Allison 2000/3000 Unlocking 6th gear?

[concrete]

Originally Posted by rensch26

Just wanted to let everyone know I worked with Alex at PCM Performance and got the MD3060 6th gear unlocked on my International bus. International is unwilling to give approval for Allison to unlock it themselves so this was my only route. Alex charged $350 for the reprogramming and worked through a few issues we had but we eventually got it all sorted out.

Congratulations!
What year is your bus?
WTEC2 or WTEC3?
Please let us know how much your fuel economy changes, if any.
Glad to hear a success story!

[rensch26]

My bus is a '99, very early WTEC3. So early that Alex said that my TCM was obsolete and he wouldn't be able to work on it. So I purchased a used one out of greyhound bus from a salvage yard on ebay for $200. Alex instructed me what part numbers I needed to look for so it was pretty easy to find.

[concrete]

Thanks for sharing your experience.
And please let us know how it affects your driving experience.

[cadillackid]

The only issue with swapping the is unless he can move existing calibrations over based on your CIN then your shifts may be off. I need to get hold of one of these devices and play. Did he say if 6tg lockout is a protected mode parameter or just a Cal change?

[64crew4x4]

To Rensche26

did you just send him a TCU..?

I have a 97 Thomas 8.3 cummins pusher with MD3060 and Need 6th BAD....

I have gotten no where with Thomas about unlocking it due to age as well...

Please share your travels and info

Thanks, John

[8thWanders]

I sent him the TCM for my 2100MH, it's an early model and only has 5th. I know nothing about the MD3060 but Jason usually responds to emails if you contact him through his web site transmissiontuner.com I just checked and he doesn't list the 3000 series. I have yet to install mine, in process of selling my house and moving.

[rensch26]

64crew4x4

I worked with Alex Rutenburg at PCM Performance. Your bus is old enough that you will probably have to purchase a newer WTEC3 TCM just like I did. The older ones ran on a 250 kb ROM and the newer ones are 500 kb ROM I believe. Alex can only work with the 500 kb ROM versions. Fortunately I found a salvage yard on ebay that was selling a bunch of the TCMs for only $200 each. Alex told me what part numbers to look for and I just looked around until I found one.

PCMperformance Allison TCMs

[cadillackid]

what are they doing to the TCM of your 2100? pre 06 ands you need a valve body kit to get 6th gear hardware... the 2100's are all WTEC III or newer (the single connector TCMs thast came out in 05/06 are 4th gen and later 5th gen stuff came out around 11/12 (you dont want 5th gen.. allison has made it real diificult to program these outside of the dealer.. I have one and havent cracked it yet)..
-Christopher

[64crew4x4]

rensch26

what year is your bus..? are you Thomas Built , or Something else..?

Thanks for the info...I will reach out to him tomorrow....

[rensch26]

It's all in my signature. 99 Amtran.

[JSquire7]

Originally Posted by jhagan

Hello. I have a handful of buses that my company purchased that came with the 5-speed MD 3060, paired to the CAT 3126b and DT 466. We recieved the liability release waiver from both OEMs (Thomas and IC) and our local Allison dealer simply hooked up to the TCM and unlocked the 6th gear as well as uploaded the Economy Mode which lowers the shift points when activated (red light comes on when Mode button is pushed). On average, the 6th OD kicks in around 49 MPH and reduces the RPMs by 300-350. It only costs us $80 each visit to the dealer. Both OEMs encouraged the drive shafts to be heavier duty, however, we haven't experienced any issues. I highly encourage anyone using their 3000s to unlock 6th. Well worth the investment.

How do you find out if the gear is locked? and I have been quoted about $500 to get muine unlocked. Do you have any info on how to obtain the liability release waiver? Thanks

[concrete]

Originally Posted by JSquire7

How do you find out if the gear is locked? and I have been quoted about $500 to get muine unlocked. Do you have any info on how to obtain the liability release waiver? Thanks

When you put your bus in Drive, what number shows up?
“6”- you already have 6 gears enabled.
“5”- you only have 5 gears enabled, and will need to start jumping through hoops to get 6th enabled.
Generally, start with the local OEM Service Dept of your bus (IH, Thomas, BB, etc) and request the approval. Depending on the dealership the first person you talk to may not know what you’re talking about.

You will also get more helpful and specific advice if you post (ideally, in your profile, where the info can follow you around on all your posts) your bus make & model, year, engine & tranny.

And there’s another thread in the “tutorials” section- “Allison MD3060 unlock tutorial” that has more current data. And just MORE data. It’s quite long.

Best wishes!

[skoontz]

What year were the busses? I didn't have any luck getting IC to provide the approval, but it's an 05

[Jonnie B.]

Originally Posted by skoontz

What year were the busses? I didn't have any luck getting IC to provide the approval, but it's an 05

Sounds like we have the same bus. I have done extensive research on all of this and it is a real PITA. I have been denied by IC, even writing the nice I absolve you of any liability letter to another dealer service manager I couldn't get anyone to approve unlock for my 3000PTS. The real annoyance is that there aren't people I can find that actually work on the 3000 series programming other than Alex at PCM performance. He is currently only selling new TCMs with recalibrations and not reprogramming customer supplied TCMs. I have searched the internet for months and haven't found anyone capable of altering the programming the way Alex does. Allison doc is only a diagnostic, there is no way to unlock sixth gear using their programs without a new calibration directly from Allison themselves.

