What damage can occur if a M936A2 is towed without transfer case in neutral

My great buy on a wrecker may not be such a great buy, didn't go far since I don't have it registered yet, but doesn't appear to be shifting from 1rst gear with the trans selector in 1-5. Does the speed signal generator/speedo drive have anything to do with the trans shifting? I'm wondering if the tower didn't put the transfer case in neutral for the tow of 80 miles or so. Would that damage it?

Thanks!

If the TF case was not in neutral chances are that something was damaged. If there is an Allison dealer near you call them and ask what the worst case scenario is.

Did it shift properly before it was hauled?

The speed sensor has nothing to do with the trans shifting. It is for the CTIS and over speed indicator if equipped. Chances are very high that the trans is bad, but the wreckers have a tendency to have bad trannys. I have seen several bought from GL and have bad trannys in them. It seems to have something to do with running the T-case PTO for the boom. As wreckerman said, call Allison and see what they say.

doghead said:

Did it shift properly before it was hauled?

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It said driven to lot so I assume that didn't mean in 1rst gear only but you never can tell.... I'll investigate a little more this weekend and update. The fluid level is good and its nice clean dexron.

"driven to lot" is a very misunderstood statement.

A soldier may be tasked with turning in 10 trucks. He will do whatever is easiest to get them to the DRMO lot. In my case, the truck may be as close as 500 yards from where the truck was dropped off(sometime in the past 3-5 years).

If the truck jump/slave starts, the soldier will simply "drive" it onto the lot.

To assume anything more than that(for that statement) is a very very bad idea.

I'm not sure of your purchase details but this is just a small bump in the road. I'm sure that once you figure this out you will be very happy with your rig.

Good luck!

The problem in an automatic transmission in being towed in Neutral (Leaving the t-case engaged) is that there's no lubrication happening for the internals. When a automatic transmission is actually being used, the input side of the trans is being spun by the engine. This causes the converter to spin and in turn spin the pump. The pump then of course pushes oil through out it. When this isn't happening, everything only has a coating of oil left on it. So pulling it for miles can easily cause damage once that oil film is gone.

Hopefully it'll be something simple though.

doghead said:

"driven to lot" is a very misunderstood statement.

A soldier may be tasked with turning in 10 trucks. He will do whatever is easiest to get them to the DRMO lot. In my case, the truck may be as close as 500 yards from where the truck was dropped off(sometime in the past 3-5 years).

If the truck jump/slave starts, the soldier will simply "drive" it onto the lot.

To assume anything more than that(for that statement) is a very very bad idea.

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Agreed. That's why I was only willing to go up to 7k for it as there wasn't even a video showing it running let alone driving. Got it for just over 6k so I shouldn't complain. If I have to I'll either buy another cheap A2 or have the trans from the tractor taken out. Dont think I'll be doing it myself LOL. But hopefully nothing serious.

Just curious how it happened? Was it flat towed or did a wrecker service fail to put the transfer case in neutral? I would hope that a professional wrecker company would know to put the t-case in neutral, but maybe not. Good luck!

Oh yeah...I meant to add this...don't buy a truck for the transmission (unless you want to do that)...go to one of the many guys parting trucks out on this list for a transmission.

I still have one here that I would prefer not to move south.

Will it shift out of first gear in any of the other positions? If so I may just be a bad solenoid in the trans.

Update, because it drives me nuts when people try to help someone and they never let us know whether it's fixed ect.... Looks like a false alarm! I put the transfer case in low accelerated down my driveway, got up to third before I ran out of driveway. It shifts very smooth with the dexron! Unlike the "clunk" with all my other 5 tons with oil. I don't feel comfortable going out on the road yet, I have insurance, but no SF-97, no title or registration yet, but I might take it around the block tomorrow. Found a couple more minor issues. Right fuel tank, the line at the front of the tank is broken off, and the clip end to secure one of the outriggers is broken off. I'm so relieved!, I just didn't let it get up to speed when i went that short distance on the road apparently. Quite different than a non wrecker A2. Guess if i threw 20K on my 923A2 it would act the same!

Have you checked all the lugnuts yet?

That's on my list for tomorrow Thanks Doghead.

Took it out on the road around the block. Took forever to get up to speed and shift, but trans is working fine. I have to wonder though, towing something will it move at all?

Mine was like that when I got it too. You just have some adjustments to make here and there. It will get much better.

Why does it have dex in it? That has been covered in other threads and I personally wouldn't recommend it especially on a wrecker.

Jeepsinker said:

Mine was like that when I got it too. You just have some adjustments to make here and there. It will get much better.

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Mine too. I turned the fuel srcew out 4 turns. Very little smoke and much better from a stand still. I just drove it this morning. I have to say mine is a very good running truck for a wrecker.

Big diff. driving my cargo. The cargo truck feels like a race car after driving the wrecker. But i'll take the wrecker over the cargo any day.