Transynd

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

OK, I am having a tough time finding a shop to change over the fluid in the Allison.  If I am going to get away from Dextron which is OEM then I dont want to use something I know nothing about. 
Not only does no shop seem to flush the system as opposed to just draining and refilling.  They dont tell you that they use some off the wall brand of ATF.
Who uses what and where is Transynd available?

[Jerry Emert]

Keith, I feel your pain!  I gave a guy specific instructions.  All he had to do was change the transmission filters and refill with transynd.  He then used Amsoil synthetic ATF that is not Allison approved and changed it all.  That fluid change last year, including all filters and again Amsoil synthetic oil cost me almost 2K and I still need to go back to transynd. 
I'm starting to understand why everybody does their own maintenance! 
Jerry

[Karl Welhart]

Keith,

I would recommend you buy Transyd (Castoil and Mobil One brands make approved synthetic transmission fluid) online and the filters (Allison brand).  Take the fluid and filters to a shop that you trust and have them change.  IMHO, you do not need to flush your transmission before changing fluid and filters.

Good luck,

[Joel Ashley]

Find an Allison approved shop here:  http://www.allisontransmission.com/sales-service-locator

Joel

[Richard LaLande]

Here in Coburg, Oregon at Cummins Northwest right off I-5 (541)687-0000 , yes 4zero's
They do use Transynd ..I haven't used them yet but I do believe Bill has, I will be using them
soon and their shop look very clean and friendly. www.cumminsnorthwest.com

[Mike Groves]

There is no voodoo in the transynd. Just make sure its approved with the same specs (TES 295).  I am not familiar with the AMSOIL, however 2K for doing this service is incredible to me. 

Mike

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Jerry
Did you actualy pay the shop for that?  They did not do the job and so wouldnt have gotten paid and fjrther would have gotten a bill from me for inconvience in finding a new shop etc.  Sorry you got used so badly.
Joel
I have actualy been dealing with several Allison shops and each has drawbacks.  Mostly they dont tell you they dont use Transynd.  If there is no power flush then only 50% or so is Transynd.  Then you change it again and again until the Transynd is about 90% mix.  One Allison shop wanted to charge me $104. Gallon for Transynd plus filters plus labor.
Fresh Dextron in a unit that came with Dextron sounds better and better.

[Edward Buker]

The Wards International dealer here in Pensacola carries Transynd by Castrol. I think it is worth sticking with that brand to be sure. I have picked up Allison brand transmission filters, Cat brand filters, and they service Cummins here also. You may also check pricing at an International Dealer in your area. I think it was about $48 a gallon, changed it twice and Allison considers that adequate mix to follow the extended Transynd change schedule.

Later Ed

[Jerry Emert]

Jerry
Did you actualy pay the shop for that?  They did not do the job and so wouldnt have gotten paid and fjrther would have gotten a bill from me for inconvience in finding a new shop etc.  Sorry you got used so badly.
Joel
I have actualy been dealing with several Allison shops and each has drawbacks.  Mostly they dont tell you they dont use Transynd.  If there is no power flush then only 50% or so is Transynd.  Then you change it again and again until the Transynd is about 90% mix.  One Allison shop wanted to charge me $104. Gallon for Transynd plus filters plus labor.
Fresh Dextron in a unit that came with Dextron sounds better and better.

Keith, combination of things, pretty new to me coach, guy who did the service is a friend who honestly thought that was what what was best, that was all filters including air and he only charged me a $100 for labor.  All of that was materials and fluids from NAPA.  I have this saying that "a free lesson is one that doesn't teach anything."  I wish I was smart enough to learn from the free ones but not so much!

[LaMonte Monnell]

I did my changeover myself in the yard. I purchased the transyd at a truck center in Tampa Florida along with the 2 filters. It was not difficult at all to do. Drain the fluid, remove the two filter covers and remove the filters. Put new seals on the filters and install torqueing the bolts correctly. Put drain plug in and torque it. Fill with fluid. I had it done in an hour.