The manufacturer is the only body that is able to compel Allison to provide a new calibration for 6 available gears. using similar CIN's from other vehicles can provide mixed results as rear ends and actual gear ratios may vary even if the make and model appear exact. I can't justify the cost of a new TCM when mine functions perfectly other than only being programmed for 5 gears. I just recently got my vehicle re-titled as a motor home and maybe this can get me some flexibility from Navistar, but I doubt it. Once I get the official title I will see what I can do if anything. Navistar's official response was it was "too old" of a vehicle for the unlock.
after 10,000 miles of cross country travel over the summer, I suspect that the new TCM would have paid for itself already, but my wife was very against the cost.

[fo4imtippin]

https://www.facebook.com/Express-Equ...0921622369259/


Charlie Ball will do it by mail. Will also flash ECM if needed. Will give discount for doing both at once.


Also ECMking out of Texas does them, but haven't reached out for cost.


I'm debating buying all the stuff to do it myself. I have found Allison doc premium online from some other sources that might work. What I really want to have myself is Cummins insite so I can make some performance adjustments.

[Dbacks2k4]

Originally Posted by fo4imtippin

Charlie Ball will do it by mail.

Has anyone used Charlie successfully for a TCM reflash for 6th? I'm considering going that route but any positive reviews would be appreciated for my own sanity! Thanks in advance.

[fo4imtippin]

Originally Posted by Dbacks2k4

Has anyone used Charlie successfully for a TCM reflash for 6th? I'm considering going that route but any positive reviews would be appreciated for my own sanity! Thanks in advance.

Ha quoted me! Since I dropped the hint, I will follow up that I used PCMPerformance. They were cheaper and have been doing it a lot longer. They also do custom flashes. They will actually make sure the flash matches the existing program except having an extra gear. I don't know this for sure, but Charlie might just have a program that has 6th that he flashes to every WTEC3. I found how to do this online and even an example CIN that would work, but the magic on this is to have a database of CIN to be able to keep all the factory settings the same.


That said, I debated going down this rabbit hole myself as any program with autodetect and 2500rpm limit might work fine (as the shift points auto adjust anyway), but obviously Allison has other factors in their program as well that I don't know about. For my time, it was worth the money to just get it over with. If I invested more time, then I would have to offer the service to other skoolies or something and I'm too busy for that right now.



I still plan to get Allison Doc and play later when I get a backup TCM and stuff.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by Dbacks2k4

Has anyone used Charlie successfully for a TCM reflash for 6th? I'm considering going that route but any positive reviews would be appreciated for my own sanity! Thanks in advance.

Last I checked he couldn't do the 3000, just the MD3060.

[fo4imtippin]

Originally Posted by Jonnie B.

Sounds like we have the same bus. I have done extensive research on all of this and it is a real PITA. I have been denied by IC, even writing the nice I absolve you of any liability letter to another dealer service manager I couldn't get anyone to approve unlock for my 3000PTS. The real annoyance is that there aren't people I can find that actually work on the 3000 series programming other than Alex at PCM performance. He is currently only selling new TCMs with recalibrations and not reprogramming customer supplied TCMs. I have searched the internet for months and haven't found anyone capable of altering the programming the way Alex does. Allison doc is only a diagnostic, there is no way to unlock sixth gear using their programs without a new calibration directly from Allison themselves.

The manufacturer is the only body that is able to compel Allison to provide a new calibration for 6 available gears. using similar CIN's from other vehicles can provide mixed results as rear ends and actual gear ratios may vary even if the make and model appear exact. I can't justify the cost of a new TCM when mine functions perfectly other than only being programmed for 5 gears. I just recently got my vehicle re-titled as a motor home and maybe this can get me some flexibility from Navistar, but I doubt it. Once I get the official title I will see what I can do if anything. Navistar's official response was it was "too old" of a vehicle for the unlock.
after 10,000 miles of cross country travel over the summer, I suspect that the new TCM would have paid for itself already, but my wife was very against the cost.

I ran into this as well. Too steep for $1300. Hes now doing the mail in stuff again. With gas prices, may not take long for the fuel savings to meet $350.

[skoontz]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

Last I checked he couldn't do the 3000, just the MD3060.

I went through Charlie to unlock my TCM. As stated above, he uses flash files from other similar vehicles. My bus is a 2005 IC, with a 466E and 3000PTS transmission. I thought I had a MD3060 transmission, and I live too far away to meet in person. I shipped my TCM to him, and he informed me that my transmission is actually a 3000PTS. Initially, we tried a 3000MH file. Turns out the file was looking for an interlock that I didn't have. The transmission refused to go into gear. He then sent me a 3060 flash and a 3000PTS flash to try. Both gave me 6 gears, but the 3000PTS file shifted wrong. the MD3060 file worked in my case. So, Charlie can now do some 3000 transmissions, at least when the transmission follows a 466E. Charlie was willing to keep working with me and was a good guy to work with. He was able to help me out, and he was willing to refund my money if he couldn't help me. Having said that, if you can go in person, I'd recommend it just in case. With the shipping and such, it took about 2 months to get the right flash. In person would be much quicker, and would not require removing the TCM.

If you're trying to reach him outside of Facebook, here is his contact info:
Express Equipment Sales
Charlie Ball
571-251-5811
cballexpressauto@aol.com