Repairing a Transmission on an 18 Wheeler

How much repair can an owner-operator do on their own and what happens when you are driving down the road, and your transmission shifts and locks? This type of repair is almost always beyond the ability of an owner-operator. How is a transmission repaired on an 18 wheeler? The choices you have are to repair, replace or rebuild your transmission.

Tools to Diagnose and Repair Tractor-Trailer Cab Transmissions

• Analysis Tools
• Driveline Specifications
• Allison DOC Software
• Allison TransHealth

You will also need experienced transmission repair specialists, mobile equipped service trucks and trucks trailers repair in Tacoma.

Cost of Transmission Repair

Repairing your transmission is the most expensive, most complicated repair you can make on your rig and you need to get it right the first time. Fluid replacements could run a few hundred dollars and full rebuild can run into the thousands of dollars.

One of the biggest costs in any transmission repair job is the labor costs. This is because of all the work and time it takes to get the transmission out of the car so it can be diagnosed and repaired, replaced, or rebuilt. In addition to whatever the transmission itself costs or the parts for the transmission repair costs, you will still have several thousand dollars in labor costs.

Domestic or Foreign Transmissions

Most of the trucks on the road today will have domestic transmissions from Allison Transmission. However, some major trucks are designed with foreign transmissions. These will cost more to repair than the domestic ones. They might cost more to analyze as well.

What if your refrigerated semi rumbles down the road and the transmission squeals as you downshift. You need the repair to be as quick as possible. If it will take any length of time you will have to find a cold storage facility and transfer your load there until your truck is fixed. You need to get on the road to make money and now you have to pay for cold storage as well. The quicker the repair the better. It might make sense upfront to for owner-operators to look at buying a domestic rig.

Manual versus Automatic Transmission Options for Getting Back on the Road as Quickly as Possible

Use electronic diagnostics when the manual transmission slips or the automatic is late in shifting gears. Once this is done you can determine if a rebuild, replacement or simple repair. Depending upon the type of transmission you have – auto or manual – your costs will vary on each of these options.

Rebuild – Break the transmission down after removing it from the truck. Clean all the parts, repair or replace any needed parts and then reassemble it.

Replace – Find a used transmission or let your repair shop find one for you. Put in a replacement that still has 100s of thousands of miles left in its life.

Remanufactured – Find a remanufactured transmission to buy instead of a new one and perhaps save thousands of dollars.

New – The most expensive option but the most reliable. Buy new.

Diesel Transmissions

Most big rigs are diesel-fueled and have diesel transmissions and require diesel technicians in order to provide the best in quality transmission repair. You should not use a non-certified diesel transmission technician. If worse comes to worst, you should replace your transmission. Never replace your rig on the basis of an unrepairable transmission. You can always replace the transmission if needed.

No matter what type of transmission you are dealing with: Diesel or gas, automatic or manual, foreign or domestic – if you are not fixing it yourself, make sure you are using the best trucks trailers repair shop in Tacoma that deals in the type of transmission you need and the brand of transmission you want.