rear locker not working question

[Chunky White]

Dude, that sensor is looking packed in with nasty magnetic gunk. When you pulled off the sensor, did you notice the magnet there under the sensor and cleaned it off?

yes i cleaned both off but could have done a better job I am sure. How do you all go about cleaning the magnet and sensor? I have not worked on vehicles enough to have the knowledge of what to do and not cause a bigger problem and my buddy said to avoid using brake clean on anything inside the housing. I only cleaned the cover with brake clean and wiped everything else down

I did this late last night and kinda rushed the job

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[Maximus Gladius]

I’ve never had a problem using brake cleaner in my diffs, never. I use the good stuff, chlorinated kind. The non-chlorinated is the “green” friendly kind so you end up using a ton more for the same job. I don’t know why your friend recommended not using it.
I’ve always sprayed liberally and let it gas off before filling. I stay away from spraying any electrical connections (there’s separate cleaner for those and just rag wipe the magnet off. Q-Tips work good for wiping out the nicks and crannies of the sensor. Having a look at the crud you showed, is it possible some of it has breached the electrical connection and there’s some sort of short in there?? Maybe.

I’d try and work that connection apart and use an electrical spray cleaner in there. Then use some dialectic grease on those pins and reconnect. Wish you lived closer, I’d help you out.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Just yelled out to my next door neighbour who is a published classic car restorer and asked him about using brake cleaner in diffs, he said “all the time with no problems”.

I think where problems can occur is where tolerances in the bearings are packed in and tight with crud and all of a sudden all that crud is cleaned out and things can be a little sloppy. Problem occurring after a cleaning points to a lack of maintenance issue. I think you said you didn’t know the history of the maintenance?

 

[Chunky White]

Just yelled out to my next door neighbour who is a published classic car restorer and asked him about using brake cleaner in diffs, he said “all the time with no problems”.

I think where problems can occur is where tolerances in the bearings are packed in and tight with crud and all of a sudden all that crud is cleaned out and things can be a little sloppy. Problem occurring after a cleaning points to a lack of maintenance issue. I think you said you didn’t know the history of the maintenance?

Yeah I bought the vehicle used with 61k miles and it was only in my area for a short period of time before it was traded so no local service was done. I have no idea what all has been done and when other than a recall was done years ago. I will ask my buddy why he suggested not using brake cleaner in the differential. His family has been in the automotive service and body work business for a few generations so I believed what he said. I will take another look in the differential soon and try getting the connection cleaner and use some dialectric grease

 

[NoDoorsNoProblem]

Since the issue is the sensor, and not the actual locker itself, this is both the bypass and the fix.

Seconded. From my understanding, the locker is not broken, only the locker sensor - the Jeep can't tell if the locker is engaged or not, so it doesn't initiate the locker engagement.

I had this issue pop up around 20k miles and was super annoyed. After the dealer telling me they wanted to replace the whole axle assembly (!!!!!!!!!!!), I found the zautomotive bypass. I already had a tazer so I figured I would give it a try. It basically tells the Jeep what it wants to hear coming from the sensor, whether you select locked or unlocked.

I actually reached out to Exodus 4x4, the popular Jeep shop in Central Texas that runs the Youtube channel, asking about quotes for reagears, and to get an ARB installed in the rear. Bubba, the shop owner, asked me why I wanted to switch to an air locker, as their shop uses e-lockers with great success, and the mojave already has the rear e-locker. I told him the reasoning is the issue that is the subject of this threat. He said that it's a super common issue he sees, and they keep a dozen or so of the zautomotive locker bypasses that they will install on customer vehicles, and it works out fine.

Armed with that knowledge, I've stuck with the zautomotive bypass. It's definitely steep for the little cable dongle, but it works well. Since installing it I've wheeled several times at my local Hidden Falls Adventure Park, at Moab, and in slippery muddy rocks at Hot Springs Off Road Park. I used the rear locker at least once in all of those spots and it seems to be working fine. I definitely had one situation in Moab and one in Hot Springs where I didn't have the traction to get up, backed up and locked, and then got over.

