Exhaust Brake Smog Alert

[Archive]

On the way home from Sacramento yesterday I had a problem with the truck. I noticed that the throttle response wasn't what it should be a couple of times on the way up but the symptoms went away quickly. That is, until I got to Eureka. When I pulled away from the first stop light there was no power, very high EGT, and an amazing amount of black smoke. The tailgating rice burning road louse behind me dissapeared in the smog ( ). I didn't have any idea about what was wrong. After a few blocks of creating my own personal big time smog alert I figured it out. The exhaust brake was stuck shut thus the exhaust was almost plugged. I pulled into a parking lot and turned the brake off. I lifted the hood and sure enuff it was stuck. While I was watching it idle and thinking about what I was going to have to do to get it unstuck without burning myself it came unstuck. I left it off and the truck ran fine the rest of the way home. I took it apart this morning and cleaned it. Actually, it doesn't look too bad so I decided to check the vacuum solenoid to see if the problem was there. That was the problem. The little piston in the solenoid would stick just enuff so that the spring could not push the valve back to the closed position. I cleaned it with brake cleaner and now it works fine again. So, if you have this problem, don't forget to check the solenoid. Better to check it before taking the whole mess apart like I did.

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Joe George
Eureka, CA

'95 2500 CC auto 4X4,Combo EGT/boost guage,custom switch panel,PacBrake,TST #5,BD valve body,Automatic motorhome steps on both sides,Foldacover hard bed cover,Cummins chrome kit,Black steel grill guard,Front hitch receiver