Independent repair shop technicians that do medium and heavy duty truck repairs found their niche at “The Medium Duty Truck Workshop” presented Friday afternoon at Automechanika Chicago. The workshop is scheduled to be repeated at 2 p.m. Saturday.
A wide variety of information ranging from mechanical to electrical repairs for medium and heavy duty trucks was presented by Peter Luban.
Luban’s class took a deep dive into the problems that exist with medium to heavy duty trucks equipped with Allison 1000/2000 and Aisin six-speed transmissions. Allison introduced for the 1000/2000 Series transmission a feature known as “RELS” which in the past was reserved for bus and heavy truck applications, he said. One of the most confusing issues for Allison 1000/2000 transmissions is the subject of gear ratios.
Luban also covered electrical diagnosis troubleshooting for Generation 4 operating systems, as well as a rundown on indirect problems that can affect the transmission.
He provided an introduction to the fifth generation electronic controls for Allision. The first part he referred to as the generation gap. He explained and showed a comparison between all the generations since generation one and how they have evolved into more sophisticated controls. For example, for the 2013 model year Allison introduced the fifth generation electronic control system, which is substantially different from fourth generation controls.
He also presented information on the tilt cab trucks, such as Isuzus and Mitsubishis, for example, and on Hinos with anti lock brakes. He explained that certain brake brands can cause some issues that affect the transmission.
Luban also offered up information on the 3000 and 4000 series trucks, which are made by a variety of manufacturers, including Freightliner, Kenworth, International and GMC.
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