M380, air locks, tranny, differential, filters and bay doors

[scoggins_jim]

The new coach has a little over 6000 miles on it.

Yesterday I changed the transmission fluid over to Transynd—the
synthetic fluid recommended by Allison. Any fluid can be used that
meets TES 295 specs. In that much original fluid remains in the torque
converter, one must change it again after 50000 miles. Then it is good
for 150000 miles. However, I will use the heavy service parameters of
25000 and 75000 miles coupled with a filter change every two years.
See http://www.allisontransmissions.com

Switched the differential fluid to 75W90 synthetic. Will do it again
in a year as some old fluid remained in the bearing hubs. When
switching to synthetic there is always the danger of the wheel seals
leaking even though Arvin Meritor says the seals are compatible with
conventional and synthetic fluid. Would really like to have a
temperature gauge for the differential.

All my 86PT friends know that I am a slow learner but now I need to
demonstrate it to my M380 friends.

We all know one cannot deploy the slide with the street side bays
open—that is clearly stated in the owner's manual. They don't talk
about some other things that can happen:

The front door has an air lock activated by a switch on the console.
This is in addition to the mechanical door locks. If it is left off,
the air lock engages and disengages above and below 3 miles an hour.
It clicks and hisses on an off frequently if one is driving around
slowly: Aggravating. If one engages the air lock, it does not click
back and forth: It stays on. I had engaged this switch a week ago or
had accidentally switched it on. Yesterday morning, preparing to go
have fluids changed, I started the engine and went outside, closed the
door, and started a walk a round. Came back to get in—door is
locked—the air lock happens to be at top of door and it is clear the
conventional mechanical locks were not engaged. There I am standing
outside, engine running, door locked. Even if I had a key it would not
help. Went to back of coach and turned off engine with the rear
compartment switch. It was evident that air pressure had to be
depleted. Depleted the coach air by plugging into the tire fill air
outlet and exhausting all the air. The door would now open. JEEZ!

Got to the garage. Getting ready to change the filters in the tranny.
There are short and long filters in for the 3000MH Allison
transmission. I had called bird and Allison. Both said I would need
the short filters. So that's what I had purchased a week earlier. We
get the old ones out and they are the long ones.

$%%^^&^^$@%!@!)(*^&^! Had Dragon Lady come get me and drove to
Ashland, VA and back to get the different filters. When I bought the
original filters the clerk behind the counter tried to protect me from
myself. He asked if I was sure the tranny took the short filters. My
reply: Allison and Bluebird say it uses the short. Tricked again.

By the way, the two Allison "Gold" filters are called that for a
reason. They cost 83.00. They are high pressure wire mesh filters. The
filter kit also includes the gasket and "o" rings that are needed.

At the garage, after changing the tranny fluid we could not get the
engine started using the switch up front. Wanted to take it for a ride
and be sure the tranny level fluid was adjusted correctly. As the
engine bay door was up (we had filled the transmission through the
filler pipe) we tried starting the engine from the rear switch. It
worked fine. What's going on? Mechanic hooked the computer to it—no
bum tranny or engine codes. So there we are scratching our heads. Me
and all the yard birds: Opie, Festus, Clyde, and Gomer. Not a clue
among us. We call the shop foreman. He takes one look and says, "Close
the engine bay door." Yep, there is a safety interlock to prohibit
starting the engine from the front with the engine bay door open.

To recap:

Beware the air lock.

Closing the engine bay door makes starting the coach a lot easier

The 3000MH transmission uses the long filters

I'm sure everyone knew this stuff but me and you guys were just
letting me figure it out on my own.

Regards,
Jim Scoggins
04 M380
Stafford, VA

[ronmarabito2002]

One nice thing about figuring it out yourself: You won't forget it
anytime soon.

