Safe way to keep FAD engaged?

[NachoRuby]

Likewise, while I DO understand that there are procedures they need to follow, I am only trying to save BOTH of us time and money. Dealers get paid pennies on the dollar for warranty work. If they can buy a $149 part ahead of time and install it in two hours, vs. spending 3-4 hours diagnosing it (possibly incorrectly), sending me home, setting up another appointment however much later, etc. it works for them.

Thanks for your input on the FAD engagement.

For warranty work, if they order the parts ahead of time and are wrong, or if Stellantis thinks they should have tried some other troubleshooting first, they won't get paid for the parts or labor. So they just have to eat it or wait until someone else needs it. So they won't do it. In almost all cases, they will diagnose it themselves, send their findings to Stellantis, and have Stellantis approve the repair and parts first.

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[Renegade]

OK thanks for confirming the spring return. That sucks.

I did say I don't want any aftermarket solutions, I want to keep my truck bone stock and just have some sort of a band-aid in case I have to deal with this for an extended period of time.

That said, I did find conflicting accounts that the FAD is either spring return or power-driven each way, I'm glad you confirmed that before I wasted my time on that. And if I'm going to go through the trouble of pulling the collar out of the axle, why wouldn't I just reinstall the parts that fix the problem for good, right? As I mentioned above, I also found conflicting reports about the pins in the FAD, one source says 12v to pin 2 closes it, another says grounding pin 2...obviously vastly different outcomes if I guess wrong. I suppose I could get under there with a meter and figure it out, maybe I'll give that a shot.

I'm starting to think maybe the best course of action here (obviously depending on what the dealer says next week) is to just fix it myself, which frankly is very upsetting, but I guess if you want things done right in a timely manner you just have to do them yourself. This'll be even harder to explain to my wife, who pushed me to get a new truck so she could start seeing me on weekends...sorry hon.

Thanks everyone for your input, I appreciate it.

D

Just be aware of several things:

• There is more than 2 wires going to the fad. It not only energizes and slides the coupler, but also has confirmation sensors.
• There have been some cases of the plastic bushing in the end of the inner shaft causing problems rather than the actuator being the real problem. If that’s the case, you may have to replace the inner shaft rather than work on the actuator.
• The actuator can be removed from the axle housing, but the actuator itself is sealed. Manipulating that will likely void any warranty on the part.

 

[Darel]

Just be aware of several things:

• There is more than 2 wires going to the fad. It not only energizes and slides the coupler, but also has confirmation sensors.
• There have been some cases of the plastic bushing in the end of the inner shaft causing problems rather than the actuator being the real problem. If that’s the case, you may have to replace the inner shaft rather than work on the actuator.
• The actuator can be removed from the axle housing, but the actuator itself is sealed. Manipulating that will likely void any warranty on the part.

Already aware of all of the above. My suggestion to the dealer was to order an intermediate shaft kit,which includes the shaft, collar and bushing. No plans on even removing the actuator from the axle, unless I'm going to complete the entire repair myself.

 

[rharr]

you know spicer/dana is the oem manufacturer of the axle right. The collar may be non oem, but it is from the company that built the axle in the first place, who also builds the same axle with no FAD as aftermarket option. The collar posted is the most sure fire way to makes sure the axle shaft stays engaged and solves your problem of the FAD not engaging for littlest amount of money. Screwing with jumpers and wire splices seem like way more effort then just locking the passenger shaft together and you are still at the mercy of a actuator that may or may not work.

The passenger shaft permanently locked, either though the collar or a solid shaft will be just fine, that is how they were done for years until some egg head thought of a way to save .001 mpg more and make a weaker axle.

And you have demonstrated you aren't that concerned about warranty and it's processes. Take 2 to 3 hours and get rid of the dumb device.

When it is in 2wd, the transfer case will disconnect from the front axle and the spider gears in the diff will just spin as needed instead of one spinning at the FAD and 1 at the diff. The more electronic BS you can remove the better.

You are coming off roughly looking for advice then being caustic to those offering solutions that may be contrary to those you already have in your head. If you already know what you are going to do why ask for advice/options? Those are the type of ppl i just walk away from and wish them the best on their adventure.

