E-locker help (1 Viewer)

[drenmaster]

So the 90 pickup i bought has an e-locker in the rear. Previous owner said it works but if you lock it it will not disengage and the index/clocking needs adjusted. I had a 400 miles drive home at the time so I took him on his word.. that is my mistake.

When i finally had time to troubleshoot it i hit the locker button but nothing happend. I got tired of messing with wiring so I ended up ordering a harness from dark illusions fab. I installed that and had the same outcome. The original harness was connected to a power block in the engine bay, which i checked with a multimeter and it does get voltage so I connected the new harness to that same block but got the same results when hitting the switch which was nothing.

I took a part the actuator and from the reading I have done this one is pretty clean. It had virtual no grease so I was hoping that was one of the issues. I cleaned, lubed and reassemblled the actuator. This time i just pluged it in to test it but once again same results.

The only odd thing to happen was when I connected the new harnes straight to the battery. When i tried to turn the truck on it would not start and the + terminal had a little crackle. When I disconnected the harness everything was back to normal and truck started just fine.

I tried going from the battery directly to the two pins on the actuator and still had no movement.

I do not know what else to do at this point and its getting pretty frustrating. I am about to just throw the towel in and make it part if my airdown practice to take the actuator off and manually engage the locker before I hit a trail. I Don't want to spend $400 on a new one right now and these do not really go bad.


Is there something specific I could have missed when I put the actuator back together? For me its hard to tell since it did not work before hand.

 

[gnob]

You need to ohm out the locker harness piece. You have a short to ground/case somewhere.

 

[drenmaster]

You need to ohm out the locker harness piece. You have a short to ground/case somewhere.

Meaning on the new harness side or the actuator side? I hate electrical work.. lol

 

[gnob]

On the actuator side. If it didn't work right with the old harness and still doesn't work with a new one, it likely not the harness.

The motor runs from two wires. I know people who dont run the harness and just activate the locker with a power probe.

 

[drenmaster]

Welp i am giving up on this.. AA nothing, 9v nothing. i hooked it straight to 12v and it moved for a millisecond. After that I could not get it to operate at all. I can only take it apart and put it back together so many times before it becomes pointless. Ill go check a junkyard or two but more than likely ill be paying full price for a new one.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mucho45]

Welp i am giving up on this.. AA nothing, 9v nothing. i hooked it straight to 12v and it moved for a millisecond. After that I could not get it to operate at all. I can only take it apart and put it back together so many times before it becomes pointless. Ill go check a junkyard or two but more than likely ill be paying full price for a new one.

Thanks for the help.

To access both front & rear e-lockers, I bypassed the magic dial and ECU (wiring) years ago and went with a direct 12v current to the actuators.. Using simple toggles on dash now to send current directly to actuators (respectively). Ordered it from "12voltguy." Works much faster and reduces some of the troubleshooting steps. Not sure they're still selling 'em.

 

[pappy]

I bypassed the magic dial and ECU (wiring) years ago and went with a direct 12v current to the actuators..

I wired two elockers direct to switch. Never bothered with the ECU. Keep in mind that unlike an ARB the electrics don't unlock right away. Sometime you need to steer left and right go get them to go free.

 

[drenmaster]

Yea i did the same had a new harness built to bypass the ecu but no dice even with 12v directly to the two pins that control the movement. I just don't see how somthing so simple can go bad especially when it looks like its in really good shape.

I did read the polarity of the magnets can make these not operate. But looking at them it seems like they are still factory and never reglued in.

 

[toyotaboy80]

Use an OHM meter on those 3 prongs and make sure they still have continuity to the harness plug. Look to see where all the wires are going and make sure they have continuity to their respective spots.

The motor requires 5 wires to work. 1 main ground. 1 ground and 1 power to run the lock side and 1 ground and 1 power to run reverse and unlock.

The motor gets ground through the limit switch (the 3 prongs in the case) so ensure those are indexed properly.

The limit switch removes ground in a direction. So if its in the locked position, the lock ground wire wont be connected to ground anymore. The unlock ground wire will be grounded. And vice versa.

Post up your wire colours and I can tell you what they do.

Edit: Also there should be a tiny spring behind each motor brush. Are those still there?

 

[drenmaster]

New actuator did the trick!! I am still baffled at how the old one is not working but I can tear into down the road and have a spare. I was annoyed because when i hook the new one up nothing work again lol. I reseated the connectors and everything was good after that. Still have to get the wire routing sorted but its operating now.

 

[drenmaster]

Use an OHM meter on those 3 prongs and make sure they still have continuity to the harness plug. Look to see where all the wires are going and make sure they have continuity to their respective spots.

The motor requires 5 wires to work. 1 main ground. 1 ground and 1 power to run the lock side and 1 ground and 1 power to run reverse and unlock.

The motor gets ground through the limit switch (the 3 prongs in the case) so ensure those are indexed properly.

The limit switch removes ground in a direction. So if its in the locked position, the lock ground wire wont be connected to ground anymore. The unlock ground wire will be grounded. And vice versa.

Post up your wire colours and I can tell you what they do.

Edit: Also there should be a tiny spring behind each motor brush. Are those still there?

If you are talking about those Pain in the ass springs that fit in the housing than yes they are there. Had a couple close calls with them. I will use your info to trouble shoot the old actuator when i get some free time.

 

[aztoyman]

Glad you got it working. Thanks for updating your post. Dead end threads suck.

 

[drenmaster]

@aztoyman no problem. Ill keep it updated with any progress i make with the bad one. Are you still in marana? I need to find somone to wheel with! I am in tucson.

 

[aztoyman]

Yep, near I-10 and Tangerine Rd. My truck wont be ready for quite a while. I am excited to get it back on the trail though.

 

[drenmaster]

If you ever need a hand wrenching let me know. Thats the best way for me to learn!

 

[aztoyman]

Be careful what you offer. I might put you to work. I can manage a LOT of things by myself that I probably shouldn't. And that's probably why I am beat to hell.

 

[drenmaster]

I don’t nt mind man. Like i said its all about the learning experience for me!!

 

[aztoyman]

OK, you asked for it. I'll PM you when I need extra hands.

 

[toyotaboy80]

Ive had one of these motors apart before but I had since forgotten their exact mechanical operation. I am in the middle of rebuilding my rear end and just took my E locker motor apart for service. It appears to only go together one way, although the wiring directly controls the timing. For example it wont turn clockwise any more than maximum and it wont turn counter clockwise any more than maximum. I.e If ts already max clockwise, it will not try to turn anymore clockwise because the ground is removed. Power and ground must be applied for counter clockwise rotation.

To install the actuator into the diff, the gear(limit switch) needs to be installed in the middle of the lock-unlock throw. Marlin has the picture from the FSM on their webaite to index that properly.