Exhaust Brake & Daily Driving

TexasPowerstroke · Aug 6, 2015

A buddy of mine has a Cummins (2014 I think) and when he is in the city, he leaves his exhaust break on. He says it helps with a couple of things: helps prolong his breaks and it helps keeps his turbo vanes clean. Anybody heard of this?

dsberman94 · Aug 6, 2015

Heard of it holding valves open and causing it to play whack a mole with the Pistons and burn oil.

karlosrig · Aug 25, 2015

Leaving it on will keep the turbo vanes free of soot, and less wear and tear on the brakes.

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

Not sure how this applies to the powerstrokes... But yes, the Cummins likes 24/7 exhaust brake. I run it all the time on my 08 Cummins, it's much more aggressive of a brake than the one that's in ours, at least in the lower revs.

ghohouston · Aug 25, 2015

On my 15 model dodge service truck, the exhaust brake and tow haul stay on constantly. It'll damn near stop the truck (over 20k after all my tools). If you have far enough to stop, you can let the truck stop itself until it down shifts to 1st gear. I really love it.

TexasPowerstroke · Aug 25, 2015

Notneb said:
Not sure how this applies to the powerstrokes... But yes, the Cummins likes 24/7 exhaust brake. I run it all the time on my 08 Cummins, it's much more aggressive of a brake than the one that's in ours, at least in the lower revs.

Notneb
I should added or ask if anybody uses the exhaust function on their powerstroke as well - 24/7. Purchased a 2015 back in May. Was just wondering if this was something that would benefit my truck as well.

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

It's not like the dodge brake, it's not effective unless you're towing. I ran mine for a few days when I was empty and there isn't a big difference, at least not enough to save you money in brake pads.

bigblzr94 · Aug 25, 2015

I use it in mine all the time in stop and go traffic here in L.A. Unloaded and loaded some time I don't even have to touch the brake pedal.

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

The exhaust brake on your 2014?

WatchTryst · Aug 25, 2015

I've been curious about this feature but keep forgetting to hit the button and give it a try. Always thought it was for when hauling only.

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

WatchTryst said:
I've been curious about this feature but keep forgetting to hit the button and give it a try. Always thought it was for when hauling only.

On our trucks it is just for towing. I have my 2015 powerstroke and a 2008 Cummins, and the Exhaust brakes are both great while towing, but unloaded the Powerstroke brake isn't nearly as aggressive in slowing the truck as the cummins. That's just my experience, the fords transmission braking does all the work when unloaded, doesn't give the exhaust brake a chance to do much, whereas the trans on the cummins... Well let's just say I'm glad the exhaust brake is so strong, lol.

WatchTryst · Aug 25, 2015

Notneb said:
On our trucks it is just for towing. I have my 2015 powerstroke and a 2008 Cummins, and the Exhaust brakes are both great while towing, but unloaded the Powerstroke brake isn't nearly as aggressive in slowing the truck as the cummins. That's just my experience, the fords transmission braking does all the work when unloaded, doesn't give the exhaust brake a chance to do much, whereas the trans on the cummins... Well let's just say I'm glad the exhaust brake is so strong, lol.

Thanks for clarifying. The manual for my 2015 isn't very descriptive on the exhaust brake.

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

No prob, I'm guessing you're still stock?

cappa · Aug 25, 2015

I haven't used mine that much in the city yet but out on the highway unloaded I use it all the time. I usually downshift manually thou as it doesn't do much until it is revved over 2000. The boost gauge will climb to almost 10lbs when you downshift and rev north of 2500. Usually stopping on the highway I just need a little braking at the end to stop completely, seems to work pretty good, thou still not as aggressive as the dodge. This is on a 15 f350

Notneb · Aug 25, 2015

cappa said:
I haven't used mine that much in the city yet but out on the highway unloaded I use it all the time. I usually downshift manually thou as it doesn't do much until it is revved over 2000. The boost gauge will climb to almost 10lbs when you downshift and rev north of 2500. Usually stopping on the highway I just need a little braking at the end to stop completely, seems to work pretty good, thou still not as aggressive as the dodge. This is on a 15 f350

Yup, and as happy as our trans is at staying in the a high gear, if you're in auto, the exhaust brake will never kick in just because of what you mentioned, rpms won't get high enough.