 

[Darel]

you know spicer/dana is the oem manufacturer of the axle right. The collar may be non oem, but it is from the company that built the axle in the first place, who also builds the same axle with no FAD as aftermarket option. The collar posted is the most sure fire way to makes sure the axle shaft stays engaged and solves your problem of the FAD not engaging for littlest amount of money. Screwing with jumpers and wire splices seem like way more effort then just locking the passenger shaft together and you are still at the mercy of a actuator that may or may not work.

The passenger shaft permanently locked, either though the collar or a solid shaft will be just fine, that is how they were done for years until some egg head though of a way to save .001 mpg more.

And you have demonstrated you aren't that concerned about warranty and it's processes. Take 2 to 3 hours and get rid of the dumb device.

When it is in 2wd, the transfer case will disconnect from the front axle and the spider gears in the diff will just spin as needed instead of one spinning at the FAD and 1 at the diff. The more electronic BS you can remove the better.

You kind of coming off roughly looking for advice then being caustic to those offering solutions that may be contrary to those you already have in your head. If you already know what you are going to do why ask for advice/options? Those are the type of ppl i just walk away from and wish them the best on their adventure.

Sorry, I don't think you've gotten the gist of this entire post. I am ONLY and COMPLETELY concerned about warranty, and as such was looking for a livable solution that requires absolutely NO modifications to the way my truck left the Jeep factory. I could put some D60s under there and solve all my problems, they're Dana, right? And I actually got all the answers I need, such as electrically how the FAD works, etc. Literally in the post right above this one. And I've come to the conclusion that depending on what the dealership says next week, there's no good temporary solution to my problem and if it comes down to it I'll have to buy and install the CORRECT FACTORY parts on my own. Thanks to the helpful souls above who actually read and understood my requests above and helped me come to this conclusion.

 

[rharr]

Best of luck on your adventures

 

[pcrawfordpt]

OP…did you ever get this fixed? I had a similar experience, and the issue is a worn plastic bushing between the two piece axle shaft in the FAD. It allows the shaft to slip and slightly engage, causing a howling noise. There is a Star Bulletin on this issue and Jeep will fix. I recently had mine repaired and now my FAD won’t engage at all…think the FAD module may have shorted. Taking it back. However the howling noise is gone.

 

[Darel]

OP…did you ever get this fixed? I had a similar experience, and the issue is a worn plastic bushing between the two piece axle shaft in the FAD. It allows the shaft to slip and slightly engage, causing a howling noise. There is a Star Bulletin on this issue and Jeep will fix. I recently had mine repaired and now my FAD won’t engage at all…think the FAD module may have shorted. Taking it back. However the howling noise is gone.

Yeah, had to buy the parts and fixed it myself, but it's been good for over 40,000 miles since.

 

[pcrawfordpt]

Yeah, had to buy the parts and fixed it myself, but it's been good for over 40,000 miles since.

Was it the plastic bushing like mine, or something else? I can’t get my front tire to spin in 4wd. I think my FAD module is bad?

 

[Darel]

The kit comes with a bunch of parts, a stub axle, bearing, the plastic bushing as I recall. I replaced everything that came in the kit and haven't had the noise return since. I've never had a problem with anything not working, just that horrible grinding noise. It should be fairly easy to troubleshoot, you can pop the FAD off and just let it hang by the wire and see if the fork moves when you put it in 4wd. Maybe when you had it apart you didn't get the fork back in the groove on the collar?

 

[pcrawfordpt]

The kit comes with a bunch of parts, a stub axle, bearing, the plastic bushing as I recall. I replaced everything that came in the kit and haven't had the noise return since. I've never had a problem with anything not working, just that horrible grinding noise. It should be fairly easy to troubleshoot, you can pop the FAD off and just let it hang by the wire and see if the fork moves when you put it in 4wd. Maybe when you had it apart you didn't get the fork back in the groove on the collar?

yep..this is what the dealership replaced. Taking it back tomorrow...

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