I have a 2008 Monaco Diplomat and when the Exhaust Brake activates my brake lights don't come on. I mention this because in my 2005 Cayman the Exhaust Brake activated the motor home brake lights so the person behind new you were slowing down. My brother-in-law's 2005 Monaco knight Exhaust Brake works the same, does anyone else have this issue? I got song and dance from Monaco - been sold 3 times - not all data was transferred - blah blah blah!! I asked a Monaco dealer, relatively new with Monaco's, 4 yrs, and he said he had never heard of such a thing but it sounded reasonable. Any other Monaco owners or other owners for that matter heard of this issue??? thanks

I have an 04 Endeavor and yes the brake lights work when the Ebrake is activated, it should be the same on any make or model of MH

NO! Brakes lights do not activate when the exhaust brake alone is in use. You have to press the brake pedal for the brake lights to illuminate.

eHoefler wrote:NO! Brakes lights do not activate when the exhaust brake alone is in use. You have to press the brake pedal for the brake lights to illuminate.Your pickup may not but this is the Class A forum and on every coach I know of (including mine), if the exhaust brake is turned on, the moment you take your foot off the accelerator, the exhaust brake activates and the brake light comes on, whether the brake pedal is pushed or not.

Just came back from a trip, with extensive use of my exhaust brake. The party following me said my brake lights were not on.2002 Winnebago Journey Cat, Allison 3000

My brake lights do not come on with engine brake.

Does Exhaust brake activate brake lights? | Good Sam Community

46 Replies

mowermech
Explorer
Apr 28, 2014
wolfe10 wrote:
I agree- use of service brakes does NOT deactivate the exhaust brake.

Exhaust brake works in "high/lock up" 2nd gear and all higher gears. It turns off as you come to a stop-- if it stayed on, the engine would die-- exhaust brake on at idle would not work well!

Interesting. If I came to a stop with the Jacobs Rambrake engaged in my old 1994 Dodge 3500 CTD, the engine did not die and the Rambrake did not disengage.
Maybe the Rambrake wasn't properly installed...
rvtuffy
Explorer
Apr 28, 2014
Thanks Don. When I get the beast back from RV shop for awning repair I will look at this. I decided to not have the RV shop look into Exhaust Brake Light issue as they couldn't grasp what I was talking about.
rvtuffy
Explorer
Apr 28, 2014
DSDP Don wrote:
Back to the original post. Monaco DESIGNED their coaches so that the brake lights come on when the exhaust or engine brake is engaged. If your lights don't come on (Monaco Only), you have something wrong. It doesn't matter if you like them on or not, they should come on with a Monaco coach.

In your "Run Bay" there is either one or two small black boxes under the large fuse box depending on model and year. Inside one of the two boxes or the single box are some fuses and relays for the exhaust brake lights. Check there to see if they're good.
RayChez
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
FIRE UP wrote:
Well Gang,
I kind-a goofed up by saying or, insinuating that I give the exhaust brake a break by applying the brakes. In reality, what I meant was, I hit the brakes, not hard enough to stop or, throw us through the windshield but, enough that, I can then touch my foot on the accelerator to temporarily shut down the e-brake. Now, this is only done for a few seconds at a time and, I don't gain much speed while I do this process.

My reasoning is, you're building pressure in that section of the exhaust manifold and, the engine and manifold is already hot in that area. Anytime you compress air, you heat it. And, it's already hot to begin with. So, if I can let that pressure off, even for just a few seconds, I can cut down on that heat in that immediate area and, as we all know, to relieve heat, is a good thing.

Then, the e-brake is put back into effect. This is just something I do, I'm not asking anyone to do it or, agree with it. Sorry for the wrong impression. I should have explained it better in the first place. Even if there is, in fact, no need to do this process, it makes me feel better about how I preserve engine parts etc.
Scott

What you are doing is wearing out your brakes. You are defeating the whole purpose of what the exhaust brake is all about. That is the purpose of the exhaust brake to save wear on the brake shoes. But we are getting off the original thread here. The question was, are your stop lights suppose to light up when you apply the Pac brake. The answer on my coach is YES.
FIRE_UP
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
Well Gang,
I kind-a goofed up by saying or, insinuating that I give the exhaust brake a break by applying the brakes. In reality, what I meant was, I hit the brakes, not hard enough to stop or, throw us through the windshield but, enough that, I can then touch my foot on the accelerator to temporarily shut down the e-brake. Now, this is only done for a few seconds at a time and, I don't gain much speed while I do this process.

My reasoning is, you're building pressure in that section of the exhaust manifold and, the engine and manifold is already hot in that area. Anytime you compress air, you heat it. And, it's already hot to begin with. So, if I can let that pressure off, even for just a few seconds, I can cut down on that heat in that immediate area and, as we all know, to relieve heat, is a good thing.

Then, the e-brake is put back into effect. This is just something I do, I'm not asking anyone to do it or, agree with it. Sorry for the wrong impression. I should have explained it better in the first place. Even if there is, in fact, no need to do this process, it makes me feel better about how I preserve engine parts etc.
Scott
Archie_Kravitz
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
I can either disable or enable brake light activation with the exhaust brake with Cummins software(INSITE). If your lights are not coming on, they are disabled with exhaust brake at the ECM on the engine(or electrical problem somewhere else)..
John_S_
Explorer II
Apr 17, 2014
My retarder will almost bring my coach to a stop. So pm yes the brake lights are on. It is a pretty sudden slowdown. Also, when is put a couple lbs of pressure on the brake the retarder engages and full foot pressure engages the retarder all the way. Very sudden stop.
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
Back to the original post. Monaco DESIGNED their coaches so that the brake lights come on when the exhaust or engine brake is engaged. If your lights don't come on (Monaco Only), you have something wrong. It doesn't matter if you like them on or not, they should come on with a Monaco coach.

In your "Run Bay" there is either one or two small black boxes under the large fuse box depending on model and year. Inside one of the two boxes or the single box are some fuses and relays for the exhaust brake lights. Check there to see if they're good.
robertbenita
Explorer
Apr 17, 2014
American Coach Tradition on Spartan Chassis...Activates brake lights.
RayChez
Explorer
Apr 16, 2014
Yes my stop lights go on when the exhaust brake goes on. As soon as I push on the throttle the exhaust brake deactivates and the stop lights go off.