[Bill Sprague]

Keith,

Transynd is a brand name of Allison.  When our motorhomes were newer (grin!) there were not a lot of brand choices for what Allison approved under their specification "TES 295".  Now there are many choices and Allison shows them here:  http://www.allisontransmission.com/parts-service/approved-fluids/on-highway-fluids

Last year I needed a quart or two transmission fluid.  I stopped at my closest source, Valley Freightliner in Pacific, WA.  They did not have the Transynd brand because of price.  Instead they had one from the list and I think it was Mobil Delvac.  On the bottle it stated that it was approved by Allison under the TES 295 specifications. 

The change to synthetic has a theoretical problem.  The transmission itself apparently can be drained thoroughly.  The transmission cooler, and lines to it, are not easy to drain.   I remember reading that there is a technique, but I forget the details.    If I remember right, there is a place where you disconnect the return line from the cooler to the engine.  After draining the transmission and refilling you (carefully) run the engine long enough that some of the new fluid flushes through the cooler and lines.  Then you top off the transmission to replace what was sent through the cooler.   It is painful because the flushing is being done with $50 a gallon stuff!

I also recall reading about a double flush method.  You do a standard drain and fill with synthetic.  After an appropriate mileage interval you do it again.  After the second change you have a near zero dilution of old to new. 

Considering the cost of synthetic and that our motorhomes are run infrequently compared to the trucks our transmissions were designed for, it may make dollar sense to stick with the old Dextron stuff every couple years.  I'm pretty sure that is what Marty does. 

For what it's worth, a guy named Tom Johnson apparently wrote the TES 295 specifications.  He started a topic on the iRV2 forum that goes on for 65 plus pages.  It started in 2011 and is still going!  He answers lots of questions!   http://www.irv2.com/forums/f125/former-allison-transmission-fluids-engineer-89293.html. 

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Bill
as a side note, BCS agrees with you.  Ken said if it came with Transynd thats what they use but otherwise its Dextron.
Sure wish I had gotten a maintenance log with this coach.

[Joel Weiss]

Transynd is a brand name of Allison......

I also recall reading about a double flush method.  You do a standard drain and fill with synthetic.  After an appropriate mileage interval you do it again.  After the second change you have a near zero dilution of old to new..... 

Considering the cost of synthetic and that our motorhomes are run infrequently compared to the trucks our transmissions were designed for, it may make dollar sense to stick with the old Dextron stuff every couple years.  I'm pretty sure that is what Marty does.......

Actually, Transynd is a brand name of a Castrol product which was developed in collaboration with Allison.

I think most MHs of the vintage of ours were changed over to TES-295 fluids using the two-step drain and re-fill process.  Yes, it's expensive to make the change but that's a one-time expense.

According to Allison there's nothing inherently wrong with continuing to use Dexron as long as you abide by the recommended change intervals.   Even with low use vehicles Allison still recommends a 12-month change interval with Dexron as you can calculate here:  http://www.allisontransmission.com/parts-service/fluid-filter-calculator#cal-results

Even though most MH owners probably have not been abiding by this schedule, even if you changed the fluid half as often as recommended the net bottom line cost over a number of years for Dexron and Transynd probably aren't all that far apart. 

As for the comment about BCS continuing to use Dexron in older MH's, that surprises me greatly, but I suspect that position has been driven more by not wanting customers upset about needed to do an expensive fill and drain cycle than it has by any technical reasons.  It's pretty clear that Allison recommends the use of TES-295 fluids in all of its on-highway transmissions for performance and change interval reasons.

[Andy Clark]

Be careful where you get your Dexron. A year or more ago I was made aware that GM had released the formulation for Dexron ATF from their spec control. The upshot is that you no longer know exactly what you're getting when you buy Dexro 111. The best you can do is to buy it from a major supplier (Chevron, etc.), because the Wal-Mart stuff may be made offshore and is to be considered with suspicion. Anyone can call almost anything Dexron111 these days and get away with it because GM no longer controls the formulation.

Just a heads-up
Andy

Bill
as a side note, BCS agrees with you.  Ken said if it came with Transynd thats what they use but otherwise its Dextron.
Sure wish I had gotten a maintenance log with this coach.

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

For those that prefer to use Dexron lll  (as I do) Chevron and Valvoline both make it and it carries Allison's TES-389 approval for pre-synthetic required 3000 and 4000 model transmissions. Marty