[HoosierDaddy]

I started the newell up to put it in heated shop a bit ago. It has Bennett air shifter with toggle switch for gear changing. It shifted into reverse ok but will not shift back to neutral etc. the main thing that has changed is that it is now 30 degrees. So I’m stuck here in the driveway by myself with no one to help trouble shoot!! At least I’m not on the road

[encantotom]

contact fulltiming....michael

he has been talking to stone bennett

tom

[Fulltiming]

Dean, I suspect that you have some moisture in the line that has frozen OR the air line going into the shift unit on the side of the transmission has deteriorated and blown some of its lining into the small holes that allow air to move the piston. Lets hope it is the former. Might try putting a heater blowing on the unit (don't get it too close) to see if that helps first.

[Fulltiming]

Check your email.

[HoosierDaddy]

WWWeeellll.... My predicament was that I had the engine running in reverse, park brake locked, at 28 degrees with a moderate easterly wind. Of course the engine will not shut down unless in neutral. It would not shift out of reverse. In the past I had manually moved the transmission shift input from the engine compartment but couldn't get it to move. If I raised the back of the coach I could see the shifter through the wheel well but couldn't reach it. I WILL NOT crawl under without cribbing. I found a 5' long wooden dowel in my shop and was able to reach under from the back of the coach enough to manually push the linkage and get it into 3rd....Good enough . I drove ahead halfway down my driveway and backed into my shop perfectly in one shot. It still would not go out of reverse. I turned the key off, found my trusty wooden dowell and pushed the linkage out of reverse , shutting down the engine.
At least it is in the warm shop. I know what one of my winter projects will be....
Thanks for the responses guys...I may need to talk to Michael about it.

[LynnJeff]

WWWeeellll.... My predicament was that I had the engine running in reverse, park brake locked, at 28 degrees with a moderate easterly wind. Of course the engine will not shut down unless in neutral. It would not shift out of reverse. In the past I had manually moved the transmission shift input from the engine compartment but couldn't get it to move.  If I raised the back of the coach I could see the shifter through  the wheel well but couldn't reach it. I WILL NOT crawl under without cribbing. I found a 5' long wooden dowel in my shop and was able to reach under from the back of the coach enough to manually push the linkage and get it into 3rd....Good enough . I drove ahead halfway down my driveway and backed into my shop perfectly in one shot. It still would not go out of reverse. I turned the key off, found my trusty wooden dowell and pushed the linkage out of reverse , shutting down the engine.
At least it is in the warm shop. I know what one of my winter projects will be....
Thanks for the responses guys...I may need to talk to Michael about it.

Dean

Went through the same thing earlier this year

Mine ended up having particulate matter in shifter that got in through the airlines (Have since put a filter on my air line leading in to shifter to dump any junk out of the line)

Call TA anderson pumps in Kilgore Tx

# 9039845031

Talk to Mr Anderson, they are the guys stone bennett goes to when there is a problem, they can rebuild yours and turn it around in 24 hours for less than a couple hundred bucks

They have a LOT of experience with our shifters

[kyleb]

WWWeeellll.... My predicament was that I had the engine running in reverse, park brake locked, at 28 degrees with a moderate easterly wind. Of course the engine will not shut down unless in neutral. It would not shift out of reverse. In the past I had manually moved the transmission shift input from the engine compartment but couldn't get it to move.  If I raised the back of the coach I could see the shifter through  the wheel well but couldn't reach it. I WILL NOT crawl under without cribbing. I found a 5' long wooden dowel in my shop and was able to reach under from the back of the coach enough to manually push the linkage and get it into 3rd....Good enough . I drove ahead halfway down my driveway and backed into my shop perfectly in one shot. It still would not go out of reverse. I turned the key off, found my trusty wooden dowell and pushed the linkage out of reverse , shutting down the engine.
At least it is in the warm shop. I know what one of my winter projects will be....
Thanks for the responses guys...I may need to talk to Michael about it.

Finally, something I know a little bit about!
I just rebuilt mine. The guys at :

T. H. Anderson Pump Co., Inc.
(800) 594-7867

were absolutely amazing! They had the parts in stock!

