[petrel]

On the Saturday morning of my weekend journey I had an unsettling thing happen with my Freightliner. When I approached the first traffic light of the day on a 55mph road, the engine brake almost stalled the truck, instead of just letting go once the truck was sufficiently decelerated.

Needless to say I was bewildered and thought it was a fluke, until it did it again at the next light. Still in denial, I guess, I just switched the engine brake off and back onto high.

At the third light, just about when the brake was about to stall the engine, the engine fought back and gave itself a little throttle! It took both feet planted firmly on the service brake to hold the rig while the engine and the brake fought it out and I reached for the brake switch.

Fortunately, the brake gave up and let go of the engine before I could reach the switch!

I switched off the engine brake and drove without it for the remainder of my Saturday journey.

After a protracted period of internet research, I resorted to digging out the Freightliner manual, where I found this (in bold print):

WARNING
...If the engine
brake is engaged when the transmission is
in neutral, the braking power of the engine brake
can stall the engine, which could result in loss of
vehicle control, possibly causing personal injury
and property damage.

I must have switched it on along with the headlights and cruise control or something...what a dummy!