Skoolie Help In Washington State

[oricha1984]

this thread just lifted up my spirit!
Much love to all

[joeblack5]

Very nice snonut, even if not resolved just to be able to share your stress about a little nightmare like this is worth everything.


I assume the tranny oil level was good? We have gotten stranded several times with tranny not wanting to engage because of door switches, emergency window safety switches, shorted wire.
That is the main pain with computer controlled buses.


good luck Kinson, where in PA do you have to be?


Later J

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Very nice snonut, even if not resolved just to be able to share your stress about a little nightmare like this is worth everything.


I assume the tranny oil level was good? We have gotten stranded several times with tranny not wanting to engage because of door switches, emergency window safety switches, shorted wire.
That is the main pain with computer controlled buses.


good luck Kinson, where in PA do you have to be?


Later J

The oil level was fine. The transmission fluid looked slightly overfilled, but we were on an inclined ramp. I live in a town an hour north of Pittsburgh called Vandergrift.

[Trail Fairy]

Wow, the people of the skoolie community are truly amazing! How awesome to help out Pat!

[Kinson]

Thank you for the kind words/thoughts everyone. I will update whenever I can. It helps knowing I'll have some support if anything happens on the trip home.

[davebirr]

Originally Posted by Kinson

Thank you for the kind words/thoughts everyone. I will update whenever I can. It helps knowing I'll have some support if anything happens on the trip home.

Pat, you have a ZF Ecomat2 5HP 602C transmission in that bus. The particular transmission is specific to that model bus and customer....ZF does a custom build of the 602C for each manufacturing run according to them. I have a few cores for the Viking in good shape that are rebuildable plus the parts for them.

I have the repair manual for that transmission, the service manual for the bus, plus the parts catalog; however, this forum will not allow 15mb attachments. I did upload the stuff that I could.

Mark mentioned that your repair shop said you have an Allison. If so, it was swapped out....I think the B500 might fit; however, I doubt the ECU and front selector would be compatible...but who knows. If you have square, telephone like buttons it's a ZF selector. If it's a black rectangle with soft buttons that's Allison.

Hope that helps and good luck!

ZF Ecomat2 Repair Manual

Viking Service Manual

Viking Parts

[Btimmer]

Originally Posted by Kinson

Thank you for the kind words/thoughts everyone. I will update whenever I can. It helps knowing I'll have some support if anything happens on the trip home.

If you are flying back after 7/15, I live right next to SeaTac airport and could probably run you down to your bus. PM me for contact details.

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by Btimmer

If you are flying back after 7/15, I live right next to SeaTac airport and could probably run you down to your bus. PM me for contact details.

It may be after the 15th. Snonut offered to pick me up when I came back, but I believe he is a decent drive south of the airport. It would save him a long trip and he has already done a good bit for me while refusing anything in return. Thank you for the offer and I really appreciate it! I will message if/when I know more about the situation.

[Dirtdoctor]

Question was answered on another page.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Trail Fairy

Wow, the people of the skoolie community are truly amazing! How awesome to help out Pat!

Community is the key word in all this.

[proconsul100]

I live in Olympia, but I'm out of town. Wish I could have been there. Did you get it going?

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by proconsul100

I live in Olympia, but I'm out of town. Wish I could have been there. Did you get it going?

Negative. As this was happening, I called all the shops in a certain radius to see who could handle the vehicle/transmission. They all referred me to Freightliner NW in Auburn. I had it towed there through some traffic since everyone else told me they wouldn't be much help. I got a call after they did a preliminary check. They stated it is just a ZF controller with an Allison transmission. The previous owner mentioned the retarder doesn't work and this is probably why. They referred me to an Allison dealer for further work. I looked around Auburn and found there is an Allison dealer 5 miles away from Freightliner. They have a mobile service and I am waiting to hear back from them.



Markydee shared that his previous owner found the auction where my bus previously sold. Houston stated that the transmission was rebuilt with 50k on it. They must have swapped to the Allison at this point. The previous owner put 50k more on it and here we are.


Also, does anyone have any experience with getting an insurance company's roadside to work with you? There was so much happening in the moment that no one thought of it until after the fact. We have roadside assistance and we called Nationwide beforehand to make sure our coverage extended to new purchases. I know they typically like to be in control. Maybe they would make an exception if we explained the situation and how we were referred to specific services/shops. Any and all experiences/opinions are welcome! Thanks again.

[cycle61]

We're about halfway between SeaTac and Olympia. Subscribed to the thread, will be happy to try and help out when it's time for round 2!

Edit: and I see you have it at Auburn Freightliner. Good luck!

[PNW_Steve]

I have used mine on a handful of occasions. Some tow operators direct billed my insurance company others I paid and submitted the bill to insurance for reimbursement. I got my reimbursement checks in 3-5 days.

[JocelynDavis]

What insurance company do you use?
Thanks!

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by JocelynDavis

What insurance company do you use?
Thanks!

Nationwide

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by Kinson

Nationwide

... is not on our side.

[Kinson]

Originally Posted by Kinson

As this was happening, I called all the shops in a certain radius to see who could handle the vehicle/transmission. They all referred me to Freightliner NW in Auburn. I had it towed there through some traffic since everyone else told me they wouldn't be much help. I got a call after they did a preliminary check. They stated it is just a ZF controller with an Allison transmission. The previous owner mentioned the retarder doesn't work and this is probably why. They referred me to an Allison dealer for further work. I looked around Auburn and found there is an Allison dealer 5 miles away from Freightliner. They have a mobile service and I am waiting to hear back from them.

The Allison dealer probed Freightliner for a model number of some type. Freightliner was mistaken and it is a ZF transmission like it was made. They still cannot work on it or get anything with their diagnostics. They referred me to a ZF dealer located close to Seatac. I guess I will try to see if they have a mobile service to avoid another tow bill.

[Gustav]

GOOD GRIEF!! Can any one find a mechanic!

[Kinson]

Hey everyone!

The bus is being towed to a "ZF Dealer" named Pacific Torque in Des Moines to see what they can come up with. The driveshaft was removed for the initial tow and Freightliner charged me for reconnecting it without asking. Is this kind of thing standard procedure? What reason would they need it reconnected to carry out a repair? I explained it wouldn't even go into gear and they reconnected it just to end up pushing it around anyway.

They also charged me for connecting their diagnostic tools etc. The invoice says, "Hooked up PC and performed preliminary diagnostics. Noted control pad flashing trans hot and extensive engine codes but none active. Attempted to connect to trans TECU and unable to communicate. Rebooted and same result."

Anyone have any thoughts? Are these types of codes throughout the life of the bus or typically recent? Would resetting a few tripped breakers affect these results at all? I am hoping this shop gives me some type of insight into the problem.