Freightliner is a very well-known American manufacturer of trucks and vehicle chassis for the RV market. They have been in the industry for almost 100 years having been founded in 1929.
Over the years, they have developed both their products and their reputation and these days they are considered one of the best brands in the marketplace – not only in terms of their product offerings, but also in terms of customer service.
It is little wonder that, given their excellent reputation and pedigree combined with their broad range of products on offer, that they are the first choice for many discerning buyers.
They have a comprehensive website with all their models listed, providing a full specification for each one and an overview of the benefits and features of each model.
This of course is a huge help when it comes to choosing the vehicle that will best suit your needs as a customer as it allows you to fully compare. Not only that, but they have a high number of dealerships where you can get help from an expert if you want to talk things though with a person.
There are many reasons why these trucks are so popular. The chassis is considered one of the most robust on the market and they also have a pretty unique design. The build is done in an aerodynamic way that will provide excellent results in terms of fuel efficiency. This makes a big difference to the long-term savings, especially in times of high fuel prices.
Freightliner Green Engine Light
One of the best benefits of the Freightliner model is their comprehensive LEF display on the main panel within the cab. This is useful not only to help you diagnose any faults or issues with your vehicle. It will also help you to identify when you have accidentally made changes to the settings, possibly activating a feature you didn’t intend to have on, or conversely turned off a feature you had wanted to use.
The benefit of having such a clear LED screen within the cab is that it allows you to immediately spot if anything is wrong or if something has changed from your usual settings. There are a large number of settings and lights on display, but drivers should quickly become familiar with what is usual for their set up and anything that differentiates from this will be instantly obvious.
It is of course understandable that users may have concerns when a light comes on that indicates as issue with the engine. It is worth noting that some of these will only come on temporarily and are not a cause for concern.
One such example would be when you are slowing down and the compression release engine brake (commonly referred to as the jake brake due to their history) is activated, the light will come on to indicate this is in use. But it will go out again once the brake has been released.
Automatic features like these are really beneficial. In this instance, the idea is that signals are sent directly to the engine to slow the vehicle down, instead of using the braking system. The concept was developed to reduce the wear and tear on the braking system and the tyres and wheels of such big vehicles. This can cause confusion though because the light will only come on when the system is in use and the jake brake is not always activated.
Generally, your jake brake will kick in when you are driving downhill or if the brakes have had a reason to need to be applied hard due to conditions or to prevent an incident. Get used to these lights coming on and off as and when required and rest assured there is no reason for concern with this element. You can continue to operate your vehicle as usual with no further inspection required.
What if the green light isn’t due to the jake brake?
Of course, there will be instances when a light comes on that is not related to the jake brake and in these cases, you will need to investigate further in case there is an issue . The first thing to do is consult your vehicle manual to see what the display correlates to.
If this is a simple setting, you can of course change it. However, if it is indicative of an actual problem, you will ned to trouble shoot this to gather more information.
Your manual should advise you of the next steps to take and whether it is safe to continue to drive your vehicle. If you are unable to diagnose the fault yourself, then you will need to take the vehicle to a workshop to have a mechanic check it over and find the issue.
Of course, if you have any concerns as to whether it is safe to continue driving, then our recommendation would be to take your vehicle to a technician as soon you possibly can and avoid driving it in the meantime.