Stupid auto shift or stupid driver.

I use to think being assigned an auto would be a punishment...but, I am getting to the age where arthur pays me a visit in my knees on a regular basis and it doesn't take much stop-n-go before my left knee is hurting enough to take a double dose of arthritis strength Advil/Aleve/Tylenol. So an auto may be in whats left of my trucking future.

 

Nothing like a manual transmission, works all the time, unless there's a newbreed behind it.

 

Wish my 4wheeler had a manual. It has a 4 speed od and I lost the
od. Only get about 8-9 on a good day on the highway now.

 

Just wait until these autos start dying! Then, try to find a shop w/experience enough and tools to properly repair, AND someone w/a checkbook fat enough to cover the cost.

 

I think for all CDL training there should be a requirement to train and test on a manual for new drivers. Automatics have come pretty far from what I've seen. I've been driving for a good bunch of years and I'm due to move into an automatic soon. I've had a couple of manuals go on me before, both were due to mismatched parts from the factory which allowed too much slop on the range shifting mechanism. (And on the same make and model of gearbox).

 

1st you do know that the Eaton auto shift has been around for over 17 years...(not some new thing) 2nd ALL dealers can work on them.... in 1.1 million miles the total extra amount spent on my truck because its a auto is under $5,000

 

1st, I have said it a million times before, automatics do not get better milage. Some tend to believe the advertising hype that they do get better fuel millage, but that is only the case if you are a poor driver in the first place. If you actually read the advertising on these automatics, you will see they are quite upfront about that fact.

The reason I reminded people of that is not to rub someone's nose in their misunderstanding of automatics; it is to help explain what the OP experienced. Since, the nature of shifting gears by the computer does not automatically produce greater fuel efficiency gains, the manufactures have programmed several tricks in these automated trucks to try get better fuel economy and live up to their advertising claims. If they cannot back up their claim of better fuel economy they cannot sell automatics.

One of these tricks is while in automatic mode, holding out on a downshift to like 900rpm or lower. The basic fact is the lower you rev a diesel the less fuel it will use. So, by holding out to a lower RPM then a driver would normally for a downshift, it should save some fuel. The problem is this kills any momentum by both the truck and the motor, and the truck chugs up the hill at a lower speed then it would normally. But who cares about the driver, he most likely gets paid by the mile not the hour.

The other trick used is called "gear down protection." Most of the engine manufactures have it as an option. What it does is limit RPM, and therefore fuel consumption, in the gear or two under top gear. This prevents the driver from cruising a freeway speed a gear down from top gear. It encourages, no it forces, a driver to shift to top gear to reach freeway speed. For example in a 10 speed you cannot go past 50mph in 9 gear because the engine will not rev up enough, you must shift to 10th to allow get to 60mph. Now the truck may not have enough power to get a heavy load up to 60mph in 10th, that is no concern for those counting fuel economy. As long as a penny is saved it is good for them.

So to put these things together and explain what the OP experienced with his newfangled automatic. He left it in Auto mode and in an attempt to save some fuel, the auto refused to downshift until 900RPM. When the OP got impatient with waiting for the trans. to make it's attempt at a fuel saving shift, he went to manual mode when the RPMs dropped to 1200RPM. However, with 'gear down protection" enabled on the engine his RPMS were limited in that gear to like 1550RPMS. The transmission need 500RPMs more engine speed to make the shift. The engine refused to rev up because "gear down protection" was enable. Since the engine refused the increase in RPM to make the shift, the transmission refused to shift, and sent the driver the bad driver warning buzzer telling him his shift request was refused.

As we all know on even a simple grade, a loaded truck can drop quickly in RPM from 1200 to almost stalling. As that auto was refusing his manual shift commands, RPM continued to drop. By the time, the driver switched back to auto mode, the RPM of the motor dropped so below the shift point of the transmission the transmission refused to make a shift.

Been their before, one of the many reasons I hate the Auto. On my 500 mile turn with lots of hills and one mountain pass, a automatic truck will take me constantly 1 hour more to make the run. Manual mode makes little to no difference because of these fuel saving measures programmed into the truck in a attempt to redeem the automatic's advertised claim to fuel efficiency.

 

Do you have the MX13 in that 579?

 

Yep, had this happen in an Eaton 10 speed myself
same thing. had to shut it down and restart on a big FN hill

I like autos' but I hate these POS Eaton auto's. Holy crap, do the eaton guys not even drive the volvo's?