When I recently bought my dodge (in sig) I noticed a couple decal stickers on the dash. One says "Banks Power" and correlates to the Banks power billet torque converter I have, which was installed by the previous owner.

There is also a "Jake Brake" decal... which makes me wonder if the PO also installed an exhaust brake on the truck.

The billet TC has a manual lock up switch on the dash and this does operate properly - I typically use it only ~40mph +. I am new to cummins and lock up TCs but have been searching threads here and see guys saying they use the TC in 2nd/3rd gear also.

According to the PO the tranny was rebuilt in addition to the new TC. He basically said everything was rebuilt tougher and stronger but didn't provide much in the way of details. If I wanted to cruise around town with the TC locked up, can I manually downshift to 2nd via the column shifter? As I understand it, the truck will stall if the TC is engaged and vehicle decelerates too much.

Regarding the exhaust brake - how can I best check to see if it's installed or functioning? I used the search but could not find any specifics aside from an auto trans needs a lock up TC to engage the exhaust brake... which is part of why I suspect the truck may have the "jake brake" installed. I don't think the PO would put the sticker there for no reason and I imagine he had it installed at the same time as the banks TC.

Thanks!

 

A Diesel A518/46RH (4 speed trans) is not possible to have lock up. The case doesn't have the fliud passages for the lock-up to operate. It would have to be A618/47RH (4 speed trans) to have lock-up(94-95 model year cummins trucks). And it will only lock-up in 3rd and 4th unless it has an modified valve body to allow lock-up in 1st or 2nd.

Easiest way to tell which Trans you have is to look at the plug on the trans A518 has a 2 wire plug and the A618 has a 3 wire plug.

As for the exhaust brake. Turn it on when trans is in lock up, when you come off the throttle you will be able to tell and hear it if it is working.

 

An exhaust brake is real easy to spot. Look at the back side of the turbine housing, There will be a big elbow that goes down to the downpipe, near the firewall. If you've got an exhaust brake, it won't just be a simple elbow. It'll be an elbow with a butterfly valve inside, actuated by a lever and a big vacuum can that has lines running in and out of a valve assembly that might be mounted above the engine, somewhere.


Sitting parked, you should be able to engage/disengage the brake. When it's disengaged, the truck will just sound normal. When engaged, the butterfly valve closes, the engine's idle speed drops by about 1/3, and the exhaust will sound like the truck is about 100 feet away, sitting next to a big steam pipe.

It's pretty unlikely that the guy actually installed a real, genuine Jake brake. Those are way different than an exhaust brake. You've heard the "big rigs" use their "jakes". That thing is actually an apparatus that can affect valve timing on demand, cracking open the exhaust valve a bit early, allowing the cylinder's compression air to escape before the injection pulse can make another power stroke. Then it closes quickly, resulting, actually, in VACUUM braking, rather than compression braking. That device adds height to the engine, and might not actually fit under a stock-height pickup hood.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the input will investigate!

 

Hassel, what kind of fuel mileage do you get? What size tires? Stock intake,exhaust?

 

I have yet to accurately track mileage - occasionally the odometer, cruise and battery gauge drop out. From what I've read so far I suspect its potentially the vehicle speed sensor. I cleaned it once and worked better for a while then started again. May also have TPS issues as when odometer IS working, the speed fluctuates/bounces around. Have been chasing those electrical gremlins out of the truck since I bought her!

When I bought the truck and drove back to CO from AZ I was also hauling a 19ft flat trailer loaded with furniture. Granted I was hauling-A through the mountain passes, the mileage seemed pretty bad. Cruising around 65 most of the way and based on fillups and tank size, it seemed to be in the neighborhood of 15MPG.

Also had pretty high EGTs. The pyro gauge, while climbing hills, would hit 1200 pretty easily and on one pass it touched 1400, briefly. The PO had a custom turbo built by Phoenix Auto Diesel. He was in the progress of turning it into a "hotrod" truck; hitting the tracks and whatnot. The truck seemed geared for heat and smoke - he maxed the pump and put on Lucas POD injectors. Over time I'd like to restore efficiency, between proper injectors and tuning, to get closer to 20MPG or as best I can. Get haze/smoke at idle and easy to make black-death clouds but I'm not interested in that.

The PO before THAT PO was an old farmer who used it for hauling water tanks through northern az. Between the two, the old girl was abused pretty bad it seems. Electrical wiring hacked up... even the front leaf spring packs were "skewed" when I bought it. That is, the individual leaves were skewed in different directions slightly. The first thing I did when I got it home, was hammer them straight and tighten the U-bolts that were loose!

Updated sig - tires are 265/75/R16 BFG AT load range E. Stock intake. Truck is intercooled. 4 inch exhaust back from turbo, all straight pipe (PO had stacks on it too... now removed)