53MY transmission removal question

[saltshaker]

The weather and water temps have been cold. This May looks like it will be a record as the coldest May in the Mid Atlantic and NE. Allison recommends running 30WT for cold operation. I alway ran 30WT in mine as I used the boat early and late season. Your problem may go away when things warm up.

 

[JonHupp]

I know it is sacrilege to even talk about it, but it is too bad you can't use a diesel grade multi-grade oil in these gearboxes. There are major viscosity changes between ambient and running temps and it would sure be nice to use some Rotella 15W40 in these situations. I heard all about additives and viscosity stabilizers and such, but it is too bad since a durable 15W40 would solve lots of these type issues.

 

[MikeP]

Re-reading the service manual as I'm typing this, it's worth noting that the Allison service manual states :

"Water temperature below which preheat is required: [brackets are mine but "preheat" refers to 20 minutes of warm up with tranny in neutral]

SAE 40 - 50F
SAE30 - 32F
SAE 15W40 - 32F"

This means - to me, at least - that as far as the tranny is concerned, 15W40 seems to be OK for all around use. I may switch to that...

 

[Cricket]

Never heard of anyone running multi weight oil in an Allison gear. Would check with Acadian before trying a different oil type. If it was me I would use 30 weight and then change it to 40 when the water warms up. Also, I've never thought it's a good idea to change oil types once an engine/trans is in service; ie. if it starts life on synthetic then stay with it and vice versa.

 

[saltshaker]

Never heard of anyone running multi weight oil in an Allison gear. Would check with Acadian before trying a different oil type. If it was me I would use 30 weight and then change it to 40 when the water warms up. Also, I've never thought it's a good idea to change oil types once an engine/trans is in service; ie. if it starts life on synthetic then stay with it and vice versa.

X2. Stick with either single grade oil

 

[MikeP]

Well, being basically lazy, I'll probably just do the 20 minute warm up per the service manual. It's easier than changing the oil!

 

[jim rosenthal]

You could put a Wolverine heater on each gear, too. You can't have too many wolverines in your engine rooms.

 

[MikeP]

That would be even easier than a 20 minute warm up. Oh...except for the part where I have to install them!

 

[saltshaker]

Forecast for the summer is for temps to be much higher than normal. Maybe this will be a moot point.