2020 Travato Brake light

[Oneilkeys]

I am on my way home from an 8000 mile seven week trip from FL to UT and CO. During the trip, I crossed the Rocky Mountains four times and experienced down grades of 6-8% for 8-10 miles. Even though I manually down shifted to 3rd or 2nd gear and used the engine and very little brake, in every instance, after about 5-7 miles of down grade the brake light would come on - even though, in the last instance, I had not touched the brakes for well over a mile. In two of the 8% downgrades,I had to use some brake even in 2nd gear to slow down for the 20 or 30 mpg curves. In those cases, not only did the brake light come in, but I got a message briefly across the dash that said the brakes needed to be serviced. In all instances when I stopped the Travato and let it sit for a while, when I turned it back on the brake light stayed off and I received no more messages. At no time did the brakes “fail” or even feel “squishy”. This is my 5th RV and I have crossed the Rockys 30 or more times (four on my way to Alaska and back. I am used to using the engine as a brake and I do not ride the brakes down any hill.
Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

[kmessinger]

The message about "service hill stop" or "brake" - something like that happens on long downgrades and is a known issue with the ProMaster.

Keith

[Oneilkeys]

Thank you for your reply. That was what I was hoping to hear. Do you know where I could go to find out any additional information? Is it just a spurious signal problem or is there something in the brake system that I should worry about?

[Raxel7851]

I’ve seen that issue discussed on the Promaster Forum. Like Keith mentioned it’s a known “non-problem”. I had an issue with the transmission downshifting on its own going down hills. After those instances, I shifted the transmission into manual mode, and that allowed me to control the engine speed on my own.

[Oneilkeys]

Thanks. I am relieved to find out that this is not just my issue and is not one thing to be overly concerned about. I am on my way back to Florida from Colorado and probably will not be returning there any time soon. The problem will definitely not occur on the “hills” in Florida. Thanks for the responses.

[Raxel7851]

Well, the first time my transmission downshifted on it’s own was in Florida! We were on I-295 in Jacksonville going across that big bridge that spans the St. John’s River near the ports. On the way down, that’s when it downshifted. On some of our other trips, we drove from Amelia Island to St. Augustine on A1A. We took the little ferry near the naval base. That’s a nice quiet ride. It’s a much more relaxing drive. Safe travels to you.

[Oneilkeys]

Yes. I have noticed the transmission shifting from 6 to 5th when going down a steep hill. Tha5 happened to me today down a hill near Branson, Mo. I have found that punching the gas puts it back in 6th, if you don’t want the slowdown. My last three RVs were on the Ford chassis with the 6.8L V-10. The tow haul on that engine worked very well and I never had to down shift manually. I have not found the tow haul on the Dodge to work any near as well. It is much better to manually downshift. The only thing you have to be careful of is your speed. At over 40mph, the transmission will not shift into 3rd (so you won’t over rev the engine - I guess.) To shift into 2nd you have to be under 30mph. Happy travels.

[Delco Bobby]

I don’t have a Travato but my RV is on a ProMaster chassis.
That scary light occasionally illuminates on my instrument panel. It has been happening for years with out any effect on the brakes.

Originally Posted by kmessinger

The message about "service hill stop" or "brake" - something like that happens on long downgrades and is a known issue with the ProMaster.

Keith