Worrying about that now is like putting a Band-Aid brand adhesive bandage on a major flesh wound.
Also, according to the Mailbag answer, they (only?) work on deisel engines due to the much greater compression used in those engines.
One question that came to mind as I read the Mailbag answer: the engine brake works in part by allowing cylinder gasses to escape and thus preventing the braked cylinder from firing. Does this result in a bunch of unburned fuel being blown out the exhaust, or is this fuel captured somehow?
I think the injector does not turn on, so no fuel goes in.
Also ‘Jake Co’ makes other braking devices, such as electromagnetic driveshaft brakes which are totally quite so engine brake is a better term.
Didja ever notice that the phrase “Band-Aid brand adhesive bandage” perfectly fits the meter of the opening line of “Anything Goes”?
Slow day at the office Tracer? 
Engine braking also refers to something you can do with your small car. You drop the gear down maybe two below what you would normally be driving at. This sends your revs way up, and so long as you do not use the gas it will slow you down. Particularly good for not boiling your brake fluid on long downhills.
Sure, I’ve got them on top of the TiVo.
Can you use “TiVo” as a verb? I don’t know, I’ll have to Google for the answer.
Holy Crap, did everyone see the lightbulb going off over my head. In all my 41 years I have never had such a ‘duh’ moment. Such a simple and obvious device. Wish I had thought of it.
The signs say “engine brake” because the earlier Jacobs Co. patents have become public domain, so other companies can make similarly noisy devices, but due to trademarking, can’t call them “Jake” brakes. The people who author the anti-noise signs want to cover all bases.
As noted, Jacobs also makes braking devices that are NOT engine brakes, but may still be refered to as “jake” brakes. The electromagnetic devices are one such, but valves which restrict the exhaust are also common. These are called exhaust brakes rather than engine brakes, and they are not nearly so noisy.
Engine braking devices could work fine on a SI (spark ignition) engine, but the existing throttle valve already provides a good deal of compression braking…which is NOT available on a diesel.
Particularly good for burning up a clutch surely unless you do it properly, either give the accelerator a blip before you change down gear or slow down and change gear before going downhill.
Yeah, ideally you rev the rpms up to where they will be once you engage the clutch. Hmm, you can’t really do that with an automatic though. Do you have to slow down as you say first?
I use it all the time in that sense, as in “I’ll TiVo the game tonight”.
That was inn the sense that TiVo has become the generic name for all DVRs (my Adelphia DVR was made by Scientific Atlanta and isn’t licensed, but I still call it a TiVo).
But the auto does that automatically if you’re not a wussy with it. Punch the accellerator to the floor, and nothing at all happens except that the engine revs up. Once it’s good and revved up, the torque converter catches up, and then you’ve got power.
Well, I’ve been driving an underpowered car lately… I don’t seem to recall this with my own car at home – it seems to drop into the right gear and get up the right RPM instantly with no lag for the torque converter.
How did I end up on your ignore list? (see post #16)
Signs here say something like:
RESIDENTIAL AREA
LIMIT COMPRESSION BRAKING
Some of these are at the bottom of long grades, and the sign hints that sometimes the truckies might have little choice, especially if the cab is filling with the smell of freshly toasted brake linings after coming down a mountain. It also allows the use of other, quieter, engine braking technologies.