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Tranny Limp

1202 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Sulley
My 2005 LLY tranny went into what I think was a LIMP mode the other day on the freeway. I was going about 70 at 1/2 throttle with no load other than myself in the driver seat. Tranny locked in what i think was 2nd or 3rd gear and engine check light came on. Took it to a mechanic friend of mine and he scanned it and told me the code was for "5th gear out of sink" I was running my edge juice w/ attitude in the #3 "drive" setting. Other than intake and exhaust that is my only other upgrade.

This is the second time the tranny has done this to me. The first time I was towing a 9k trailer in edge setting #2 tow mode merging onto the freeway at W.O.T. I think that one was my fault because I had put truck in Tow/Haul setting but did not turn O.D. off. The truck has 35k miles and has had the edge installed since I picked it up from the dealership. Edge told me it could be an issue with the unit so I sent it in for an upgrade (for the second time, the first time was to cure an issue where the truck randomly died at idle)

I guess my questions are;
Has anyone else had there allison tranny limp this easily? Is it really possible for the programmer to cause it to limp for any reason other than too much power? Once a tranny has gone into limp once is it more prone to limp?
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They say it only gets easier to limp once you limp it the first time!
My tranny limped on me today towing my 30' gooseneck with just intake and exhaust. I was climbing a hill so I put it in O/D to get some power and it just limped! The dealer said it was "lost fuel pressure." I have had my truck for almost 4 years and never had this happen.
Road Boss;1565609; said:
My tranny limped on me today towing my 30' gooseneck with just intake and exhaust. I was climbing a hill so I put it in O/D to get some power and it just limped! The dealer said it was "lost fuel pressure." I have had my truck for almost 4 years and never had this happen.
Are you sure you didn't get a 1093 engine limp and not a tranny limp?
engineer837;1564855; said:
Took it to a mechanic friend of mine and he scanned it and told me the code was for "5th gear out of sink" I was running my edge juice w/ attitude in the #3 "drive" setting. Other than intake and exhaust that is my only other upgrade.
There could one of two issues here.

  1. True Tranny limp accompanied by CEL, stays in 4th gear, if truck is equipped with DIC, should say "SHIFT RANGE INHIBITED". When checking codes, you'll would get P0700 to request the CEL and perhaps other code(s).
  2. Bad Shift Solenoid similar symptoms to tranny limp, but trouble shifting at 5th. Your code?
From what I read from your original post, "the code was for 5th gear out of sink", so only that one code was set?

Never limped mine, so no experience there, but thought I did once, asked a few questions here on the DP and had it ironed out in a jiffy. No limp.

I dont really think you limped it. Search "shift solenoid" in this forum and see what comes up. There's been a few guys here with solenoids replaced.

Let us know
Road Boss;1565609; said:
My tranny limped on me today towing my 30' gooseneck with just intake and exhaust. I was climbing a hill so I put it in O/D to get some power and it just limped! The dealer said it was "lost fuel pressure." I have had my truck for almost 4 years and never had this happen.
...I'll be the first to say it. When is the last time your fuel filter was changed?

Tutts;1566547; said:
Are you sure you didn't get a 1093 engine limp and not a tranny limp?
...exactly

Even if you didnt get a CEL and a code, it was likely a fuel problem. Mine has done it on long hill with heavy load on a downshift - no codes, no CEL - just maxed rpm limited to 2000rpm. Thats a fuel problem.

If it will still rev full range but not hit 5th gear and T/L, its tranny issue.

In my opinion, the Allison is way smarter than me. When pulling heavy, I select a low setting for my edge, put the Alli in tow /haul and leave it there. It knows better than me what its capable of and what gear to select.
this time i think its your trans, they have a very week 4 and 5 gear set/clutch pack. in level 3 you making good power and at highway speeds this will limp the trans because it detects to much slip. it happens to me at least once a week, but i baby it and dont do much highway "get mad" passes. :mad: that is until i can afford the 6000 for the stage 5 suncoast.

the first time you limped it probably fuel related due to the WOT and them a sudden decrease in the throttle position. do a search for the p1093 code and you will find it explained better than i can a 7am. :D
I limped my tranny before the Suncoast
The first time it limped it did say SHIFT RANGE INHIBITED. Unfortunately I took it to the dealership and they just reset the computer and would not tell me what code it threw (long story). The secont time I took it to a friend and he scanned it, the only code it threw stated 5th gear out fo sync.
Mine Also

Last winter we were coming out of San Antonio when the tranny shifted down, rpm went up and the check engine light came on. We made it to New Brunsfeld and went to unhook the trailer and had no reverse. Hit the Onstar button and they told me I had a transmission problem. Called Chuck Nash Chevrolet from a big mall and Terry Vance (SM) wasted no time in getting it in to work on it. It had a stuck valve in the valve body and a bad A/B shift solenoid. The truck had never shifted as good as the '02 that I traded off and had been back to local dealers to check. Bottom line is that it shifts fine now. The truck only had 5000 miles on it when all of this happened. (Can't say enough good things about the folks at Chuck Nash Chevrolet)
BlackMax Canada;1566882; said:
...I'll be the first to say it. When is the last time your fuel filter was changed?
I changed it on Dec 22. Well I got back from the dealer and they found alot of rust and water in the fuel filter. They couldn't believe I was still able to drive it like that.
Same issue, Edge on 3/3 and passing at highway speeds. Have done it 3 times now in just over a year. I am not looking forward to paying for the repairs and upgrades but sounds like damage is done when this happens.
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