That dreaded disassembly of the locker... (1 Viewer)

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FJBen

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I have the classic flashing light on my rear locker of my 93. Front works beautifully. I wasn't hearing a "click" like I was with the front so I thought it may be the 4WD locker ECU.

Last night I put new rear brakes on mine, and pulled off the shield for the locker, I tried the battery test but my setup was less than ideal so who knows if I even hit the right wires with the juice or if the battery was good enough. I lightly tapped the actuator as well with a rubber mallet as I've heard it gets stuck.

Since we bought the new 80, I swapped my 4WD ECU into hers over lunch. Again both of her lockers worked and you could hear two clicks. So by that logic, the ECU is good.

After that I found a dirt parking lot and drove circles and figure 8's for a few minutes...no locking of the rear, i kept trying to engage/disengage while turning but no bueno. maybe I need to do it for like 20 minutes??? lol

This leads me to two things:

A: Faulty wiring somewhere in the locker wiring

B: funk in the actuator

I'm going to open it up a little tonight and check as I've searched on 80scool and here and found a few people have just opened it up, and also cleaned the connector and gotten good results.

In this pic, what bad things will happen if I open up the 3 bolted cover marked "41460"? can I visually inspect things or is crap gonna shoot all over the garage floor? lol? thanks

mod_rear_lock.jpeg
 
I've disassembled the motor on my taco elocker. Under the 41460 cover you should see the big gear with the contacts/traces for the switches. Not much else inside there. The other cover that bolt 90105 threads thru actually has the motor. Only risk with that one is getting the brushes back into the guides. I tested for continuity through all the wires to the contacts inside the motor. That wasn't the issue. Personally I would test it w/ 12 volts on the correct pins before I disassembled it.
 
The part that you circled is just a switch that lets the ECU know if the diff is locked or not. Nothing other than some 90# may run out if you remove it. They have been known to stick.

Here is a pin out of the connector from the diff motor. Do NOT just apply voltage to the terminals 2 and 3 and leave it on. The motor could burn out since there is no limits to stop it. Actually just tapping 1 ½ volts to terminals 2 and 3 are enough to move the motor (albeit slowly). 4, 5, 6 are meant to stop (remove voltage) when the motor reaches the locked or unlocked position (limits).

Bill
Diff-Lock-Terminal-Explaina.jpg
 
Here's another good writeup based on the Taco/runner elocker. I assume the diagram is the same for the cruiser. He provides a nice wiring diagram, and Bill is right, just tapping 12V to the contacts will bump the motor, and is safer. Mine is wired up using the switches through relays and I still use a momentary switch to be safe.

http://67.122.16.97/carterman/4runner/mods/locker/
 
I think the Taco E-lockers is closer to the LC front, the rear uses similar parts but is arranged diffrently, you can get into timing problems if you take off that cover,

there are some instructions further down in this thread, they talk about how to get the timing right but you have to remove the actuator.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=17701
 
Raven, thanks for posting the link to your thread. I got short on time a few months ago when I put mine back together and I may be slightly off- 1 rev or so. I knew this might be an issue but I was able to get it to unlock after installation. I need to pull the third again before I go wheeling for another project, so I'll double check the timing again.
 
Thanks for the info, looks like I'll have some fun with this pretty soon!

I'll try cleaning the pins first, to see if that works.
 
Well, worked for about an hour on her saturday. cleaned the pins, slight tapping again. Nothing...fawk it...I"m pulling the cover. Had to pry a little and then it happend.

The red powder of doom came a pouring out...she is FULLY full of dirt/rust on the inside. Easily over a cup came out and everything was rusted shut. :eek: Not what I wanted to see.

So I "assume" my options are:

A. Buy a new actuator from C-dan =$~650

B. Buy the downey cable locker = $130ish

C. Steal the wifes while she's not looking =$free or the possibility of no luvin...

It seems right now my best/cost effective route is the downey cable. I'll search more on it. Any thoughts?
 
I say "D"
Pull it all apart and get to cleaning . Take your time and work on it . It may look worse then it really is and if all fails your out some time ,learned about it and a couple of bucks on cleaning stuff. If it does work you saved a few clams you can spend on the next fun thing :)
 
You might try just cleaning it up some, its not ideal, but it might work again if you soak it and clean it.
Good luck anyway,
Dan

EDit: I type slower than koffer......
 
Well, that *was* the plan. I started pulling stuff...it was beyond corroded...the springs were rusted shut. The worm gears were completely rusted. And the worst part of my stupidity in the whole thing, while getting the whole actuator unit off, the aluminum housing broke right at the bottom two bolts. I was lightly trying to get the initial seal off so I could take the actuator off and it broke. So now it's basically poo. Only the top two bolts holding it on. :eek:

i do understand how it works much better now.
 
Previous reports here on the Downey cable locker is that it is not sealed and it corrodes to the point of not working.
 

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