Installation of BrakeSwitch

[Warpath]

O.K. all you Winne DP owners, boy do we have a great mod for you!

JoeK and I recently installed the BrakeSwitch controller which is a device that changes how your exhaust or engine brake is engaged. With the BrakeSwitch you activate your braking system by taping or applying your brakes versus letting up on the throttle. (addition: with a tap of the brake pedal the braking systems remains on until you hit the throttle) This allows you to leave your brake system armed at all times for all situations.

And both Joe and I agree it is a incredible product and absolutely should be the way mfg'ers activate the exhaust or engine braking system from here on out.

And installation is all that bad either.

For Vectra/Horizon (Evolution Chassis)with 2 stage engine brake.

Remove the cover on your dash to access the connector on your engine brake switch. Here is a shot of that connector.



Remove that connector from the switch and locate the wire going to position 10 on the connector, this is the 12v power source. Give yourself a bit of room and cut this wire, strip both ends and and crimp one of the white wires from the BrakeSwitch controller to one end & the other white wire to the other end. So you now have diverted that power through the BrakeSwitch controller.

Next locate the 3 wires that are spliced together (see picture), positions 8,7 & 4 on the connector. We cut the wire after the splice and connected a red wire to each of these ends. This diverts the signal to the ECM through the BrakeSwitch controller.

The black wire on the BrakeSwitch controller goes to a ground (there was a chassis ground close by in the rats nest of wires behind the dash.)

The purple wire on the BrakeSwitch controller needs to be spliced into the brake light switch on the coach. This was a little more tricky since you need to find this wire prior to the blocking diodes. The easiest way on the Vectra/Horizon is to run that purple wire down to the fuse and relay panel just below the floor (just behind the foot rest on the right which has direct access to the panel. You access this panel outside in the front left compartment on the Vectra/Horizon. There are 4 or 5 screws and the door opens to reveal the wires leading to the relays and fuses. Locate the Brake Lamp relay (it is labeled) and one of the wires attached to this relay is a red wired marked 36E Cut and splice in your purple wire and your done!

We tie wrapped the BrakeSwitch unit so it would not flop around and buttoned everything up.

The great benefit of this unit is it allows you to keep your engine or exhaust brake armed at all times. When you get into a emergency stop situation your braking system is ready to go to help slow you down even faster. Also back road driving is much nicer since you can coast without actuating the braking system.

This mod gets

BrakeSwitch Info

I am sure Joe will chime in with the XC install soon.

[Warpath]

O.K. all you Winne DP owners, boy do we have a great mod for you!

JoeK and I recently installed the BrakeSwitch controller which is a device that changes how your exhaust or engine brake is engaged. With the BrakeSwitch you activate your braking system by taping or applying your brakes versus letting up on the throttle. (addition: with a tap of the brake pedal the braking systems remains on until you hit the throttle) This allows you to leave your brake system armed at all times for all situations.

And both Joe and I agree it is a incredible product and absolutely should be the way mfg'ers activate the exhaust or engine braking system from here on out.

And installation is all that bad either.

For Vectra/Horizon (Evolution Chassis)with 2 stage engine brake.

Remove the cover on your dash to access the connector on your engine brake switch. Here is a shot of that connector.



Remove that connector from the switch and locate the wire going to position 10 on the connector, this is the 12v power source. Give yourself a bit of room and cut this wire, strip both ends and and crimp one of the white wires from the BrakeSwitch controller to one end & the other white wire to the other end. So you now have diverted that power through the BrakeSwitch controller.

Next locate the 3 wires that are spliced together (see picture), positions 8,7 & 4 on the connector. We cut the wire after the splice and connected a red wire to each of these ends. This diverts the signal to the ECM through the BrakeSwitch controller.

The black wire on the BrakeSwitch controller goes to a ground (there was a chassis ground close by in the rats nest of wires behind the dash.)

The purple wire on the BrakeSwitch controller needs to be spliced into the brake light switch on the coach. This was a little more tricky since you need to find this wire prior to the blocking diodes. The easiest way on the Vectra/Horizon is to run that purple wire down to the fuse and relay panel just below the floor (just behind the foot rest on the right which has direct access to the panel. You access this panel outside in the front left compartment on the Vectra/Horizon. There are 4 or 5 screws and the door opens to reveal the wires leading to the relays and fuses. Locate the Brake Lamp relay (it is labeled) and one of the wires attached to this relay is a red wired marked 36E Cut and splice in your purple wire and your done!

We tie wrapped the BrakeSwitch unit so it would not flop around and buttoned everything up.

The great benefit of this unit is it allows you to keep your engine or exhaust brake armed at all times. When you get into a emergency stop situation your braking system is ready to go to help slow you down even faster. Also back road driving is much nicer since you can coast without actuating the braking system.

This mod gets

BrakeSwitch Info

I am sure Joe will chime in with the XC install soon.

[rebelsbeach]

Some competeition for John Canfield....

[Harry B]

A Freightliner suggested I reprogram the ECM to accomplish the same function as the Brake Switch, which they did. they were working on an other problem where my Jake Brake caused a shudder in the drive train in 2nd gear, while in the low Jake setting and wanted the circuit back to its original state

It is accomplished via a laptop that they hook into the engine diagnostic plug either in the engine compartment or under the dash and took about 5 minutes to complete.

The engine braking now works the same as it did with the Brake Switch with one exception which is when you disengage cruise control, engine braking still engages. When the Brake Switch relay was installed it would coast instead until the brake pedal was depressed at which time the engine brake would engage.

