Engine braking

The term "engine braking" refers to the braking effect that occurs in gasoline engines when the accelerator pedal is released. This causes fuel injection to cease and the throttle valve to close almost completely, greatly restricting forced airflow from, for example, a turbocharger. The restriction causes a strong manifold vacuum which the cylinders have to work against, sapping much of the potential energy out of the system over time and producing the majority of the engine-braking effect.[1] This vacuum manifold effect can often be amplified by a down-shift, which induces a faster spinning drivetrain to engage with the engine.

Engine braking is a viable method of controlling the speed at which a vehicle travels downhill. By shifting to a lower gear in a manual transmission, or selecting the "low gear" mode on an automatic transmission, engine braking reduces the need to repeatedly apply the foot brake, lowering the risk of the brakes overheating.[2]

While some of the braking force is produced due to friction in the drive train, this is negligible compared to the effect from the manifold vacuum caused by the air-flow restriction.

On an automatic transmission, engine braking often spontaneously increases the engine RPM, causing a sudden revving to occur even without applying the accelerator pedal.

Diesel engines in personal cars provide little engine braking as they are not equipped with a throttle body and thus cannot draw a vacuum in the intake manifold.

In heavy vehicles the engine is often made to provide extra braking power to take some strain off the vehicle's regular brake system and to help avoid overheating the brakes. In its simplest form this consists of a butterfly valve that stops the exhaust flow. This is referred to as an exhaust brake and mostly found on older trucks. It has a limited effect, and more advanced systems as described below are near universal on newer heavy vehicles.

No Jake Brake Sign in Unadilla, Georgia

A compression release brake (also known as a Jacobs brake or "jake brake"), is the type of brake most commonly confused with real engine braking; it is used mainly in large diesel trucks and works by opening the exhaust valves at the top of the compression stroke, so the large amount of energy stored in that compressed air is not returned to the crankshaft but is released into the atmosphere. It is very effective method of braking, creating large amounts of braking force which significantly extends friction brake life – a 565 hp (421 kW) diesel engine can produce up to 600 hp (450 kW) of braking power at 2,100 RPM.[3]

Normally, during the compression stroke, energy is used as the upward-traveling piston compresses air in the cylinder; the compressed air then acts as a compressed spring and pushes the piston back down. However, with the jake brake in operation, the compressed air is suddenly released just before the piston begins its downward travel. (This sudden release of compressed air creates audible sound waves similar to the expanding gases escaping from the muzzle of a firearm.) Having lost the energy stored within the compressed air, there is no "spring back" so the engine must expend yet more energy pulling the piston back down again.

This type of brake produces extreme amounts of noise pollution if there is no muffler on the intake manifold of the engine, loud enough to disturb the surrounding area. Anecdotally, it sounds similar to a jackhammer, however, the loudness is between 10 and 20 times the sound pressure level of a jackhammer (10 to 13 dB greater). Numerous cities, municipalities, states, and provinces have banned the use of unmuffled compression brakes, which are typically only legal on roads away from populations. In Australia, traffic enforcement cameras are currently being tested that automatically photograph heavy vehicles that use compression braking.[4]

An exhaust brake works by causing a restriction in the exhaust, much like the intake throttle causes in a gasoline engine. In simple terms, it works by increasing the back-pressure of the exhaust. Nearly all of these brakes are butterfly valves similar to a throttle valve, mounted downstream of the turbocharger if there is one.

Modern diesels are subject to many strict controls on emissions and often have many obstructions in the exhaust, which cause them to feel like they have some engine braking like a gasoline engine. The main ones are:

• Turbocharger creates some back-pressure when it is stalled
• Exhaust gas recirculator (EGR) valve redirects exhaust gas back into the engine intake, often through a restricted/narrow pipe.
• Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is designed to capture soot particles that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere; it greatly obstructs exhaust flow and can sap almost as much power as a small air conditioning compressor.

Engine braking in a premix two-stroke engine can be extremely harmful to the engine, because cylinder and piston lubricant is delivered to each cylinder mixed with fuel. Consequently, during engine braking, the engine starves not only of fuel but also lubricant, causing accelerated wear. Many old two-stroke cars (Saab Automobile, Wartburg 353, etc.) had a freewheel device on the transmission to make engine braking optional. Most two-stroke motorcycle engines since the 1970s have had lubrication by an oil pump, independent of the throttle and fuel system, such as Suzuki's Posi-Force system.

While the term engine braking usually refers to an internal combustion engine, electric motors can also be used for braking by using the motor as an electric generator.