2005 Rubicon has no axle lock and no locker lights either

[DPiper]

I’m stumped! I have a new to me 05 Rubicon TJ. Runs and drives excellent and the amazon guy is starting to hate me . Let me start by saying I’m pretty good at troubleshooting and I have tried most everything.

The jeep is stock with no major mods except wheels/ tires. 4wd works in both low and high with a 4wd dash light on. Now the issue:

No axle locks, no lights on dash, replaced axle lock switch...still no lights or lock. However the dash lights do light the light in the switch so one problem solved. The other switch was dead. On to cb’s and relays. CB under hood is fine in fact all of them are fine. Rotated relays, no change. Replaced relays, no change. Pulled relays and jumped to see if pumps run, both run and appeared to lock the axles but still no lights on dash. So I’m thinking wiring between relays and switch. Ran continuity checks, all are good. Still frustrated. Went under jeep to check on wires and plugs which all appear good. So the good news is that both pumps work and seem to lock both front and rear axles. But I have no indication or control inside the jeep.

What turns on the front and rear lock lights on dash? Sensor? I have never even seen them blink. Will the mod solve this? And will the MOD allow those lights to come on on the panel? Thanks again. Dave

 

[Jerry Bransford]

My Rubicon came to me with inoperative lockers due to some kind of an electrical issue. The way Jeep designed the locker circuit clearly had a lot of input from their law department so some idiot couldn't lock one of the lockers at the wrong time.

What I did was install a pair of on-off locker switches for the front and rear lockers and wired them up my way. Very simple, like wiring a light bulb to be turned on & off with a simple on-off switch including a 5 amp fuse for both of them. The compressors are just like light bulbs, they work when 12 volts is supplied to them. They automatically shut off on their own when the proper pressure is achieved so there's no fancy pressure switches required.

These are my two locker switches...

 

[DPiper]

So is the axle lock switch completely out of play and does your dash indicator light up the lock lights? The fact that I can get them to work with jumpers gives me options. Thanks

 

[Jerry Bransford]

So is the axle lock switch completely out of play and does your dash indicator light up the lock lights? The fact that I can get them to work with jumpers gives me options. Thanks

The factory locker switch is not part of the circuit I installed. The only thing that works still are the locker lights. They'll flash when their switch I installed is enabled. The light won't go solid, they flash when the locker is engaged, but that doesn't bother me in the least. It's a butt-simple circuit that has not given me a problem in the ten years since I installed it.

 

[DPiper]

Thank you! I might end up doing this. I don’t off road enough to really care either. But if it’s installed on the jeep, it’s gotta function or I will lose sleep. It’s the ONLY THING NOT WORKING.

 

[AndyG]

Thank you! I might end up doing this. I don’t off road enough to really care either. But if it’s installed on the jeep, it’s gotta function or I will lose sleep. It’s the ONLY THING NOT WORKING.

The first thing you need to do is see how every accessory is tapped on to the fuse box ... everything.

I struggled with no rear defroster for 2 years, and found out that an accessory pulling power from the wrong terminal was confusing the circuitry.

TJ's have reliable wiring... But it is not straightforward and somewhat complex for the vehicle it supports.

The Rubicon locker wiring adds to that... Jerry is 100% correct... It is unbelievable how much they complicated it for the job it does.

 

[DPiper]

Solved!!! Well, you are not going to believe this. It was the switch, however it was not the electronics in the switch. The original switch did nothing including light up with the panel lights. The new switch from morris 4 x 4, the panel lights would light the switch, but nothing else. So I proceeded to do the mod. No change. So I took the switch apart and was running some tests on the board and I decided to press the little button on the board and everything worked perfectly! Put the button back together, nothing. So I disassembled the switch and plugged the little circuit board directly into the plug. I pressed the little button on the board and everything worked perfectly!
Take a look at the pictures below and you will see that the plunger inside the switch on the new switch is shorter than the original switch and was not reaching the buttons in the circuit board. I switched out the plungers and boom, everything works perfect.

Next project!!! I am so happy today, I was drinking a beer before noon!

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I clicked into this thread expecting someone had gone to look at or purchased a "Rubicon" that didn't have any lockers (and was therefore a hood sticker counterfeit).

Glad that wasn't the case and glad to see you figured it out.

 

[Tldelaney]

Tjs def have some sensitive wiring. I remember pulling off the harnesses under the dash and removing them from there plastic keepers. With bumps in the road my sound system and rear defrost would stop working until I rattled them back with my hand. I eventually found out the keepers weren't clipped into place like before allowing the harnesses to move over bumps.