CDL Actuator Fun

[Tools R Us]

On the last trail run the CDL would not lock, after some trail side investigation it was determined that the best action was to jumper the CDL indicator switch so the axle lockers would work and complete the day.

After living in denial for a couple of weeks I tore into it, the transmission relay (where the pin 7 mod is done) failed the FSM test, opened it up and there was a burned trace on the board. Two of the relays were desoldered and removed, they tested good, the burned trace bridged and the relays soldered back on. It now passed the test and works good. With the circuit testing good why did the trace burn? There had to be a big load somewhere else, so time to test under the truck.

Last night LandCruiserPhil came over to lend a hand, thanks Phil! We tested the motor and the resistance readings didn't match the spec in the FSM, we put power to it and no run. Pulled the motor off from it's most inconvenient location on top of the transfercase and were greeted by the wonderful smell of the smoke that had escaped, damit. The rear bushing in the motor had failed and bound the motor causing it to overheat and burn up. The only way it's available from Toyota is a whole unit at a price that puts a big dent in the budget, anybody have a used transfer case, actuator or motor they want to part with?

All of the locker circuits are protected by one 30amp fuse, in this case allowing enough power to toast it. A better plan may be to have separate fuses or self resetting breakers on each locker circuit. We also weren't impressed with the breather setup and will be changing that.

[-Spike-]

How did you get that freaking nightmareish bastard off of the transfer case? I suspect my contacts in the actuator housing need cleaning, but gave up on the project when I figured I'd have to drop the transfer case to get at it.

-Spike

[e9999]

would it make sense to put a smaller fuse in there as preventive measure?

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

How did you get that freaking nightmareish bastard off of the transfer case? I suspect my contacts in the actuator housing need cleaning, but gave up on the project when I figured I'd have to drop the transfer case to get at it.

-Spike

Working by feel, it sucked, made worse by the Phillips screws. To change it I think the best plan is to drop the front driveshaft and transfer crossmember and lower the rear of the transfer to gain some room. Anyway you do it, it's not fun there is barely enough room to get the camera in there to take a picture, but that's the only way to see anything, take a picture and view on the PC.

[cruiserdan]

Originally Posted by Tools R Us

anybody have a used transfer case, actuator or motor they want to part with?

Got any M2 ball ammo to trade?

[Tools R Us]

Dan's the man, found a nice used one! Here are some pictures of the insides.

[Tools R Us]

To reassemble the armature the brushes need to be held retracted, the wire is just right to loop over the brush holder, just remember to release the wires when the armature is in. The magnets in the cover will pull the armature out, so hold it from the gear box side.

[topend yobbo]

USED!!! That looks brand new.

[bjowett]

Place a floor jack under the crossmember, take out the 8 bolts, then lower it down an inch or two. This makes a world of difference, and no driveshaft removal is needed.

[alia176]

What a complex piece of machinery! So, that's what the locker motors look like! <slight hijack> This is about the only place where the LRs does a nice job of keeping it simple. They lock the CDL mechanically by moving the Tcase Hi/Lo shift lever from right to left. You can lock/unlock CDL in Hi/Lo/Neut. I wonder if that's even a possibility in the 80s! For pics of this linkage, go to http://www.expeditionexchange.com/cdl/

Sorry about the hijack.

[Nomis]

Tools R Us - How did you know the CDL was not working? Was the indicator light not coming on in the dash?

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by 96LX450

Tools R Us - How did you know the CDL was not working? Was the indicator light not coming on in the dash?

Yep.

[cruiserdan]

That thing is buff inside...

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by bjowett

Place a floor jack under the crossmember, take out the 8 bolts, then lower it down an inch or two. This makes a world of difference, and no driveshaft removal is needed.

The plan is to use a couple of longer bolts in the crossmember to hold it lowered, without the jack in the way. The driveshaft only takes a couple of minutes to remove and will allow easier turning of the output flange to confirm that it locking properly. There is no instructions in the FSM for timing the actuator, other than install locked? Mine is unlocked, so when the old one is off I will turn the gear in the transfer to lock the CDL and run the new actuator to the locked position and install. Then cycle it a few times to confirm that it's fully locking and unlocking?

Doing Ajax Mine trail Saturday morning, lots of big rocks to play on and it's harder to get good carnage without lockers!

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by cruiserdan

That thing is buff inside...

Very nice, Thank you sir!

I am going to use my top plate with harness to fix the wire issue.

[Tools R Us]

The install went well, used a couple of longer bolts to hold the cross member lowered about 2" and removed the driveshaft, as bjowett said it's not necessary, but gives a bunch more room and only takes a couple of minutes. The hardest part was popping the old actuator loose, that silicone is good stuff, took a 3' prybar! Plugged the new one in and had a buddy operate the switch to run it on and off, while I held the actuator under the truck, left it in the locked position. Had him watch the CDL lock light and I manually turned the gear in the transfer and rotated the output pinion flange to lock the gears, did it a couple of times to make sure it was fully locked. Then cleaned and shot a bead of silicone on the sealing surfaces and reassembled, works great.

A shot of the setup;

[Beowulf]

Originally Posted by Tools R Us

We also weren't impressed with the breather setup and will be changing that.