R.E. (Ron) Marabito, Dallas, TX 92WB40

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "scoggins_jim"
<scoggins.j@a...> wrote:
> The new coach has a little over 6000 miles on it.
>
> Yesterday I changed the transmission fluid over to Transynd—the
> synthetic fluid recommended by Allison. Any fluid can be used that
> meets TES 295 specs. In that much original fluid remains in the
torque
> converter, one must change it again after 50000 miles. Then it is
good
> for 150000 miles. However, I will use the heavy service parameters
of
> 25000 and 75000 miles coupled with a filter change every two years.
> See http://www.allisontransmissions.com
>
> Switched the differential fluid to 75W90 synthetic. Will do it
again
> in a year as some old fluid remained in the bearing hubs. When
> switching to synthetic there is always the danger of the wheel
seals
> leaking even though Arvin Meritor says the seals are compatible
with
> conventional and synthetic fluid. Would really like to have a
> temperature gauge for the differential.
>
> All my 86PT friends know that I am a slow learner but now I need to
> demonstrate it to my M380 friends.
>
> We all know one cannot deploy the slide with the street side bays
> open—that is clearly stated in the owner's manual. They don't talk
> about some other things that can happen:
>
> The front door has an air lock activated by a switch on the
console.
> This is in addition to the mechanical door locks. If it is left
off,
> the air lock engages and disengages above and below 3 miles an
hour.
> It clicks and hisses on an off frequently if one is driving around
> slowly: Aggravating. If one engages the air lock, it does not click
> back and forth: It stays on. I had engaged this switch a week ago
or
> had accidentally switched it on. Yesterday morning, preparing to go
> have fluids changed, I started the engine and went outside, closed
the
> door, and started a walk a round. Came back to get in—door is
> locked—the air lock happens to be at top of door and it is clear
the
> conventional mechanical locks were not engaged. There I am standing
> outside, engine running, door locked. Even if I had a key it would
not
> help. Went to back of coach and turned off engine with the rear
> compartment switch. It was evident that air pressure had to be
> depleted. Depleted the coach air by plugging into the tire fill air
> outlet and exhausting all the air. The door would now open. JEEZ!
>
> Got to the garage. Getting ready to change the filters in the
tranny.
> There are short and long filters in for the 3000MH Allison
> transmission. I had called bird and Allison. Both said I would need
> the short filters. So that's what I had purchased a week earlier.
We
> get the old ones out and they are the long ones.
>
> $%%^^&^^$@%!@!)(*^&^! Had Dragon Lady come get me and drove to
> Ashland, VA and back to get the different filters. When I bought
the
> original filters the clerk behind the counter tried to protect me
from
> myself. He asked if I was sure the tranny took the short filters.
My
> reply: Allison and Bluebird say it uses the short. Tricked again.
>
> By the way, the two Allison "Gold" filters are called that for a
> reason. They cost 83.00. They are high pressure wire mesh filters.
The
> filter kit also includes the gasket and "o" rings that are needed.
>
> At the garage, after changing the tranny fluid we could not get the
> engine started using the switch up front. Wanted to take it for a
ride
> and be sure the tranny level fluid was adjusted correctly. As the
> engine bay door was up (we had filled the transmission through the
> filler pipe) we tried starting the engine from the rear switch. It
> worked fine. What's going on? Mechanic hooked the computer to it—no
> bum tranny or engine codes. So there we are scratching our heads.
Me
> and all the yard birds: Opie, Festus, Clyde, and Gomer. Not a clue
> among us. We call the shop foreman. He takes one look and
says, "Close
> the engine bay door." Yep, there is a safety interlock to prohibit
> starting the engine from the front with the engine bay door open.
>
> To recap:
>
> Beware the air lock.
>
> Closing the engine bay door makes starting the coach a lot easier
>
> The 3000MH transmission uses the long filters
>
> I'm sure everyone knew this stuff but me and you guys were just
> letting me figure it out on my own.
>
> Regards,
> Jim Scoggins
> 04 M380
> Stafford, VA