Mountain Driving with 1995 42', 42,000 lb. Blue Bird

[Ron Thompson]

This is good info Pete, I suppose it will take some operation to develop a feel
for what position the Jake ought to be in.

Thanks again.

Ron Thompson
Waller, Texas
1995 Wide Body 42" BB
Detroit Diesel Series 60 470 HP
Kubota, 4 cylinder, 1681 cc.
Phone 936-931-2802 land line
cell..713-295-0119 Cingular

Pete Masterson wrote: The
"jake brake" on the '95 with the Series 60 engine is a true
"exhaust" brake and it generates no excess heat energy that must be
handled. It is not a magnetic brake like those used on earlier 'birds.

The brake system is integrated with the automatic transmission. You
flip the "enable" switch on and set the "intensity" switch to low,
medium, or high. When you take your foot of the accelerator pedal,
the jake kicks in. The transmission will shift down (if within a safe
RPM range) to the next lower gear to strengthen the braking effect,
depending on the position of the low/med/high switch. If you then
press on the accelerator pedal, the jake shuts off and (after a brief
delay) the transmission will up-shift to ensure that the RPM will be
in the safe range.

I note that on my coach, someone has wired-out the medium setting so
that I have the choice of either high or low, but I'm usually able to
find a balance on most grades that's satisfactory.

Pete Masterson
aeonix1@...
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42'
El Sobrante, CA

On Jun 25, 2007, at 3:43 PM, brad barton wrote:
> <snip> If you have a magnetic retarder, be aware that it will build
> up considerable heat if used for several minutes..so downshift to
> help it out. I don't think your Jake brake or Pac brake is limited
> that way but a diesel mechanic can be more specific. <snip>
>








[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]