Rubicon E-locker repair

[nsjeepster]

Hi All

My e-locker was not engaging when I pressed the switch for the front locker. checked wiring OK ., pulled front cover on diff drained fluid and cleaned carrier with brake clean. Wires go into a locker engager which when charged, force a collar to pop out. I could see collar in center of locker engager but it would not move, with locker turned on. Used a small screw driver and pushed out collar while e-locker was on. It came out. It worked a few times once I got it loose but jammed.
Next I pulled out carrier (hint the 8 mill bolt holding plug into diff needs to be removed and plug lifted out now held in by rubber o ring and grit LOL. Then the wires can be unplugged from bottom of that piece) Once the carrier is out, the bearing on carrier on the engager side needs to be pulled off with bearing remover tool. After that, the engager is removed. What I found was a ridge of metal that was built up on collar's outside edge and on the end of piece that collar slid in and out on. The red shows the edges that need attention. These should be smooth with no ridges. I used a small file to remove the ridges on both pieces then a ton of brake clean to remove debris from all of the in collar inside and out till I didn't see any more crap dripping out .
The collar would now move freely in and out by tipping it up or down. I reinstalled collar, bearing and axle seals while it was out. ( might as well as they are easy to get at) then added royal purple fluid and put it back together and all works flawless! Wish I took pictures Sorry! Not sure if this is the case for all e-locked Rubicon JKs but it was the issue with mine so I thought id share my findings ! Happy Trails!

Ps thanks for use of pic

 

[suicideking]

Nice work! I'll save a link to this thread! :thumb:

 

[nsjeepster]

updated with pictures

 

[tpietzsch]

Thanks for posting this. I broke my front housing a while back and transferred all the internals over to a new unit once cleaned and inspected. My locker worked on the bench and in the Jeep for a while but now has stopped functioning properly. Wishful thinking I suppose but I'm hopeful my issue is similar to yours, meaning, maybe some trash was run through the magnet area etc. With the carrier on the bench I can engage the ring and dog clutch with my fingers so things slide easily etc. I put 12 volts to it and I can tell the electromagnet is energizing because I can see gear fluid squishing out from the case the magnet is housed in however, its not engaging the locker. I can rotate the electromagnet around and around....sometimes its butter smooth and other times I can feel a "slight sketchy" drag (assuming whatever is causing the drag may be the culprit). I plan to pull off the bearing and electromagnet to see what I see. On disassembly the fluid looked good, no shavings or weird smell.

If I find the issue I'll snap some pics and share for others.

 

[tpietzsch]

The collar within the electromagnet is extremely tight and dirty. There are also some burrs that will need attention. Nothing to compare to but the magnet seems pretty weak. Maybe it doesn't take much swimming in a pool of gear lube.

 

[tpietzsch]

Some additional photos of the damage caused by running trash through the electromagnetic assembly. I was able to clean up all the pieces and de-burr. The collar now moves freely and engages when hit with 12volts. 2k miles in and all still works properly. It's a bummer replacement parts are not available but 99% of owners prolly don't have these types of issues. All of you are the 1%ers.... I will however be keeping an eye out for a donor electromagnet assembly. A good little project and the tolerances where that collar moves is tight so keep your diff fluid clean by changing at regular intervals, just my $.02. All in all the design is really simple. Hopefully these pics can be helpful to someone down the road. Also attached are the carrier bearing part#s.