ARB Locker Problems (1 Viewer)

[azTony]

My problem:

I have diff oil being pumped up into the solenoids.

The diff breather is new (filter replacing the OEM breather) when I extended the breather line. This was less than a year ago but I pulled the line and checked any way, clear.

The oil has managed to get past the solenoid and has now damaged my cut off pressure switch.

I used a remote mounted air manifold as pictured below (picture was edited to show ARB Tech's where the leak is now coming from and the wires are disconnected). I would be willing to guess I have less than an hour of compressor run time since my initial install. If it is more than an hour it is not much.

Lot of money invested to fail already.

Anybody else have similar issues and if so, how have you resolved it?

 

[jonheld]

Oil in the air line typically means an o-ring failure inside the diff. The most common cause is not setting the o-ring correctly during installation, but it can also be caused by over pressurization of the ARB unit itself. The supplied pressure switches are highly inaccurate. I replaced mine with an off the shelf switch that is adjustable. I played with pressures until both units reliably locked quickly. I think I'm running around 75 PSI, but i forget.
ARB specifies 70-90 but some pressure switches run as high as 110+.

 

[azTony]

Diff was pulled, O-rings inspected and they had nothing wrong but I put new ones in any way.

 

[george_tlc]

This is my air setup (not on an 80) for front/rear ARB's. I just used standard air fittings for the hose I chose to run and used macvalve units as the air valves.

Didn't use a fancy manifold, since I didn't need it. The macvalves have mesh vents screwed into their fronts to prevent 'stuff' getting into the vent ports.

macvalves with mesh vents installed and air fittings in place

The air compressor is in the cabin under the driver's seat and the pressure switch is built into it (a small Thomas compressor). The outlet of the Thomas goes out under the vehicle to a tee that is plumbed into a small holding tank. The other side of the tee runs up to the engine bay and through the inline filter as shown in the picture.

The inline filter is a standard air compressor mesh filter that I figured would be a good idea/precaution to prevent any 'stuff' collecting in the hold tank from getting into the small orifices of the airvalves.

I've NEVER seen any oil in the clear hose that feeds the splitter to the airvalves. I've had ARB's in my patrol for many years, more than 20 for the rear locker and at least 10 years with a front locker. Never had oil issues in the lines, though I read often of issues on this forum.

cheers,
george.

 

[77cruiser]

I had the exact same thing happening to me on my 62. The rear ARB eventually stopped working becuase of it. We took it out, blew air thru it and realized it was a metal hold down piece that was not bent tight enough to force the piece it was holding down to fit snug(hard to describe). It was a round piece with holes around it and the hold down piece was like a little hook... we bent it more so the fit was tighter and VOILA! it worked again. We replaced the u rings inside as well.

This explanation probably makes absolutely no sense so i apologize!

 

[arndog123]

I have the same problem w/ the ARB's in my '86 mini. I've pulled the 3rds multiple times and had ARB check 'em and install new o-rings and still get gear oil into the solenoids. As a temporary fix I routed air lines from the vents into a catch can and empty it as needed.

 

[jonheld]

Diff was pulled, O-rings inspected and they had nothing wrong but I put new ones in any way.

Is it possible your breathers are clogged? If there's constant positive pressure in the diff, the oil will eventually migrate up the easiest path.

 

[azTony]

Is it possible your breathers are clogged? If there's constant positive pressure in the diff, the oil will eventually migrate up the easiest path.

See post #1

 

[77cruiser]

with this link my rambling explanation will make more sense. The locking tab(little hook that goes on the bearing to lock in place) that is at the top of the housing where the spring clip attaches... that is what i was not bent to be a tight enough fit and was allowing enough play for air to not function correctly. I just remembered my output drive shaft seal was not sealing either so that was a problem too. Maybe they were all unrealted but i dont think so. After we fixed them all the oil stopped.

http://www.arb.com.au/media/products/air-lockers/5-02.pdf

 

[Tools R Us]

The diff was originally setup and leak checked by Zuk, he is very detail orientated and experienced. We pulled it, spent a longtime, most of the afternoon, on the phone, sending pix, etc, with an ARB tech. Everything looked great. Replaced the o-rings and spring clip with new, even though the old ones looked great, pressure tested, installed and it still does the same thing. All of the normal ARB issues were checked, breathers, carrier bearing adjuster tab, etc.

My guess is the piston seal or something internal is leaking, likely from the factory. So to repair, it is going to have to come back out, the carrier removed, split and resealed.

 

[77cruiser]

sounds like its almost worth telling arb, look i am going to send you the whole damn 3rd with it installed and you figure it out and in the mean time throw a spare in there.

I hate to hear youre having the issues. It would drive me insane tool

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Did you check the piston for cracks?

 

[Tapage]

The only time that I have this experience with was with my rear ARB and was a clogged diff breather ..

 

[tacosupreme]

OP what ended up fixing this? Mine is doing it too, and the breather hoses seem to be clear. Maybe the nipple on the diff itself is plugged? I dunno. I've had ARB's in other rigs and never had an issue (other than ice in the lines when snow wheeling once, humid cold day)

 

[inkpot]

Problem was not ever resolved. Solution was to ad filters/oil traps on exhaust line. John