The only downside to this is that there is no way to tell if the locker is truly engaged or disengaged on the trail, except by outside-the-truck observation, or by feel. If for some reason the product fails or the locker fails (not that it has, just an if), you either won't be able to lock at all, or you may end up stuck locked and unable to un-lock at the end of the trail. The latter you will only know by the tires scrubbing on the pavement. Or by your rear diff exploding if you don't notice the scrubbing in time.

 

[Chunky White]

I took another look at the sensor and cleaned it with contact cleaner and it is definitely full of oil

The zautomotive cable is a fix correct? I do not need to replace the sensor for it to work again?

Sorry for repeating whats been said but I want to make sure

 

[Rusty PW]

I took another look at the sensor and cleaned it with contact cleaner and it is definitely full of oil

The zautomotive cable is a fix correct? I do not need to replace the sensor for it to work again?

Sorry for repeating whats been said but I want to make sure

If the sensor is full of lube. It's shot. It shorted out.

Brake cleaner and plastic does not play well together. Your sensor is plastic. So is the front pinion bearing retainer. A few guys on the Power Wagon forum had to replace the whole locker assy before of them using brake cleaner. To replace the sensor on a PW. You have to replace the whole carrier assy. That was a hard lesson to learn.

 

[Chunky White]

If the sensor is full of lube. It's shot. It shorted out.

Brake cleaner and plastic does not play well together. Your sensor is plastic. So is the front pinion bearing retainer. A few guys on the Power Wagon forum had to replace the whole locker assy before of them using brake cleaner. To replace the sensor on a PW. You have to replace the whole carrier assy. That was a hard lesson to learn.

I didn't use brake cleaner on the sensor. I use electrical contact cleaner. I used brake cleaner on the cover only.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

If the sensor is full of lube. It's shot. It shorted out.

Brake cleaner and plastic does not play well together. Your sensor is plastic. So is the front pinion bearing retainer. A few guys on the Power Wagon forum had to replace the whole locker assy before of them using brake cleaner. To replace the sensor on a PW. You have to replace the whole carrier assy. That was a hard lesson to learn.

You are saying we have the same diff internals as the Power Wagon so using brake cleaner will cause a catastrophic situation? I am very lucky then nothing has happened to both my lockers!? What is the alternative product to use?

 

[Rusty PW]

You are saying we have the same diff internals as the Power Wagon so using brake cleaner will cause a catastrophic situation? I am very lucky then nothing has happened to both my lockers!? What is the alternative product to use?

No......just the sensors is made from plastic on both of them. Some of the PW guys have used brake cleaner inside the housing and then had problems with the sensors. The brake cleaner started to eat the plastic. On the PW. You can't buy the sensor it's self. You have to buy the whole carrier assy. Plus the special tools for removal and installation. The PW carrier also has a gear driven LSD in it. The other thing with the JT diff is that the front pinion bearing retaining cage is plastic. Don't know what brake cleaner will do to it. There have been a few reported that have failed. But no cause for the failure. So why take the chance.

 

[Chunky White]

I will have the Z-Automotive bypass cable tomorrow and hopefully my rear locker still works after installing it. I am sure the bypass will work but hope the locker doesn't have any other issues. Hopefully the front locker will engage also

 

[Outback_Joe]

I have used mineral spirits over the years to clean and de-grease almost everything. It won't harm plastics and it removes all types of oils. Make sure you get mineral spirits, not lacquer thinner or anything else. I use a siphon sprayer to blast everything clean then dry with compressed air. Mineral spirits are available at any hardware store in the paint section. Mineral spirits won't harm most modern painted surfaces so no need to cover them or mask them off. Just something to consider when plastics are involved.

 

[Chunky White]

After installing the Z-Automotive cable both of my lockers say they are engaged immediately. I will have to go try check that they are working for sure another day when I can get someone else to watch

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