ebay find

[ol trunt]

Found this on ebay looked interesting. Jack

https://www.ebay.com/itm/freightline...0.H0.Xbus.TRS0

[o1marc]

Probably has a 545 behind that 5.9.

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Probably has a 545 behind that 5.9.

And is that a bad thing? I have this transmission and have no complaints. I work on lots of vehicles with this transmission and they have many miles on them and still are rolling along just fine. Getting ready to do a fluid/filter swap on mine for a 2500 mile trip in January. This forum beats down the AT545 quite often and I have no clue why.

Similar to my Geo Metro Forum. The 5-speed guys bash the 3 speed auto all the time, but the 3 speed auto is a very reliable tranny. Sure there might not be an overdrive and the RPM's are over 4,000 RPM at highway speeds, but they almost never go bad unlike the manual 5-speed eating idler shaft bearings and synchros all the time.

Can someone chime in on the AT545 hate here? I am confused

[o1marc]

They have their place, no doubt. I agree with on the hate. I see most who have them rant about how good they are. Some rant about how undesirable they are, then buy one and it's like the best thing since sliced white. While not a bad motor, when someone has a choice between it and many others, this is not their first choice, same with the 545. I don't think I'll ever hear someone say "I want to swap my 643 or 3060 for a 545.". A Geo Metro gets me to the same store as the Ferrari, if I have a choice, I'm not driving the Metro. I would only not own a 2000, 53 block 5.9. i doubt I would buy a 5.9 with a 545 behind it unless it was cheap. That was my point on that shuttle, 5.9/545, $5k

[ol trunt]

I'm a succor for a pretty face so I didn't even really consider the drive line beyond the seller's saying it ran fine. I expect the DL would work fine for some uses and not so fine for others. In my case, if the DL seemed lame I'd just change it out. But then, I'd really like to turn a "trolley" into a motor home if I had the space to get-er-done! Jack

[turf]

the hate for the 545 comes from the fact that you are killing it when you don't realize you are killing it.

its non locking transmission only maintains a fluid connection to drive you forward.

for highway driving or extended hill climbs that fluid gets hot. when the fluid is hot, the transmission starts slipping. because the non lockup, your rpms stay the same and the truck slows down. that extra energy is dissipated as heat in the transmission.
on the other side of the hill (downhill), the fluid connection does not give you much engine braking. downshifting to a lower gear doesnt slow you down. the trans will just freewheel if you push it. you end up riding the brake down and with air brakes, you only go so far before you run out of air.

for a truck that does frequent start and stop, 545s are great. schools didnt need to pay extra for highway transmissions. a 545 will last forever, until you start using it for things it wasnt designed for like hills and highways.

[EastCoastCB]

With a 545 you're killing it and the putting more heat into the engine.
Best upgrade for any bus with a 545 is any other transmission.

Turf said it best.