Allison 3060 won't switch from Neutral to Drive

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Our  Beaver coach is a 1995, it has a Cummins 8.3 mechanical  (pre-coach house computer days) with 300 hp, Spartan chassis and an Allison MD3060 six speed. The ECU is under the keypad to shift the transmission. It is actually one piece but can be taken apart to service the keypad or ECU. I think my unit is a WTEC II (World Transmission Electronic Control II). I have a small console to the left of my left leg when sitting in the drivers seat. It is in that console and pretty easy to remove. The ECU controls the transmission and powers the keypad.
Put RV into heated storage last Winter with no previous shift issues (this coach is serviced meticulously with transmission fluids changed two years ago at Lazy Days in Florida and entire coach serviced prior to a 3000 mile trip last Fall).
Yesterday coach fired up ok, coach and chassis batteries, aired up to 90# pressure right away, rpms ok, air brake parking brake releasing ok.  

Would not go into drive with touch pad or reverse right away, eventually would go into reverse, but no drive after trying for 3 + hours of running and shutting off in storage unit.  

Ran transmission codes and saw d1 and a d2 only once?  Have power to keypad (N & R light works, E mode switches back and forth).

ABS light on, but think I remember it staying on in past until I moved coach.

Hate to make this main  focus as maybe a distraction from the problem, but could be the problem....the MOUSE had been in coach under our bathroom vanity.  Did he chew on the wiring harness?

My options and wondering what to pursue myself:
* Have a spare brand new touch pad
* Bad ECU

My coach is a 5 hour drive to work on it, hoping to fix it myself, but have Coach-Net and if have to, will tow it to an Allison dealer, but hoping to save a few thousand and fix it myself.

Anybody else had this happen?  So far my internet research shows about $2000 to replace a harness, $2400 for an ECU without labor (could change myself if I knew that is what it is.

Thank you....Mike

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Received this answer from an RV Tech on justanswers.com, gives me some things to check when I can get back to coach in a couple weeks, maybe others have ideas'  Because coach isn't easy to get out of unit by towing, if nothing else works will try to get an Allison Tech to come to unit.

"I can share my experiences with you on this kind of issue. First what caught my attention is the ABS light, the ABS light should come on and go off after it does a self check, on some units it has to be driven over 7 mph to complete the self check. One thing that could cause the ABS light to stay on is low voltage, I would verify that your chassis battery voltage is good with the alternator running, that could cause all kinds of issues.

Also if this worked fine prior to storage the mouse may have done some damage to the wiring harness for that circuit. This really is the worst case you can have as the wires run from the rear to the front and would take some time to inspect.

I also do know on some of the pad style, shifters can go bad over time.  The ones that are exposed to direct sunlight all the time, seem to go faster.  This is because there is a gel type substance under the buttons, and it can go bad.  Normally, if you apply more pressure and it works, that is a good sign.

Also, on the Monaco products, they used a cannon style plug going to the shifter, and sometimes they can come loose, so verify that connector is fully secured.

So, I would check your battery voltage, make sure the alternator is putting out the correct voltage, check all your chassis battery cables at the battery, make sure they are tight and free of corrosion.  Next I would see if Allison can test the ECU in the dash instead of having it towed.  There is a Allison dealer near the Monaco factory, and you might want to give them a call.  Also, since they see allot of the Monaco's.

HERE is the contact information.

Hope this gives you some more ideas..."

[Wayne Tull]

This may not be helpful, just my experience. I have the same engine and trans. in a 94 Marquis on a gillig chassis. After having new tires put on I pulled forward about 50 ft., left the engine running in neutral went in to pay the bill, came back out wouldn't go into drive, shut engine off wouldn't turn over. After focusing for a day on why it wouldn't turn over I arrived at the the ECU for the trans. Took the ECU cover apart to see what I could see and let the smoke out of it when I did.
Ordered new ECU (about $2k with programing), installed unit haven't had any problems since (that was last year just after we bought it) except for my friends asking what do you supposed caused it to go bad (implying that the ECU wasn't the root problem).

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Thank you Wayne!  I will get a chance to get back to coach the week of May 23rd and try a couple of things.  I have e-mailed the Allison/Cummins service center I generally do business with and by the sounds of it, probably change the ECU or repair mouse damaged wiring.  I will update the forum as soon as it's figured out.

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Had the coach towed to Boyer Trucks, Superior, Wisconsin and John, the service advisor knew what the problem was within 5 minutes.  He had worked for the Duluth Transit Authority for several years on there buses and the weakest link was the transmission touch pad.   We are now up and running again.
Sorry for the delay in the post, but have relocated from Washburn, Wisconsin to Faribault, Minnesota about a mile away from I-35.  Would love to visit with any BAC if passing by.   Mike