Just a piece of info for everybody. I was aware that this option existed on CAT engines. When I inquired at Freightliner about it they had no idea what I was talking about and suggested I contact Cummins who gave me the same reply and suggested I contact my local Cummins dealer who do the actual reprogramming. They had no answer for me either. I gave up and installed the Brake Switch consequently.

Engine brake upon brake pedal is a parameter that can be programmed at least for the ISL engine, since mine is set that way now.

[Route 66]

Harry, does your engine brake stay engaged when you remove your foot from the brake pedal, and stay engaged until you touch the throttle?

[Joe-K]

Here's the XC chassis installation.

We installed the Brake Switch in our Journey which is built on the Freightliner XC chassis. The Brake Switch is designed to change the way the exhaust brake operates by allowing it to trigger on by an application of the footbrake, rather than by the releasing of the brake pedal.

The Brake Switch is a small plastic box with 6 wires: 2 White, 2 Red, 1 Purple, and 1 Black. Adequate wire length is provided to allow ease of connections and the securing of the box in a convenient location. Once wired in, it is not necessary to access the box so it may be completely hidden behind the dash.



On my Journey, the first step is to remove the rear dash cover to allow access the wiring connected to the exhaust brake switch. Once the switch is accessible, I found it easiest to unplug the connector from the switch to allow easier splicing of the wires. You may need to remove the electrical tape and some of the black wiring loom covering the wires to see the identification marks on the wires.

Looking at the exhaust brake connector you will see 6 wires coming from the connector. Identify the wire marked with "119C Exhaust Brake Supply"�. This wire is to be cut, and the two white wires from the Brake Switch spliced into the cut wires.

Next, identify the wire labeled N15-C981 EGN RTRDR and cut it. The two cut ends are spliced to the two red wires from the Brake Switch box.

The photo shows my connections to the wiring harness where it attaches to the exhaust brake switch connector.



After splicing the wires at the switch, you can re-attach the exhaust brake switch connector to the exhaust brake switch as you are done with those connections.

The black wire from the Brake Switch box is connected to any convenient ground connection. I actually crimped a ring terminal to the black wire then connected it to an existing ground screw located behind the dash.

The purple wire is connected to a brake lamp signal source. This connection does take a bit of care to get correct. What you need to do is locate a brake lamp connection that receives power both from the brake pedal and from the exhaust brake application. The brake light signal we need can be picked up from the brake lamp relay like we did on the Vectra chassis or from wire 36E or 36H in the Freightliner wiring loom. In my case I knew that the brake signal I needed would be present at the brake lamp diodes under the dash so I made the connection there.

In the photo below, you can see the brake lamp diodes. It may be necessary to cut several wire ties that hold the diodes in place in order to free them enough to read the wiring labels. There are red wires connected via faston terminals to both ends of the diodes. Wire 36H is a red wire connected to one end of the diodes and provides the necessary brake lamp signal. Connect the purple wire from the Brake Switch to wire 36H .



Finally after all the connections are made, I refastened all the wiring with wire ties to keep the wiring orderly and put the dash back together.

The trip home with the Brake Switch was a much more enjoyable drive as I wasn't constantly reaching for my exhaust brake switch and also didn't have the unexpected application of the brake when I was wishing to coast.

Adding the Brake Switch is a great mod!

[Harry B]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">does your engine brake stay engaged when you remove your foot from the brake pedal, and stay engaged until you touch the throttle? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Dirk,

Yes, the engine brake engages upon depressing the brake pedal and it disengages when depressing the throttle or when reaching about 1000 RPMs in second gear, which ever occurs first.

[Joe-K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Harry B:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">does your engine brake stay engaged when you remove your foot from the brake pedal, and stay engaged until you touch the throttle? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Dirk,

Yes, the engine brake engages upon depressing the brake pedal and it disengages when depressing the throttle or when reaching about 1000 RPMs in second gear, which ever occurs first. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is exactly how the brake switch works. Formerly it used to activate when the throttle was lifted and stay on until it was depressed again but the BrakeSwitch changes that mode.

Now it can be "armed" by turning on the exhaust brake switch, but it won't turn on until you touch the brake pedal. Once you touch the brake pedal though, it stays on until you touch the throttle to cancel the exhaust brake. When driving if you lift your foot from the throttle, you can coast without the exhaust brake activating until you hit the brake again.

[smlranger]

Over the past 7 days, we've driven from Virginia to SD and now in Estes Park, CO. I can tell you the Brake Switch is a great addition. Can't say enough good about this little gizmo!

[JoeT]

I had this ECM change done on my CAT C7. It's called the 'Latch' mode. Factory setting is 'Manual' mode. The CAT Operators manual describes it.
With the cruise control turned on, and you remove your foot from the accelerator, you coast. If you press the brake pedal, the exhaust brake comes on and stays on until you press the accelerator.
With the cruise control turned off, it works the same as manual mode. ie, when you remove your foot from the accelerator the exhaust brake comes on and stays on until you press the accelerator.

[ronboc]

Hi JoeT -

Good information to know for Caterpillar folks. Cummins does not offer that feature, to my knowledge.

The Cat ECM change pretty-much parallels the BrakeSwitch addition, except for actuation when cruise isn't on. The BrakeSwitch acts in concert with the foot-brake, regardless of cruise function (ie, if cruise is off, you coast til you step on the brake-pedal).

HTH,
Ron