Downshift or exhaust brake?
I was just thinking after reading a post about gas vs diesel trucks where somebody mentioned they liked diesel because of the exhaust brake. I've never had a diesel, always gas. If I come up to a long...
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Me Again wrote:4x4ord wrote:Cummins12V98 wrote:
Towing this weekend I will also look.
An experiment that might teach us something while your Ram is grade braking would be to watch your turbo boost/engine brake gauge while going down a grade at about 3000 rpm and your foot right off the throttle. Then just touch the throttle and see if the gauge suddenly displays boost instead of braking. I'm guessing that the computer is deciding which gauge to display based on throttle position.
I am thinking you do not know what you are talking about.
One of the gauges in the EVIC/DID is a gauge that goes from exhaust braking HP to boost. It slides back and forth, however does not go two directions at the same time. RAM does not seem to think they would both go up at the same time. Again, the engine has to be WORKED to create boost.
As I have already pointed out, my Ford will generate 18 psi boost at 3000 rpm while grade braking without a trailer in tow. My Peterbilt will generate much more boost than that. If a non turbo'ed engine is pumping 5 cfm through an exhaust brake and a turbo'ed engine of the same displacement pumps 10 cfm through its exhaust brake and if both are creating 20 psi back pressure then the turbo'ed engine will be doing twice the braking. I think it is highly unlikely that the Ram isn't using the turbo's potential to create boost to make their exhaust brake as effective as they can. As far as what your guage is displaying, it is possible that it is programmed to show either boost or braking depending on whether the engine is pulling or holding back.
