Does Exhaust brake activate brake lights?

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!

wolfe10 wrote:
Gasman,

No need at all to give the exhaust brake "a break". It can remain on for as long as you need it-- no harm being done. Remember, with throttle closed, there is ZERO fuel being added and transmission will upshift if you overspeed the engine.

Thanks Brett,

I understand that, but Scott wrote that he stabs the service brakes to de-activate the engine brake. That will not de-activate the engine brake by itself unless the speed is very low. I'm just asking him to explain how this de-activation occurs by applying the service brakes.

Gasman,

No need at all to give the exhaust brake "a break". It can remain on for as long as you need it-- no harm being done. Remember, with throttle closed, there is ZERO fuel being added and transmission will upshift if you overspeed the engine.

FIRE UP wrote:
Well Gang,
This topic has been beat to death, several times over, from a now to a long, long time ago. To the one who stated that the "norm" is not having the brake lights come on with AUXILIARY BRAKING, like exhaust brakes or, "Jake Brakes", well, all you have to do is read this entire thread. The MAJORITY of the responders, DO HAVE THEM COME ON WITH THEIR EXHAUST OR JAKE BRAKES!

And, as has been stated, it's a warning that you are either slowing down or, are traveling at a slower rate than the normal traffic in your immediate area. One or more of you have asked: "how does one know you're slowing down, if your brake lights are already on?"

For Christ's sake, YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS ARE ON, PERIOD! People have to learn to adapt. If one comes up on you while you're descending a grade, and, your brake lights are on and have been on for a bit, but, decides that your brake lights mean nothing 'cause they've been on for a while, then you really slow down for whatever reason and that follower runs into the back of you, IT'S THEIR FAULT, PERIOD!

Brake lights are brake lights. If your rig has been setup for them to come on with the e-brake or, a true Jake brake, and, you don't want them to, that's entirely up to you. Your reasoning for not wanting them, again, is up to you. If you get run into because of it, well, then you'll have to deal with it, not anyone else. If you like for them to come on with the e-brake or Jake Brake, then again, it's your rig, not anyone else's.

Mine will remain to be active when the e-brake is active. I'm warning the followers of me, that I'm either traveling slower or, are descending in speed or both.
Scott

I've been on some long grades in which the E-brake as been activated for extended periods of time and, I give it a "break" every now and then by stabbing on the brakes with enough pressure and, slow enough to de-activate the exhaust brake for even a just a few seconds at a time.

Scott, You quoted the above can you explain how stabbing the brakes de-activates your exhaust brake? ...Thanks

Well Gang,
This topic has been beat to death, several times over, from a now to a long, long time ago. To the one who stated that the "norm" is not having the brake lights come on with AUXILIARY BRAKING, like exhaust brakes or, "Jake Brakes", well, all you have to do is read this entire thread. The MAJORITY of the responders, DO HAVE THEM COME ON WITH THEIR EXHAUST OR JAKE BRAKES!

And, as has been stated, it's a warning that you are either slowing down or, are traveling at a slower rate than the normal traffic in your immediate area. One or more of you have asked: "how does one know you're slowing down, if your brake lights are already on?"

For Christ's sake, YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS ARE ON, PERIOD! People have to learn to adapt. If one comes up on you while you're descending a grade, and, your brake lights are on and have been on for a bit, but, decides that your brake lights mean nothing 'cause they've been on for a while, then you really slow down for whatever reason and that follower runs into the back of you, IT'S THEIR FAULT, PERIOD!

Brake lights are brake lights. If your rig has been setup for them to come on with the e-brake or, a true Jake brake, and, you don't want them to, that's entirely up to you. Your reasoning for not wanting them, again, is up to you. If you get run into because of it, well, then you'll have to deal with it, not anyone else. If you like for them to come on with the e-brake or Jake Brake, then again, it's your rig, not anyone else's.

Mine will remain to be active when the e-brake is active. I'm warning the followers of me, that I'm either traveling slower or, are descending in speed or both.
Scott

uncle t wrote:
06 Monaco knight. mine come on. if they are on and you hit the brakes and the guy behind you runs into you, he was following way way way too close.

So how does this "guy" know you have hit your brakes when you brake lights were already on? Is not the purpose of the brake lights to warn following drivers that you have apply the brakes. With the brake lights already on you have taken this warning away. I beleive if you dig a little deeper you will find that FMVSS regulations reference these as "Stop Lights" not brake lights. I don't know of any engine brake that will stop a vehicle.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
It certainly not the "standard" for brake light to come on when using engine braking. Some do have the chassis setup that way but I would say the majority do not. Certainly, the industry that uses engine braking more than anything else does not have the brake lights come on when using the engine or transmission brake. Have you ever followed a truck heading down a grade? Ever seen their brake lights come on and stay on for the entire trip down that hill? Strangely enough, even though you don't see their brake lights, you know they are maintaining a slow speed (braking) all the way down and none of us have run into the back of one not realizing they were going slow.

Bill, it's not the truckers that I worry about so much, it's the '4 wheelers' that are oblivious to their surroundings and traffic. I've seen many of the truckers will use their flashers going up and down hills.

I ran up on a truck not too long ago on the straight flat freeway going extremely slow, it did catch me by surprise as he had no lights on or flashing. It just seems safer to me to have the lights on whether flashers or brake lights.

MM.

06 Monaco knight. mine come on. if they are on and you hit the brakes and the guy behind you runs into you, he was following way way way too close.

It certainly not the "standard" for brake light to come on when using engine braking. Some do have the chassis setup that way but I would say the majority do not. Certainly, the industry that uses engine braking more than anything else does not have the brake lights come on when using the engine or transmission brake. Have you ever followed a truck heading down a grade? Ever seen their brake lights come on and stay on for the entire trip down that hill? Strangely enough, even though you don't see their brake lights, you know they are maintaining a slow speed (braking) all the way down and none of us have run into the back of one not realizing they were going slow.

MRUSA wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
An exhaust or Jake brake is basically just duplicating the inherent compression braking of a gas engine. I don't see any reason for turning on the brake lights every time you lift your foot with either engine.

Not exactly. Some Jake brakes have as many as three levels of braking which can be selected by the driver. Some of those levels are much stronger than a gas engine's compression braking.

Diesel engine retarder brakes explained Clicky

The part about automatic brake lights on MH's - this is why rv.net can be sifted for much knowledge. I've been driving around for 20 yrs thinking MH drivers shouldn't ride their brakes all the time like that...they might need them one day... :)

Brake lights connected to retarder brake "on" - OK - I see the logic - I have driven vehicles with Allisons that, when left in "auto", go into frantic full rpm / downshift retarder mode slowing down for a stop light - but then what alerts a following driver lulled to inattention by your coach automatically showing it's brake lights on every downhill that you are now standing on the foundation brakes to miss a moose - brakes which are capable of 15 times the whoa power of the retarder brake? (Geez! This guy and his endless brake riding! Oh******now he is actually stopping! All engines full reverse!)

I've never personally operated a vehicle that the driver cannot "click on" the brake lights without applying brakes by a light touch on the brake controls - so being all non technological-like I prefer to run the brake lights my own self except when standing on said brakes...

I prefer the hazard flasher method of warning following traffic of a vehicle travelling at low speed climbing up hill or holding safe speed downhill or on the flat due to mechanical difficulty or whatever, as all vehicles can do this.

We are, of course, responsible to follow the vehicle ahead in a safe manner no matter what.

I'm glad to learn about this motorhome feature and quit having visions of brake fires at the bottom of the grade now :) :)