'T' spent 30 minutes explaining how it works. They sent me all kinds of information, helped me identify which one I had, and rush shipped me the parts I needed.

When mine started acting up, it would shift down fine but would not up shift until fully warm. I made a stick with a hook on it to push or pull the transmission lever.

Then it got where it wouldn't up shift at all & sometimes, the shifter didn't want to move at all.

The issue was water inside the lower cylinder. I suspect a previous repair wasn't sealed properly.

The repair wasn't difficult, just a bit tedious. . . .

[Floridian]

Guys,

We did our first family trip this past Friday. We originally had planned to leave on Thursday night but found out that after moving the left section of the driver side (were the transmission display is sitting at) some cables got disconnected and didn't have position lights or any other lights to drive at night so we postponed the trip for a couple of hours ( it was a long day getting the coach ready to drive) we slept for 3 hours and went back to the coach, disassemble the pull-up knob that handles the low lights and the dashboard lights (with the dimmer in it, by the way if you ever want to remove that I can help on how to do that! or wire it back again, for that matter) and with a volt-meter measured everything and connected everything back together (it took me 2 hours to do this) by 5 AM we were ready to LEAVE!

Started the coach......wanted to change to reverse and it won't go! Tried to put it in Drive and it went into drive....tried to accelerate and it won't do NOTHING I can push the gas pedal to the floor and absolutely nothing will happen. Decided that we broke something while remodeling. Tried to put it in Neutral, I wouldn't go into neutral. Panic mode set in, removed the key and the engine will NOT STOP! I WAS SHOCKED! More panic than before.

Anyway, what I'm telling is probably stupid to some of you but I've never started the thing after being sitting for a few days (no air was in the tanks) and NOTHING works without air supply. I did remember the PO mention something about sliding under the coach to move what you guys are talking about: the gear selector to Neutral, giving that I already went through the nervousness of not having a clue on how to stop an engine with anything better than removing the key (and given the this doesn't do a thing) will you be kind enough in pointing me out were should I find this leveler that I need to move to put it in Neutral if I ever needed it?

After 10 minutes (it was forever at that time) the Air Supply gauge went all the way to 60 and everything was OK with the world, we drove 1000 miles to Destin, FL (Camp Gulf site 807 right in the beach) and back and we had the most wonderful time we laugh now when I think about that but it was nerve racking to know that I can't stop the engine by removing just the key!

Thanks!!!

[Fulltiming]

Typically, Allison transmissions are wired to NOT allow the diesel engine to shutdown if the transmission is an another other than Neutral. Sounds like that is what happened to you. The linkage control for the transmission is on the passenger side of the coach on the side of the transmission. When the linkage is fully counterclockwise, it is in reverse, one notch forward is neutral, then drive, etc. Do you have the Stone Bennett Air Shifter on yours? (toggle switch to change gears rather than a transmission level). Those do need air pressure to shift gears.

When the tanks have been depleted of air from sitting for an extended period, it is always a good idea to wait until you build up pressure (preferably the full 120 psi) before trying to shift gears. With less than 60 psi the drive axle brakes will be engaged and you won't be able to move the coach anyway, that is the reason you couldn't get the coach to move. That is a required safety feature since otherwise you would have driven off with NO brakes at all.

You mentioned that it took 10 minutes to reach 60 psi. It does take a number of minutes for the tank to air up, especially if the brake tanks are depleted and the suspension air bags are down.

I prefer to wait until I hear the air blow-off valve actuate prior to putting attempting to put the coach in gear. I also visually verify that the rear fenders are lifted off the drive axle tires to prevent the fenders from cutting into the tires. Typically by the time the air blow-off valve dumps, the fenders are well off the tires but the thought of tearing up a perfectly good pair of expensive tires because I didn't wait long enough is plenty of incentive for me to do a walk around before shifting into gear. That may not be an issue on the pre-1990 Newells but it certainly is no mine.

[kyleb]

My '87 shifter is in reverse when fully retracted. It bolts on using the transmission oil pan bolts & is mounted horizontal.
The 'neutral only shutdown' is in the Stone Bennett shifter wiring at the driver.

A friend's '87 uses an electric actuator to shut down the engine, mine needs air. . .