Kevin,
Will you elaborate on the issue with the breather? Is this the main Xfer case breather or the one on the actuator motor (I believe it can be seen in one of the pics)?

How did you improve the breather and do you feel it is an important mod or just a while-you-are-in-there mod?

-B-

[Tools R Us]

The actuator breather is teed in with the transmission and transfer, the transmission breathes because of it's volume and heat load. The actuator has very little volume and no liquids, much less heat load so it breathes very little. The breather vapor from the bigger units can condense into the actuator causing it's demise. It takes very little moisture to breakdown the grease, causing a bind on the motor. The only sign you have that it's binding is a slightly longer lockup time, if it binds up too much the motor burns up without even blowing a fuse. That is why I prefer it to be vented separately

To vent it only requires about 6 feet of vacuum hose and a vacuum plug to cap the tee. Zip-tie the hose along the trany dipstick tube into the engine compartment, then through the wiring grommet to inside under the dash, where it's vented in relatively dry air. Probably not necessary, but a cheep, easy fix that may save an expensive, hard to change part!

[RavenTai]

Bummer to see the carnage, interesting idea about the vent,

I would think you could probably get away with a smaller fuse if you do not engage/disengage more than one locker one at a time, as it sits all three lockers can be spinning at the same time and it is fused accordingly. But I am not sure that a smaller fuse would prevent this from happening, the current through the motor was probably never above normal starting inrush just the prolonged time stalled caused heat build up,

Another way to deal with the brushes is to form a holder with wire, The pigtails look fragile but are apparently up to the task. (rear lockers shown, very similar)

[Tools R Us]

My thought is to measure the amp draw on the newly rebuilt actuator and compare it to the others, if one has a high amp draw it probably needs regreasing? I am known to be lazy and spin all three lockers at once, so the smaller fuse won't work, thinking about separate resettable breakers for each of the actuators?

[RavenTai]

There is still the inrush to contend with, that will be the same whether the motor has a high load or not. A slow blow breaker sized somewhere between inrush and turning current could possibly be found that would get you past normal inrush but if stalled would blow saving the actuator.

I wonder if your problem will wind up being common as these age or is this just an isolated incident?

[Riad]

One question, you had to support the tranny with a jack while you lowered the tcase, right?

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by Riad

One question, you had to support the tranny with a jack while you lowered the tcase, right?

Supported the crossmember with a floor jack, removed the bolts, installed longer bolts, then lowered the crossmember onto the bolts with the floor jack watching under the truck and hood for wire/hoses/cables getting streched/pinched.

[IdahoDoug]

But you wouldn't have to use a jack if you simply replaced bolts before lowering it (assuming the longer bolts won't bottom out before seating fully like the ones they replace). Then, lower the crossmember with the bolts. Nice and controlled, but probably slow.

So, would someone be able to modify the breather w/o dropping things? Assuming some dexterity with out of sight fumbling? What size hose/vacuum plug?

Very nice writeup, BTW. Needs to be in the FAQ.

DougM

[Tools R Us]

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

But you wouldn't have to use a jack if you simply replaced bolts before lowering it (assuming the longer bolts won't bottom out before seating fully like the ones they replace). Then, lower the crossmember with the bolts. Nice and controlled, but probably slow.

The long bolts I had weren't threaded all the way, the jack worked well.

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

So, would someone be able to modify the breather w/o dropping things? Assuming some dexterity with out of sight fumbling? What size hose/vacuum plug?

Yes, it's on top of the transfer, but reachable without lowering everything. The nipple on the actuator is 4.5mm, .177".

Originally Posted by IdahoDoug

Very nice writeup, BTW. Needs to be in the FAQ.

DougM

Thank you.

[IdahoDoug]

Sweet, thanks for the quick response. After so much wrenching on the 80s (HG times 3) in the last 60 days, I'm having withdrawals and today I got the last of the grundge in the garage cleaned/put away. Plus my shop overalls incredibly came clean in the wash YET AGAIN so they're usable now. They've been through 3 axle repacks, 3 head gaskets and myriad other messy truck stuff. By the end of each project, they're so grundgy I have to take them off before entering the house and lay them across the trash can. Then I wash them again with my fingers crossed. I just can't bear to replace them so I'm relieved they're clean again, but clean means time for something else.

So, I'll be doing this mod and the F/R lock actuator breathers all at the same time. Times 2, of course..

DougM

[Riad]

Thanks a lot for the great write up and info, yes, it should be in the FAQ. I have been meaning to ask one (more) question but holding myself back for quiet some time now . The question is how do I know my actuator motor works? After I press the CDL switch the ABS and the CDL lights comes on. When I press the switch off, the lights goes away, seems pretty functional to me. I have been to many wheeling trips so far, I couldn't tell you the difference between having the CDL lights on/off in the low range, other than the fact that it looks good in the dash and Psychologically I feel invincible . Ofcourse, the truck goes over any obstacle that those heeps and rovers with lockers can go through. Also my diffs are open.

Thanks!

[IXXI]

I believe until you do the Pin-7 mod, your CDL switch is useable/actionable only in 4Hi... in 4Lo, the default is center dif locked (whether CDL switch is on or off, makes no difference). The Pin-7 mod gives you control to lock/unlock center dif even in 4Lo.