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Auto shift, should I buy

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013.

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  1. Sep 22, 2013 #1
    Cattletrkr

    Cattletrkr Bobtail Member

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    Aug 1, 2013
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    Test drove an 02 Eaton 10spd autoshift the other day. Test went well until we were almost back. For whatever reason it hung up in 6th and wouldn't downshift, even if I hit the 'down' button. I couldn't figure out if it was something I did that the trans didn't like or if there was something wrong. The service light blinked, but went away on restart. Salesman said it was maybe because truck was bobtail and the load on trans/engine was non-existent. It was an odd situation in that I'd never driven one before and the test wasn't extensive enough to really tell when it would do it. It did do it again, but not every time. Coming down from road speed was fine. It only did it if I went into 6th and then tried to come back down.

    My question for those with more experience than I is: Is there a scenario when at low throttle that an autoshift won't downshift even when a shift is manually called for? Is the dealers idea plausible or not?

    Needless to say, I didn't buy it. Still, for the most part, it was almost more than I thought it would be. Bad tranny trumps all though.


    Thoughts?
     
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    #1
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  3. Sep 22, 2013 #2
    rshakin

    rshakin Bobtail Member

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    Mar 14, 2012
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    they break a lot.... and very expensive to fix why would you do that to your self... it all depends on what your hauling.
     
    rshakin, Sep 22, 2013
    rshakin, Sep 22, 2013
    #2
  4. Sep 22, 2013 #3
    Pablo-UA

    Pablo-UA Road Train Member

    7,604
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    Oct 11, 2010
    Borispol, Ukraine
    0
    choose manual ore swap tranny
     
    Pablo-UA, Sep 22, 2013
    Pablo-UA, Sep 22, 2013
    #3
  5. Sep 22, 2013 #4
    Heavyd

    Heavyd Road Train Member

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    Feb 4, 2009
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    We have had several customers with those transmissions that had great success. Yes, there are glitches here and there. Like anything else electronic and automatic there are failures and repairs can be expensive. With an 02, you are looking at a unit that is now 11-12 years old and has run to the end of it's "useful life span". Basically anything with that amount of time on it can't really be regarded as reliable no matter how great it was back in the day. If it had a little glitch during your road test, I would walk away, just a sign of possible things to come!
     
    Heavyd, Sep 22, 2013
    Heavyd, Sep 22, 2013
    #4
    Cattletrkr and pusherman Thank this.
  7. Sep 22, 2013 #5
    Y2K

    Y2K Road Train Member

    1,654
    1,055
    Jul 21, 2009
    Yacolt,WA
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    I drive one every day and hate it, our company has a bunch of them and I've probably driven at least 20 different trucks with this stupid trans and not one has worked right.
    Some work ok until you get a load on so if you test drive any you could be fooled into thinking it's good pulling an empty trailer.
    Also some work ok when still cold but as the day wears on they get worse and worse especially on hot days.
    All our newer trucks have the Allison full autos because they've had so much trouble and so many driver complaints with the auto shift 10's, the Allison is much nicer to drive and doesn't let you down on hills like the auto-shift.
    I have another name for the auto-shift,I call it the auto-####.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2013
    Y2K, Sep 22, 2013
    Y2K, Sep 22, 2013
    #5
    pusherman and Cattletrkr Thank this.
  8. Sep 22, 2013 #6
    Cattletrkr

    Cattletrkr Bobtail Member

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    Aug 1, 2013
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    I should add there is only 323k miles on truck. It's a $15,000 truck. I don't know if I'm going to find that perfect truck in my price range. I will most likely talk to the guy tomorrow and see what he's thinking.

    I appreciate all the comments so far. Keep 'em coming.
     
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    #6
  9. Sep 22, 2013 #7
    Dorsey

    Dorsey Medium Load Member

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    Jan 28, 2012
    Florida
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    The transmission problems are probably why they're selling it so cheap.
     
    Dorsey, Sep 22, 2013
    Dorsey, Sep 22, 2013
    #7
  10. Sep 22, 2013 #8
    rshakin

    rshakin Bobtail Member

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    Mar 14, 2012
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    Well the rebuilt 13 speed will run you 3 grand plus 2 to install plus all the wiring for another 2 and your good to go.
     
    rshakin, Sep 22, 2013
    rshakin, Sep 22, 2013
    #8
  11. Sep 22, 2013 #9
    Cattletrkr

    Cattletrkr Bobtail Member

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    Aug 1, 2013
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    Well, it's an Int'l 8100 so price is maybe a little less than others, but they're pretty much all in that $15k range. The cab has been repainted and some of the frame has been touched up. Everything looks good for a 10 year old truck. If not for this hiccup, it would be sitting in my yard. I'm hoping to find out it's no big deal but I'm starting to think it might be a big gamble.
     
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    Cattletrkr, Sep 22, 2013
    #9
  12. Sep 22, 2013 #10
    Heavyd

    Heavyd Road Train Member

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    Feb 4, 2009
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    The actual transmission is basically the same as a regular manual one. All the internal gearing/parts are just as reliable as a manual. The biggest electronic parts are the X/Y shifter and TCU. X/Y shifters are the actuator with the electric motors that perform the shifting. These can burn out or the internal movement sensors fail which require replacement of the whole thing. The wire harness is always a weak link because every OEM cheaps out on wiring. Poor connections from an old harness can cause a lot of havoc. There really isn't much too them, but since there are so little of them out there, tech support at repair shops can be poor. It's only a 8100. Offer them $9000 and see what happens.
     
    Heavyd, Sep 22, 2013
    Heavyd, Sep 22, 2013
    #10
    Cattletrkr Thanks this.
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