Jacobs Exhaust Brake - Funny noise
 

Has anyone with a Jacobs exhaust brake system for the 98-02 dodges ever had the brake make a whistling noise? its either whistling or a high frequency vibration noise coming from the brake - seems to be from the butterfly valve pivot arm but I could be mistaken. If so what did you do to correct the noise?
Thanks in advance.

TNutcher

I've got a whistle to mine now too. Haven't got around to looking into it yet though. Hopefully someone's got the fix...

I love using the darn thing except for that noise it makes. It works great coming down a hill with a load or empty even, rarely use the brakes... Just that noise...

Bump.

Anyone?
TNutcher

i've never been around an exhuast brake do they make your truck sound any different when there applied other that this noise you speak of

My Cummins/Jacobs exhaust brake has made a hissing noise from the first day it was installed. I just thought it was the result of the small bypass for the restricted exhaust flow.

I am very happy with price vs. performance of my $550 Cummins brake. I looked at others that performed better at lower RPMs but they also cost about twice as much. With my 6-speed manual tranny, all I have to do is drop down another gear to get more braking power.

I could be wrong, but isn't that hiss a sign that it's working? All the trucks I've drivn do it, they all made that same noise, Cummins, Duramaxes, Hinos, Isuzus

Mine didn't make the hiss/whistle noise when I first put it on. Just started doing it a while back.

exhaust leak???? look around the back of the turbo outlet for soot & signs of leaking, had a buddy's make a whistling noise & it was due to a slight leak........good luck, Dusty

The HISS is completely normal - mine has done it since day 1. I believe there is a small orifice in the butterfly and thats where the hiss comes from.

Mine has a hiss coming out the tailpipe, which is normal I agree.

Just a few months ago it developed kind of a whistle coming from the brake itself. Checked the whole area and there's no soot anywhere on it and I can't feel any air leaking on the outside. Going to take a bottle of soapy water out and check with that.

The butterfly valve appears adjustable, I'm wondering if it is a little loose and vibrating under pressure or if the thing's closing too far and needs adjusted back. I just haven't had time to pull the brake off and do any more looking yet.

No the noise i am talking about is not the typical hiss noise that you hear when the brake is engaged itself. The noise I am talking about is like mentioned above, like a harsh metal to metal vibrating noise. Close to that iirkee iirkee noise heard when nails on a chalk board. It is coming from the brake itself when I open the hood to listen. Its not an exhaust leak or rattle from somewhere in the truck that happens with the vibrations from the exhaust brake, its the exhaust brake itself.

Has anyone figured out what causes it? I don't really have time to take it apart just to explore and hope I get lucky and fix it until later anyways. How do these work, like is it just a butterfly valve setup inside a cast elbow? What is there to wear out? Like a bushing or what? Thanks in advanced!
TNutcher

I know this is an old thread, but I finally found my problem. The far back bolt on my exhaust manifold was loose. Couldn't hear any leak from it just sitting idling, but at RPM with the exhaust brake it was making the noise I was talking about before. Just torqued all the bolts on the manifold and took it for a test drive. No more noise...

Thanks for updating us on this problem. I'm considering a Jacobs brand brake for mine. Any and all info is greatly appreciated.

i finally found my bolt that was loose. it was the bottom bolt on number 4 exhaust port, i could never see it but found it loose today when i took off the turbo. no more irky irky! thanks
TNutcher