Swapping in Allsion 2000 Series...

[dzalinsky]

I just recently finished up my build and have been driving the bus around for a few weeks now. I bought the bus with the AT545 and knew that I wanted to replace it with and Allison 2000 series when the build was done.
I have found a few transmissions near me that have the wiring harness and TCM but they came off a different engine than what I have.

I have a 1999 Thomas bus with a DT466e and AT545.
Some of the Transmissions I found were from 2003, 2004 and 2001. But they all came off a C7 engine.
Do you know if the wiring harness will be an issue if I do the swap to my DT466e?
If it will be too much of an issue with the wiring harness then I will just wait until I find one that came off a DT466 with the wiring harness and TCM for sale.

[fo4imtippin]

I think you could make it work, but then you need to get programming for your combination. With your motor being the 466, you might open your options to the 3000 series as its a bigger, better trans that may have more matches for your engine and not cost a lot different.

[magnakansas]

DT466e. Engine controls seem to be the same 1998 - 2003. And 2004-2007

I think. A visual inspection and looking into the engine management system is warranted. But if I had to go blind, I would say a harness from 2003 or earlier would work.

William

[dzalinsky]

Originally Posted by fo4imtippin

I think you could make it work, but then you need to get programming for your combination. With your motor being the 466, you might open your options to the 3000 series as its a bigger, better trans that may have more matches for your engine and not cost a lot different.

Yeah I would need programing with replacing the trans with the 2000 or 300 series. The 3000 series has been harder to find and its a lot more expensive. Right now I only plan on using the bus for weekend trips so I was thinking the 2000 would be a good option. I was just worried about adding extra steps with one that came from a different engine. I am replacing the rear with a 3.91 setup. I think it has a 5.38 diff right now. Thats an easier project for me at the moment. Then the next is the trans.

[dzalinsky]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

DT466e. Engine controls seem to be the same 1998 - 2003. And 2004-2007

I think. A visual inspection and looking into the engine management system is warranted. But if I had to go blind, I would say a harness from 2003 or earlier would work.

William

Ahh I appreciate that. I can check out the trans before they pull it to do a simple inspection. I do have a few wiring diagrams that I pulled from this forum. So those will help as well.

[cadillackid]

I didnt think the C7 came out until the latter part of 04. maybe even as an 05 model.. the C7 and 3126 have a similar RPM profile to the DT466E.. maxxing out somewhere around 2600 RPM.. aso the program in a TCM for the cat would likely be close enough to run in a DT466E.. in those years they should all be J1939 throttle type.. your prospective TCM will have the max RPM and the throttle type stamped on it so you can see what you are getting.. 2600/2700 and throttle type J1939 would work..



the wiring harness will be different.. on an IH the harness was largely a separate entity so it could be harvested fairly straight from a bus and moved to a new one.. im not sure on the CAT based chassis.. esp something thats an RE / FE vs conventional...


you would wantto make sure the transmission you are getting is an SAE3 bell so it would just bolt up where your 545 was.. an SAE2 trans will not because of offsets..



also want to make sure your brake type is the same.. if you have hydraulic brakes and get an air brake trans you wont have the drum brake on the back.. the one from the 545 can be made to work if you mod it and make your own linkages for the brake..


if you have air brakes and get a hydraulic brake trans you can just remove the rear brake from the trans and all else is the same in the tail area..

[magnakansas]

Doing math with my bus. And seeing you have a 3.91 rear gear.

I have a 4.30 rear end. Doing the math, I will not ever be able to use a six speed with double overdrive. With my 4.3 rear end I am figuring to be right at 2000 rpm at 65 mph. I have no desire to do more that .
Keep this in mind. You might not spend the time with six gears cause you might not be able to use it.

William

[La Camioneta]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

Doing math with my bus. And seeing you have a 3.91 rear gear.

I have a 4.30 rear end. Doing the math, I will not ever be able to use a six speed with double overdrive. With my 4.3 rear end I am figuring to be right at 2000 rpm at 65 mph. I have no desire to do more that .
Keep this in mind. You might not spend the time with six gears cause you might not be able to use it.

William

Correct.
I have 4.11s/11R22.5 and an Allison 5 speed swap from the 545.
With one OD gear it now cruises mid 70's - low 80's downhill.

With the 2nd OD - six speed - top gear is 0.64.
For your new top speed, you'd divide current top speed by .64.
So if its 60 now, with the six speed, it'd be 94.
I'd skip the rear end change until after the trans swap. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

[cadillackid]

im over geared on mine.. currently my 6th gear is pretty unusable.. I do let it come in at light throttle around 70 MPH or so.. at 70 the bus is Tach like 1600-1650 in 6th gear.. it doesnt like it... so I build the program to shift it out if I get any kind of load factor at all.. I also have it shift out if my EGT gets up there.. the trans has 4 shift patterns built into the TCM.. a "normal" a "hot", a "tow/haul", and a "4x4 low". even though the bus is only one range and no 4x4. that 4th patterm can be triggered by a wire.. so I make tow/haul a program with higher shift points and no 6th gear at all any speed.. I trigger that one with my EGT gauge threshold-1, 1100 degrees F.. this way it will always downshift if safe to do so when the EGTs get high.. spools the turbo and cools things down

[dzalinsky]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I didnt think the C7 came out until the latter part of 04. maybe even as an 05 model.. the C7 and 3126 have a similar RPM profile to the DT466E.. maxxing out somewhere around 2600 RPM.. aso the program in a TCM for the cat would likely be close enough to run in a DT466E.. in those years they should all be J1939 throttle type.. your prospective TCM will have the max RPM and the throttle type stamped on it so you can see what you are getting.. 2600/2700 and throttle type J1939 would work..



the wiring harness will be different.. on an IH the harness was largely a separate entity so it could be harvested fairly straight from a bus and moved to a new one.. im not sure on the CAT based chassis.. esp something thats an RE / FE vs conventional...


you would wantto make sure the transmission you are getting is an SAE3 bell so it would just bolt up where your 545 was.. an SAE2 trans will not because of offsets..



also want to make sure your brake type is the same.. if you have hydraulic brakes and get an air brake trans you wont have the drum brake on the back.. the one from the 545 can be made to work if you mod it and make your own linkages for the brake..


if you have air brakes and get a hydraulic brake trans you can just remove the rear brake from the trans and all else is the same in the tail area..

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the late response.
I think I will just wait until I come across one out of a 466e instead of just taking the harness from the c7 one.

Also thanks for the insight on the brake situation. I did find a few with the brake on the back on the trans. I wasnt sure if I would be able to use the trans on my air brake setup. But now I know that can just come off.

Appreciate all the insight and I hope I can find one sooner than later.

[dzalinsky]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

Doing math with my bus. And seeing you have a 3.91 rear gear.

I have a 4.30 rear end. Doing the math, I will not ever be able to use a six speed with double overdrive. With my 4.3 rear end I am figuring to be right at 2000 rpm at 65 mph. I have no desire to do more that .
Keep this in mind. You might not spend the time with six gears cause you might not be able to use it.

William

I just installed a 4.10 rear end this past weekend. Sitting at about 68mph at 2500 rpm. I will be installing the 11r22.5 tires within the next week. Then I will be getting the computer flashed for the different gears and bigger tires.

I only wanted the 2000 series for the 5th overdrive gears and to be able to keep the rpms under 2000 on the highway. Yeah a 6th gear might be too much.