1998 Century Class Auto-Trans problems

[carolinatrucker]

Hello everyone. A few weeks back I posted something about my auto-trans problems. I ended up taking it to Freightliner Christopher Trucks in Greenville, SC. They really couldn't diagnose the problem and ended up running wire harness bypassing the starter relay. Everything was fine until Thursday night. I was under a 35,000 lbs load headed East on US 64 in Pulaski, TN. I came up on a red light and it downshifted to 8th gear and then went into Neutral and the Service Light came on. So I pulled over and shut the truck off, as I have done before, and figured waiting a few min. everything would re-cycle itself. WRONG!! I sat in 10 degree F cold truck 6 hours before tow truck came. In that time I also disconected batteries. After I could do no more, I got under the blankets. So the tow truck comes and he hooks up and tows me 7 miles to drop yard to drop trailer. I climb up in the truck, turn ignition and everything had re-cycled. I ended up coming back with no problems. Does anyone here have any knowledge working with these transmissions?? I could really use some expertise here, as well as the man I'm leased to. He has 10 of the old U.S. Express Trucks like mine. Please help if you can.

[no_worries]

They should have replaced to ECU on the transmission. Not sure if that's where your issue is (though it sounds like it) but from what I understand it's SOP when there are electrical issues that aren't easily pinpointed.

Simply bypassing the starter relay simply allows the truck to start without actually fixing the problem. Unless the owner just wanted to get out of the shop for as little as possible, that's some shoddy work. You might want to find a shop that has more experience with the autos. However, with trucks that old, they're probably all going to need the electronics replaced before long. I don't know what the cost is for that. Owner might want to think about upgrading...good time to buy used trucks right now, not so much for selling though :shock:

[Double L]

Yeah and they are Freightliners if that tells ya anything!

[flood]

sounds like the old 2000 centuryi had... check the wiring going from the clutch (the ecm thought i had my foot on the clutch when i didn't)and brake pedal (the ecm didn't know i had my foot on the breaks when i did) to the engine ecu. took 9hr for Freightliner to fine the corroded wire at the ecu, when it did it again 2 weeks later i told then what to look for and 45min later i was on the road. both can keep the ecu from letting the stater work and can make the trams go stuped.

[carolinatrucker]

Thank you both (flood and no_worries) for the excellent "new" info. I'm printing this out and will soon take it in to a new shop. I may have to go to Charlotte, but that's ok. If I had the time and money, I'd take it over to the Freightliner Shop in Chattanooga, TN, as that is the home office for US Express. I guarantee they have done tons of work on these Centruy Classes!
Eventually, I will post the "fix" so someone else with the same problem may benefit.
And Double L, I hear ya! This truck has given me my share of problems!! But when she's right, she's right on!!

[Kranky]

How can anyone believe there is an advantage in having an Autoshift transmission when you have to put up with nonsense like that.

Just yank that P.O.S. and replace it with a manual, at least you know when it is or isn't in gear, and if it isn't in gear you can move the shift lever manually til it is.

[Double L]

I agree with Splitshifter, a 13 would pretty much do ya very good! I've rode in my share of Freightliners and drove them around the lot where I use to work at and I didn't like them one bit, but the only good shakers they had was the FLD's. I wasn't impressed with the Century Class or Columbia one bit. They use to run Mack's but they went to Freightliner cause they were cheaper.