" on a level highway to stop the frequent up-down shifting that occurs when climbing an overpass or a small hill.
I do not use ECON in mountains, instead, I select a lower gear to keep rpm between peak torque (1300) and peak HP (1500) (1996 U320 with M11).
There's some past discussion on what's also known as the "mode" button. In particular, it seems the default on start up is mode off (economy shifting off) with light off, BUT at least one member's coach appears to have been reprogrammed to the opposite (default on startup is mode ON, but light is out).
I Learned Something About Our Transmission Today (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=11307.msg55776#msg55776)
I wonder if yours might be the latter?
Michelle
Thanks to all! Interesting comments, I guess alot is trial and error.
I attended the Perry Georgia FMCA Rally and at one of the seminars an Allison Transmission representative mentioned the "mode" button can be programmed either way, usually at request/preference of original owner when coach was purchased. .
Economy setting on mine is when the "mode", off, is not selected for flat level driving and I select "Mode", on, whenever I need the transmission to shift more often for hilly or mountain driving.
Jimmy,
Sounds as though your transmission is programmed the normal way so that the econ shift sequence is selected when the mode is on. I wish my transmission was programmed to be in econ after an engine start. I perfer to be in that mode as much as possible, but I don't always remember to select "mode on". I have found that hunting between gears on rolling hills occurs more frequently when I am in the "performance" selection. Just think of the transmission as having 2 shift ranges as it does. One range "econ"shifts up to a higher gear sooner and down to a lower gear later than the other range "performance". The difference is about 5 mph for shifts between 5th and 6th and 6th and 5th. With a little testing you should be able to tell which is which. This hunting could occur with either range being selected; just push the down arrow button to lock out the higher gear and stop the hunting or select a different mode. You must remember to reselect "D" or the up arrow button to return to normal. The econ mode will not lug the engine, it will still downshift when necessary. Someone in a previous post stated that because we have a retarder, Foretravel installed a larger than normal radiator to take care of the extra heat load. I'm not sure that this is true, but it sounds plausible. Even in econ, if the cooling system is in good condition (radiator clean, no leaves and trash between the CAC and radiator) the engine should not overheat. If it does overheat selecting a lower gear should help reduce the engine temp, then later check for a problem (leaves, dirty radiator, coolant, thermostat, etc). One thing to remember about the World transmission is that it will still up shift to a higher gear even though a lower gear is selected if engine RPM exceeds a safe speed when descending a steep grade. It does this to keep the engine from over revving and destroying itself. This will come as a big surprise to the driver if it happens, and the only recourse is a hard application of brakes to slow the vehicle. An alert driver will take action before this happens. It's your coach, select the mode that you perfer. Hope this helps.
Hi Jerry, You gave me a thought on radiator size, I am wondering if the radiators on the 320, 295 and the 270 coaches are the same size ? I have the 320 and do not seem to have a cooling issue "Yet", even with the uprated ISM 500, was the 450. The reason for wondering, if they are all the same size, including the CAC, it would be hard to believe a 270 or 295 would have a cooling issue as the smaller engines produce so much less btu to reject.
Just wondering if anyone knows if there is a difference between models ?
I am presently in Nac at Camp Foretravel, during this week I will be asking around the compound for info, maybe James T or Harvey
Thanks