Gladiator appears to have rear locker and centre diff locks engaged but dash says they are not

[adamjedgar]

Hi guys,
My gladiator is a 2022 model...3.6litre auto with 40,000km on it.

It recently had a new transmission installed under warranty and after getting it back I could hear what sounded like diff whine.
I have notified the dealership but haven't been able to get it back to them due to work commitments...its my trade work vehicle.
My intention is to take it back at the next service.

Anyway,

I have been out 4wding a couple of times, however, after driving 50km home from a day out on the mudy and steep trails yesterday, I found that when I tried to do a u turn inside our property on the concrete driveway, tue car appears ro still have rear locker and centre diff lock engaged but the dashboard says they are all unlocked.

I jacked there rear off the ground and put it in gear...its trying to drive off the jack as front axle is driving even though it's in 2 wd.
Also both rear wheels are driving together in the air (appear to be locked) whilst it's up on the jack.

Yesterday's trails involved deep muddy water holes (up to bottom of doors) and one track with a 23 degree up slope that I had to winch about 50% of because it was so badly rutted out. The last 10 metres needed some "right boot" with lockers engaged.

I've heard of 4wd not working, however centre diff lock being stuck and rear locker also stuck on is a new one for me.

Where do I start problem solving this?

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[adamjedgar]

Hi guys,
I have an update for this...

We jacked all 4 wheels up off the ground this morning

• Start car and put it into drive
• All four wheels were spinning however, differentials were working normally (meaning there was no issue with stuck diff lockers).
• We engaged diff lockers, and as expected, the 4 wheels locked and there was no differential.
• This meant that the issue was transfer case related...ok progress which is good
• I checked the linkage on the transfer case, however, it appeared to have normal amount of travel and i could hear it engaging 4wd H and 2H as the selector was moved.
• pulled out the ODB Port reader and there are no fault codes stored in the cars system...so that would suggest the car hasnt detected anything wrong via its electronics

hmmm?????

I then got an idea...

In the past, i have had a number of occasions where, after 4wding in deep muddy water, then coming home and giving the car a good clean with hi pressure hose, i have been unable to get the transmission to go into gear...it just does nothing.

The solution to my "after wash" transmission problem has been to remove both plugs off the PCM board and reseat them both.

so i decided to give that a go...

believe it or not, i unplugged both connectors on the PCM board, sprayed them with WD40, reconnected


Problem solved!

So now for my gripe at Jeep...

I have not once found any water pooled inside (at the bottom) of either of the PCM board connectors.

So why am i having to reseat the bloody things after it has been in water or washed with hi pressure spray?


It appears to me that what is actually causing this problem is steam coming up off the hot engine (either whilst driving or, after stopping at a car wash on the way home from 4wd'ing) and somehow affecting the connections on the PCM board. Either that or its gremlins?

Surely these PCM connectors on the gladiator are IP 68 rated?

Any ideas on how i can prevent this pain in the ass problem from ruining my day?

 

[Rusty PW]

Put some di electrical grease inside the plugs. This will keep the water out.

 

[Stan H]

I think I concur

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