Is exhaust brake really needed?
Morning all, The wife and I where discussing vacation plans. We were talking about places to go on vacation. Colorado came up. We haven't been out west in quite a while. Never been there with a TT or...
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I spent about $50 to convert my F250 7.3 warm-up valve into an exhaust brake, even with the E4OD automatic transmission.
The money went to buy two generic 12-volt switches, a few feet of wire and the needed wiring connectors.
One switch sends 12 volts from the battery to the EBPV warm-up valve. When the driver wants to activate the valve for quicker warm-ups or slower downhill travel, he just flips the switch to restrict exhaust gasses.
The second switch is for the automatic transmission. Since I have the automatic, I needed a way to make sure the torque converter remains "locked" when the exhaust brake is activated, which keeps the transmission from freewheeling. This switch is simply spliced into the torque converter's lockup signal wire in the transmission wiring harness. When the exhaust brake is activated, I flip this switch "on," which provides a "ground" to keep the torque converter locked. This is a completely manual operation, thus I must always be sure to flip the switch "off" when the locked torque converter is no longer needed and I'm coming to a stop. Otherwise, the engine will stall just like it would with a manual transmission if the clutch weren't pressed in coming to a stop.
It all works very well for me when going down the mountain towing a travel trailer. The ole 7.3L Navistar engine was a great design in many ways, and this is one of them, even if Ford missed the boat regarding its full potential.
The money went to buy two generic 12-volt switches, a few feet of wire and the needed wiring connectors.
One switch sends 12 volts from the battery to the EBPV warm-up valve. When the driver wants to activate the valve for quicker warm-ups or slower downhill travel, he just flips the switch to restrict exhaust gasses.
The second switch is for the automatic transmission. Since I have the automatic, I needed a way to make sure the torque converter remains "locked" when the exhaust brake is activated, which keeps the transmission from freewheeling. This switch is simply spliced into the torque converter's lockup signal wire in the transmission wiring harness. When the exhaust brake is activated, I flip this switch "on," which provides a "ground" to keep the torque converter locked. This is a completely manual operation, thus I must always be sure to flip the switch "off" when the locked torque converter is no longer needed and I'm coming to a stop. Otherwise, the engine will stall just like it would with a manual transmission if the clutch weren't pressed in coming to a stop.
It all works very well for me when going down the mountain towing a travel trailer. The ole 7.3L Navistar engine was a great design in many ways, and this is one of them, even if Ford missed the boat regarding its full potential.
