Diff Lock Light staying on?

[98 SNAKE EATER]

1997 TLC Factory Lockers w/button and 7-Pin mod done many moons ago

Made it a habit to cycle the lockers frequently whenever I was on loose terrain and they always worked as they should



She's been hibernating since Winter, but I brought her out to play a couple days ago for a trip out to Montauk Point

Hit the diff lock button and I could hear the relay in the kick panel click, but didn't get the Center Diff Lock light right away

Had to cycle it a few times, but it finally loosened up after a couple of minutes and all was good to go again (I figure just sticky from sitting so long)

Did a few figure 8's in the sand locking and unlocking with ease

On the way back home from the lighthouse, I noticed the rear Diff Lock Light flickering at high speeds (around 90mph)

It wasn't the usual steady blinking light you get when waiting for it to engage, but more of a random flash flicker

Slowed down to the speed limit and it stopped, then noticed it happening whenever I hit a bump or let off the gas suddenly
Stopped for gas and when I started her up again, the Rear Diff Lock light was on (weird)
Never had this happen without the Center Locker engaged, so I did a few figure 8's to confirm whether or not it was really locked and it wasn't

Hit the Center Diff Lock button, turned the magic dial and it locked as usual, but when I unlocked it, the Rear DIff Lock light remained on

Did a few more figure 8's and confirmed everything was unlocked, then drove home with the light on and put her back in the garage

Haven't got a chance to do any diag work, but figured I'd post up to see if anyone here had a similar issue

 

[SoTexCruiserDoc]

90mph
The 1FZ crowd won’t be much help

 

[BILT4ME]

1997 TLC Factory Lockers w/button and 7-Pin mod done many moons ago

Made it a habit to cycle the lockers frequently whenever I was on loose terrain and they always worked as they should



She's been hibernating since Winter, but I brought her out to play a couple days ago for a trip out to Montauk Point

Hit the diff lock button and I could hear the relay in the kick panel click, but didn't get the Center Diff Lock light right away

Had to cycle it a few times, but it finally loosened up after a couple of minutes and all was good to go again (I figure just sticky from sitting so long)

Did a few figure 8's in the sand locking and unlocking with ease

On the way back home from the lighthouse, I noticed the rear Diff Lock Light flickering at high speeds (around 90mph)

It wasn't the usual steady blinking light you get when waiting for it to engage, but more of a random flash flicker

Slowed down to the speed limit and it stopped, then noticed it happening whenever I hit a bump or let off the gas suddenly
Stopped for gas and when I started her up again, the Rear Diff Lock light was on (weird)
Never had this happen without the Center Locker engaged, so I did a few figure 8's to confirm whether or not it was really locked and it wasn't

Hit the Center Diff Lock button, turned the magic dial and it locked as usual, but when I unlocked it, the Rear DIff Lock light remained on

Did a few more figure 8's and confirmed everything was unlocked, then drove home with the light on and put her back in the garage

Haven't got a chance to do any diag work, but figured I'd post up to see if anyone here had a similar issue

Sounds to me like a wiring harness grounding out due to flexing due to wind or movement.

Check your harness to the rear axle. Could have rodent damage if it's been sitting.

 

[Tachycardic]

Sounds to me like a wiring harness grounding out due to flexing due to wind or movement.

Check your harness to the rear axle. Could have rodent damage if it's been sitting.

Impossible! There are no rodents in NYC...

 

[Chris Wilcox]

The mechanical switch that is in the axle itself has been a source of electrical issues for me. From memory the same switch is used front, center and rear. If it were me I'd buy one just to have on hand and troubleshoot this first while it was being shipped.
Chris

 

[robnicko]

The mechanical switch that is in the axle itself has been a source of electrical issues for me. From memory the same switch is used front, center and rear. If it were me I'd buy one just to have on hand and troubleshoot this first while it was being shipped.
Chris

agree with the above. Take the switch out and give a good clean or replace (27mm wrench).
They can get hung up causing the light to stay on when actually off and so on.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

OK, I know it's been a while, but I finally got a chance to get under her today and it turned out to be sumthin simple

I had been driving it as is for a while now and the light would appear and go out randomly while hitting bumps

I'm not running a tailpipe and have (or had) a 90* turn down on the back of the muffler

I guess it fell off and started blowing exhaust onto the wiring

It blew off part of the split loom and melted the vent tube

Luckily, the wiring is was unscathed, but there was splice where two wires are joined into one wrapped in blue electrical tape and the connection was iffy

Replaced the joint with a heat shrink solder crimp and all is good again

No more light and all lockers function as they should

Now I just gotta fix the vent tube

Gunna either replace it or use an airline fitting

Wrapped everything in poly split sleeving for now, but first thing I gotta do is bolt on another turn down to prevent it from happening again

Question:

Is the wiring supposed to wrap around the top of the control arm like this?

It appears to have enough length, but just seems wierd that it's routed that way

 

[Broski]

OK, I know it's been a while, but I finally got a chance to get under her today and it turned out to be sumthin simple

I had been driving it as is for a while now and the light would appear and go out randomly while hitting bumps

I'm not running a tailpipe and have (or had) a 90* turn down on the back of the muffler

I guess it fell off and started blowing exhaust onto the wiring

It blew off part of the split loom and melted the vent tube

Luckily, the wiring is was unscathed, but there was splice where two wires are joined into one wrapped in blue electrical tape and the connection was iffy

Replaced the joint with a heat shrink solder crimp and all is good again

No more light and all lockers function as they should

Now I just gotta fix the vent tube

Gunna either replace it or use an airline fitting

Wrapped everything in poly split sleeving for now, but first thing I gotta do is bolt on another turn down to prevent it from happening again

Question:

Is the wiring supposed to wrap around the top of the control arm like this?

It appears to have enough length, but just seems wierd that it's routed that way
View attachment 3682872View attachment 3682873View attachment 3682874

No it should run along the inside of the control arm and be tied to it.

 

[Broski]

I used this to extend my vent up into the Quarter panel fits the OEM tube perfectly and can be picked up at your local Ace hardware. Should work perfect for your splice

 

[Broski]

Here’s a picture of the OEM routing