Axle Lock Misbehaving ***SOLVED***

[jeep_boss]

Another head scratcher... when I hit my axle lock switch to activate the rear, both the front and rear lights will start to blink. When I press down on it again (implying that I want to lock the front as well), the front locker lift goes solid (I can also hear it lock at the same time), the rear light will remain blinking at this point, until I start moving, where it does lock.

When I bought the (05 TJR) Jeep, the axle lock behaved as it was suppose to - one click down, rear would blink, another click, and the front would blink. I don’t remember if the front would actually engage right away on the second click.

From the looks of the wiring, one of the previous owners did the wiring mod to allow the lockers to engage in any T-case position under 10mph. I don’t know if it’s the switch or the wiring though, there was a ton of dust in the console and I took out the switch and cleaned it, which didn’t fix anything.

I have a new switch on order, but I couldn’t find much out there on this sort of issue (one press and both locker lights blinking). Anyone else have or seen this happen before?

 

[jeep_boss]

Also, FWIW - when they are both locked - a single upward press of the rocker switch will disengage them both.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Lockers like your Rubicon's lockers, ARB's air locker, and the E-Locker will not and cannot lock just sitting still or just driving straight. You have to drive it and make a left/right turn or two before the two halves of the locker can align and engage each other. Think of a slotted screw head and a screwdriver. You have to turn one or the other until they can engage and lock to each other... exactly like a selectable locker requires.

They usually won't align so they can lock by just driving straight, plan on having to make a slight left or right turn so the left/right sides will turn at different speeds until the locker halves align and engage.

 

[CodaMan]

I usually drive really slow little S turns and they lock right up.

 

[jeep_boss]

Lockers like your Rubicon's lockers, ARB's air locker, and the E-Locker will not and cannot lock just sitting still or just driving straight. You have to drive it and make a left/right turn or two before the two halves of the locker can align and engage each other. Think of a slotted screw head and a screwdriver. You have to turn one or the other until they can engage and lock to each other... exactly like a selectable locker requires.

They usually won't align so they can lock by just driving straight, plan on having to make a slight left or right turn so the left/right sides will turn at different speeds until the locker halves align and engage.

That’s what I thought (and what I was used to with my ARB on my old T4R). My front locker does seem to lock right up though; the rear takes some cohersing.

I’m concerned mostly with the electrical situation, where the result right now is that I cannot lock the rear by itself. This just started happening a couple of months ago, when I had installed a switch for my rear LEDs.

 

[jeep_boss]

Quick sanity check - this IS a factory Locker right?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

That photo is not all that clear but that does appear to be the factory Rubicon locker.

 

[jeep_boss]

Well crap, I got my new axle lock switch today, installed it and both front and rear axle lock lights still flash with a single press of the switch.

I swapped the axle lock relays in the PDC (pointless, I know), tried with the bypass short disabled, no changes. I'm just stuck for now with not being able to lock only the rear.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Well crap, I got my new axle lock switch today, installed it and both front and rear axle lock lights still flash with a single press of the switch.

I swapped the axle lock relays in the PDC (pointless, I know), tried with the bypass short disabled, no changes. I'm just stuck for now with not being able to lock only the rear.

As designed, the Rubicon's wiring and logic design is a quagmire that can easily develop problems. For that reason I added a pair of on-off switches, wiring, a couple fuses, and wired my Rubicon compressors to work independently without problem in just an hour or two. The compressors can be treated like 12 volt light bulbs. Provide each compressor a source of fused 12 volts controlled by an on-off switch and your issues will be over. This is where I mounted my switches, right next to the OE locker switch.

 

[jeep_boss]

As designed, the Rubicon's wiring and logic design is a quagmire that can easily develop problems. For that reason I added a pair of on-off switches, wiring, a couple fuses, and wired my Rubicon compressors to work independently without problem in just an hour or two. The compressors can be treated like 12 volt light bulbs. Provide each compressor a source of fused 12 volts controlled by an on-off switch and your issues will be over. This is where I mounted my switches, right next to the OE locker switch.

View attachment 26921

I'm with you there Jerry! Those look pretty good too if I may so.

The caveat as I understand it in wiring separate switches will be (1) always powered on (while the switches are in a closed loop) and (2) the loss of automagical disconnect >= 45mph. I can live with both of those if that's the case.

I have already taken my dremel to the same area where you have yours mounted, the SPDT in there now was decommissioned when I acquired the rear lights switch that I mounted. That said, I am MUCH happier with the idea of separate switch controls for each locker better than the factory rear or rear+front confirguation. I suppose this will be my next project after my axel swap!

 

[jeep_boss]

Quick update - I got busy with a Dremel and mounted three switches. I wired up each locker to an individual switch and used the third one as both a safety switch and for the restriction bypass.

The results were interesting:

• I could now lock the rear by itself
• When I attempted to lock the front by itself, it would blink twice on its own, then the rear would start blinking right after

So I guess that I would have to completely gut / replace the wiring to get the intended result of independent switches. I'm a little upset with whomever did the initial bypass mod on my TJR, there's clear evidence they hit the wrong wires with vampire clips - leaving the copper exposed! Spent an hour and a half with my soldering iron correcting their mess.

Since I can now lock the rear by itself, I decided that would be good enough for me now. I wasn't happy with the way the switch installation into the bezel came out (let's just say that I had to be VERY creative with my Dremel and epoxy). I decided to buy a new console bezel and a toggle switch with a safety cover somewhat similar to @Jerry Bransford 's, and installed it on the new one.

It works perfectly. I do have some higher quality safety toggle switch on the way, but I can live with this for the time being.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Isn't that safety cover mounted upside-down?

 

[jeep_boss]

Isn't that safety cover mounted upside-down?

Nope. I did go back and forth though on the switch orientation. I decided to mount it flip-down for ergonomic reasons.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Nope. I did go back and forth though on the switch orientation. I decided to mount it flip-down for ergonomic reasons.

Is the switch oriented so the toggle is up when it's on?

 

[jeep_boss]

Is the switch oriented so the toggle is up when it's on?

When the safety cover is closed, the switch is off.

 

[jeep_boss]

This would be "ON":

 

[Jerry Bransford]

My OCD would never let me get used to a switch that was 'on' when the toggle was down lol.

 

[jeep_boss]

My OCD would never let me get used to a switch that was 'on' when the toggle was down lol.

Oh phew!!! I stepped away from this thread wondering what it was that you were getting at! I started thinking damn, Jerry found some kind of functional flaw and now I'm going to have to take apart my console once again.

Fortunately, my severe OCD isn't bothered by it... but now that you mention it, time will tell :BangHead:

 

[jeep_boss]

Well I'll be damned. I believe that I have figured out the problem - it appears the air lines running to my diffs were reconnected backwards. I traced the lines and had my wife run the axle lock switch - I was expecting what I thought was the rear compressor to activate, but the compressor with the air line connected to the front activated.

If I had to venture a guess as to how that happened, my prime suspect would be the lift kit installers that the previous owner bought the kit from.

I'm going to re-read the FSM to validate that the behavior I'm seeing on my dashboard lines up with this probable mistake.

 

[jeep_boss]

Problem SOLVED!!! That was exactly what the problem was. I can lock the rear by itself now, so everything works as I expected it to.

There is maybe 2-3mm of additional slack on the hose going to the front diff locker. I will relocate the compressors soon though, probably similar to your spot under the hood @Jerry Bransford ). I may as well wire the lockers separately, while I tackle the relocation.

Any idea what size all of the vacuum tubing is?