Exhaust Brake Question
 

Does anyone have the D-Celerator Diesel Exhaust Brake? What are the pros and cons? Mounts in front of the muffler and appears to be a nice retrofit. Are you happy with it?

I dont have that one but I understand that the most effective exhaust brakes are the ones that mount directly to the turbo.

Because it is a closed exhaust (no leaks) I expected it to work the same. Anyone have this type that can guide me in how it actually works for you?

The only negative I have heard over the years with that brake is the solenoid tends not to like the high temps and possible wiring problems from road moisture etc. But it has been a while since I have seen anything about them.

In-line brakes can be just as effective as turbo mount brakes, but less responsive. For us guys with aftermarket turbos, its the only option really. The closer you can mount it to the engine the better it will respond.

Now remembering.....there was a good reason turbo mounted exhaust brakes were better than exhaust pipe mounted brakes and that was because of the heat. One main issue for exhaust brake malfunction is carbon buildup and heat is whats needed to keep the carbon to a minimum. Putting the exhaust brake where there is less heat to burn off that carbon allow for carbon buildup. If I also remember right, one of the exhaust pipe mounted brakes will cycle once upon every startup to ensure proper movement.

I'm confused, Lil Dog says the solenoid doesn't like the additional heat being located on the exhaust, yet Katoom says there is less heat. Can someone explain?

They're talking about two different things. Katoom is talking about the higher heat of turbo-mount being good for burning off carbon/soot from the butterfly valve. The solenoid is something different entirely.

Because, I believe, D-Celerator is the only exhaust brake available which utilizes all electronic controlling but the turbo mounted brands use either air pressure or vacuum which is controlled by a electric solenoid from a location mounted away from the brake. For this reason, the D-Celerator electronics can be subject to heat and road corrosion. Thats about all I know regarding.

FWIW the only time my BD brake (vac actuated full closure turbo mount) has hung up it turned out to be the vac actuator. I ran some oil through it and it freed up right away. Now it relieves vac from the puke bottle and keeps the bottle dry, and the actuator piston lubed.

Inline means more space to fill up with pressure before braking force applies- more lag as described above. One other thing that affects performance is whether it is controlled through the computer or through the apps sensor. There is a significant delay through the computer due to the logic "thinking" whereas through the apps it's pretty quick.

Also, full closure performs significantly better at low rpms due to no hole in the butterfly, but if you use them as a warm (brake on idleing) smoke may contaminate the ait sensor (easy to clean tho).

i have a d-celerator on a 12 valve 98 i got it in 99 it is on a 3500 camper. it is for the 35 lb springs. one solenoid closes off the flow and there is a bypass that holds the pressure to 35 lbs. the other 12 valve trucks that tow heavy we replaced the valve springs to 60lb and installed air pac and bd after a few years because of where pac mounts the compressor failures were common we now only use bd and we relocated the pac compressors and eliminated the failures. your 01 has the 60 lb springs and even if d-celerator now makes one for 60lb i would stick to bd.

I have a D celerator on an 01 been on for 10 years now works perfect and I personaly feel it pulls down harder then
the banks brake or PRXB brakes we have on the other trucks. it sits forward of the muff

Thanks ALL for your replys, and Rebal, it's great to actually hear from someone that has one on a truck closer to mine. Now to make a decision!

Beware of comparisons to Banks, they made MAJOR design changes from their early partial closure setup. The new ones are full closure like the BD and function basically the same way. IE eccentric butterfly with no hole versus centered butterfly with hole in it like most.

I noticed that The D-celerator has two types. One full closure, the "lighter duty" is not. If I'm reading it right, anyhow. HD unit has bypass valve that opens at set pressure. Light duty leaves this open. (?)

PS If I were you I'd get a BD full closure. It runs through the tps, is turbo mount and is really fast and works to very low speeds (right down to idle). This is PARTICULARLY nice on a stick shift, and the shifter mounted switch is SO SO nice. Second choice for me would be the Banks full closure, but I'd verify that it goes through the tps, since with a stick that speed is very nice. Also the Banks holds back more pressure, so it is closer to danger than the BD, but pulls harder. FWIW I can get rubber on 35" duals going from 4th to 3rd high rpm with the BD, and consider it more than adequate, but if you want more, the Banks setup holds more.

Unless you plan on a bigger turbo at some point, in which case you are limited to inline setups.

The speed from direct mount tps (apps) control is REALLY REALLY nice on a stick because with the shifter toggle you can flip off to shift and then flip it back on and it's almost INSTANTLY pulling again.

totalloser x 2

Totalloser, thanks for your input. Having a MBRP 4" exhaust, what will I have to do to the exhaust down pipe to mate it to the turbo mounted exhaust brake?