Bad vacation

[Newfiedogs]

!995 Amtran 466 with 545. So we were traveling up to Ontario from Cleveland Ohio for a vacation, and to teach water rescue classes for our Canadina dog cub we belong to. Made it to the duty free onramp at the Peace Bridge and the bus came to a halt almost as if the rear maxis set. Sat on the ramp for two hours till tow showed up,fun... The brakes were fine it just would not go forward at all. No loud clunks , bangs, or puddles of fluid. Trans fluid is new, when dropped into reverse or all forward gears it will not load. Lucky my brother in law was able to borrow a van and come and get us, along with our 4 Newfoundland dogs. So now the bus sits awaiting a diagnosis at a repair shop in Buffalo. So that's our weekend, what do you guys think it could be? This sucks because I could drop the trainnie if it were at home. Arrrrg.
Tracy

[chev49]

so did you check the trans with the driveshaft disconnected?
its a 545, so they are simple and cheap, but if its an internal problem it could be more expensive than just getting a $1800 rebuilt one. i would also check the filter and drop the pan to check for metal. could even be a cable adjustment, or valve body issue.

[Newfiedogs]

The tow disconnected the last shaft by the rear end to tow it. But I did not try to check it running with it disconnected. I'm waiting to hear from the shop on Monday what they find. The fluid did not smell burnt and there was no smoke coming out of the fill tube when I checked it right after it happened. It was weird the way it just slowed down going up the ramp, stopped and then I could not get it to move.
Thanks

[chev49]

i would suggest checking external stuff first - and shift linkage..., and pull the pan. so with no burnt fluid, your clutches should be ok, but it was driving fine u said, unless you had it under a real heavy load or something.
next question would be . have the trans always shifted properly or had any hiccup problems?

[Newfiedogs]

Yes it was working fine before this. We did check the linkage and it was working as well. One of the techs at the shop where it is at felt the same way as you, it might be a bad switch, sensor, adjustment.
Man I sure hope so, it just seems weird not having it in the drive. Crap happens I guess, hope for an easy fix.
Tracy

[bus-bro]

Bummer about the no-go situation. I had that with an old Volvo once. Not so much as burned up the clutches, more like there wasn't enough clutch left to make it up that last hill. Not so much stuff, so wife, kid, & I stuck out our thumbs for the next thirty miles. Left that car on the side of the highway for a month before I could drag it home on the end of a chain.

[GreyEagle]

Hey, you are not the first and you will not be the last but it still sucks to be the one stuck on the side of the road......
Best of luck on getting it going again,

[Newfiedogs]

When your stuck like that the bus just becomes a 16 thousand pound radio...
Tracy

[keith]

there u go the name said it all,,,hank ,,,,,u got to give your bus a woman name. or something dif, i bet its the switch,,,,my 10 wheel done the same thing . so ,when pulling a hill on them 545 trans u need to dope down to a low gear,like d 2 or 3 depending on the hill.. good luck..




why baby why do u do me this way'
by hank williams

[Newfiedogs]

Can't change the name, wife named it, you know how that goes...But to me I see Hank as being one tough bitch. I just won't tell my wife that one.
Tracy

[keith]

Ha guy,, i was talking to a allison trans man today and told him what u where have trouble with on your trans ,he said that u may have blown the tork convter.about $300.00 for a rebuild one $450.00 for a new one that will keep it from pulling easy to fix,,, good luck

[Newfiedogs]

They said that the clutches were bad so I'm having them install a rebuilt with 2 year warranty. Can't wait to be back on the road again.
Tracy

[chev49]

clutches normally don't go out whilst driving down the freeway... unless you are lugging the thing down going up a hill or something, and they were bad in the first place.
i would suggest changing the torque converter as well, and look at your flyweel, u joints, rear axle flange, etc while its apart.
and get the used parts they replaced so ya can inspect them to see if they are indeedy gone.
not to mention they need to replace several more parth than just the clutch pak and gaskets.

i'm not an expert, just have rebuilt many automatics and some after the trans shop rebuilt them cheaply.

[likesmachines]

My at545 did the same thing, thankfully close to home. I think that the valve body malfunctioned and applied two clutches at once, which is effectively a trans brake, as is done to assist launches in drag racing. It is probably easy to fix to someone familiar with the 545, but I swapped in a Spicer 7 speed manual. This, and changing the axle ratio from 5.38 : 1, to 4.10 : 1, resulted in a mileage increase from 6.8 to up to 10.5, if I drive right and keep it below 65. The 545 does not have a lock up torque converter- bad for efficiency and makes heat. Allison says it's good for up to 445 lb-ft. input torque, but even my little DTA360 has 485 lb-ft. I don't think my failure was at all related to that, though.
Brian

[Newfiedogs]

Trans brake, magicly applied. Did you have the same, Oh **** look I did. When I got this bus almost two years ago now I knew it had a rebuilt trans in it. Who knows where it came from or how long it sat somewhere. So I did what I thought was the right thing to do and replaced the fluids and all filters and replaced the trans lines as well. Front and rear seals too. I hope this one lasts longer now that I will know its history, but then like all things mechanical, things break. Without adventures in a bus what would one talk about around the campfire or even better yet at those business dinners. Those are the best times to tell people sitting at a table, ya, we have a school bus that we are converting. The looks from those that don't get this craziness we all love are just priceless. Then there are those that say, hay that's cool... those are the people to hang out with. Hope we will be picking our bus up today, I need a SKOOLIE fix!
Tracy