Community Forums

Robert T · 07-03-2015, 05:05 PM

04 Endeavor, The exhaust brake will engage when I take my foot off the accelerator. When I depress the accelerator the exhaust brake turns off. I cannot coast unless I turn off the exhaust brake switch.

Has anyone had this problem?

kketterling · 07-03-2015, 05:10 PM

That's how mine works. And believe that's how it is set up at the factory.

deSanford · 07-03-2015, 05:12 PM

Turn off your exhaust brake when in city driving. On the hi-way leave it on. Sanford

walt2137 · 07-03-2015, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert T

04 Endeavor, The exhaust brake will engage when I take my foot off the accelerator. When I depress the accelerator the exhaust brake turns off. I cannot coast unless I turn off the exhaust brake switch.

Has anyone had this problem?

Robert all you need to do is just lightly touch the fuel feed or as I call it is feather it.

jacwjames · 07-03-2015, 05:56 PM

I pretty much turn my exhaust brake off unless I am descending hills or need to slow for exits, traffic, and such. I try to conserve using my brakes as much as possible.

I use my cruise control a lot, you can leave your exhaust brake on with the cruise but it won't work until you cancel or tap the brakes.

I can't imagine what the exhaust brake does to your fuel economy if you leave it on all the time, every time you take your foot off the accelerator your slowing down, seems counter productive to me. I know people leave it on all the time so I guess to each their own.

milepost50 · 07-03-2015, 07:12 PM

I have been a diesel mechanic for 50 years. That is the way exhaust brakes and Jake brakes are designed to work.

Kuzzy · 07-03-2015, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert T

04 Endeavor, The exhaust brake will engage when I take my foot off the accelerator. When I depress the accelerator the exhaust brake turns off. I cannot coast unless I turn off the exhaust brake switch.

Has anyone had this problem?

I'm a little confused.
How would you like it to work?

Dave
1999 Triple E Signature 35.5
Cat 3126B

ahicks · 07-03-2015, 07:24 PM

I leave a little pressure on the accelerator to keep mine from engaging as well. Brake switch on vs. off here depends on conditions (e.g. speed traffic is moving, how heavy traffic is, etc.). It's certainly not just a city vs. hwy thing for me. Might be noteworthy that it seems like the coach will stop much quicker with brake on.

I will admit to the fact that it does take some time to get used to it. Figuring out how it works and having it come on unexpectedly can be a little unnerving at first.

Skip426 · 07-03-2015, 07:34 PM

Some members have , installed a foot switch control , in-line with the exhaust brake switch , so they can leave the switch on , then depress the foot switch when they want the exhaust brake to activate.

Steve Ownby · 07-03-2015, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Some members have , installed a foot switch control , in-line with the exhaust brake switch , so they can leave the switch on , then depress the foot switch when they want the exhaust brake to activate.

My compression brake is activated with a foot switch. It's right where an old dimmer switch use to be. It's a great way to use the Jake.

Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

walt2137 · 07-03-2015, 08:02 PM

Actually our Dynasty has the foot switch but I liked the way the exhaust brake worked on our 99 Dip much better than the foot switch and I never saw a increase of fuel usage because of the brake.

BobGed · 07-03-2015, 08:35 PM

I don't know if you have a Cat or Cummins engine, but I know for sure a Cat engine can be reprogrammed to operate in what is called 'latch mode'. What this means is you leave your exhaust brake switch on all the time (except in in-climate weather). It is then only activated when you step on your service brake. It will stay activated until you step on your throttle pedal. So until and unless you step on your service brake, your exhaust brake remains inactive.

I have a Cummins engine and installed what was known as the BrakeSwitch to accomplish the same thing as described above. The product is no longer available as I now understand that Cummins can program their engines to do the exact same thing.

This also works with an engine brake that has a low and high setting. Of course you would have to manually select the low or high setting, but the activation in either mode would be as described above.

Yaj · 07-03-2015, 08:45 PM

I made my own "brake switch" from a driving light relay. It works just as BobGed described. I also had the exhaust brake reprogramed at a Alison shop to only drop to 5th gear automatically, I can go down to any gear I want by selecting it on the transmission control panel. Now going down a steep grade I can control how much braking I want by selecting the proper gear instead of it wanting to downshift all the way to 2nd gear. Works much better!

ShapeShifter · 07-04-2015, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert T

Has anyone had this problem?

As others have said, it's completely normal operation. What is the problem? How would you like it behave?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacwjames

I pretty much turn my exhaust brake off unless I am descending hills or need to slow for exits, traffic, and such. I try to conserve using my brakes as much as possible.

As do I, which is why I leave it on most of the time. It's always there every time I slow down.

Quote:

I use my cruise control a lot, you can leave your exhaust brake on with the cruise but it won't work until you cancel or tap the brakes.

There is apparently a lot of variation between coaches there. Some people state that their cruise control won't work at all when the exhaust brake switch is on.

Others, like you, report that the exhaust brake doesn't work when the cruise control is on.

Still other, like me, report that the exhaust brake WILL activate when the cruise control is active, but only once the speed reaches 5 or 10 MPH higher than the cruise set speed.

Quote:

I can't imagine what the exhaust brake does to your fuel economy if you leave it on all the time, every time you take your foot off the accelerator your slowing down, seems counter productive to me.

Don't take your foot all the way off the pedal. If you leave just a slight amount of pressure on it, it will prevent the exhaust brake from coming on, but won't be using any fuel. It's the same as coasting, but you don't have to keep reaching for the switch to turn it off when you want to coast, and turn it on when you want to slow down. It's a slightly different driving technique, but it quickly becomes second nature. This is especially true if you are the type to try and keep a steady speed by modulating the accelerator pedal - in that case, there aren't too many times when you are truly coasting.

I used to get car sick riding with my mother: she didn't have fine accelerator pedal control. The way she drove, it was mash down the pedal until you're going too fast, then completely let off the pedal and coast until going too slow, then mash the pedal again to speed up. The speed was constantly going all over the place. Someone who drives like that would not like having the exhaust brake on all the time. Someone with a some fine control of the go pedal can quickly get used to working with the system, not against it.

I find it much easier to just lightly rest my foot on the pedal when I want to coast, rather than constantly flipping that switch on and off. But like you said, to each their own, everyone has their own preferences.

I've actually been toying with the idea of a custom exhaust brake foot switch. When the switch is off, pressing and holding the foot switch would engage the exhaust brake, exactly like the people who have an exhaust brake foot switch. BUT, if the switch is on, pressing and holding the foot switch would PREVENT the exhaust brake from coming on. That way, if I wanted the brake on most of the time, but occasionally wanted to do an extended coast, I could leave the switch on, and just press the foot switch. If I was in slow crawling stop and go traffic, I could leave the switch off, but still engage the foot switch if I occasionally got up to a higher speed and wanted to slow down. It would be just like the headlight and marker light flash buttons on the SmartWheel: pressing the button turns them on if they were off, and off if they were on. I think that could be the best of both worlds?