Eaton E-Locker not working - any ideas?

  • Was up at Rausch on Saturday and my E-Locker (Rear Diff) stopped working at some point on the ride.


    Wondering if anyone has any diagnosis ideas that don't involve major exploratory surgery?


    Here's what I have done so far:

    • Checked power connections
    • Swapped out 10 Amp fuse just in case
    • Examined cable as closely as possible from front to rear. There was some slack near the area of the driver door (it pretty much follows frame all the way back). I wondered if something tugged it. However, no obvious breaks in the wires that I could find all the way back to where the wires enter the differential.
    • I have a switch mounted on the pillar post. Did some tight turns on pavement to see if the unit was actually on in spite of the switch light being dark. No luck.
  • You should be able to hear the pins engage to confirm that part of everything is working. Stapen and I rebuilt mine a year or so ago, it's a common problem that the engagement pins wear down causing it to slip. Check this: http://www.fullsizebronco.com/…n-repair-56k-go-away.html



    The only place I was able to find the repair kit for an 8.8 was Tom's Differential.

  • No, I haven't done that, yet. Did you just use a voltmeter? (reply intended for Jay)


    Stafford, I haven't heard the pins engage since this cropped up. It led me to wonder if that was because of a break in the wires somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it yet.

  • my front E-Locker stopped working (at rausch creek )went through hell trying to figure it out. Checked power to the switch, checked the switch,checked the wires from switch to the connecter,pulled the dif cover & put power to the solenoid everything checked out. drove me crazy for couple months, finally took it to Jeff Daniels Jeeps. Cost me $39.00. What was it you say? The plastic conector at the differential had a hairline crack & when pushed together the metal pins inside could move so it wasn't making good contact. Make sure to check the $2.00 plastic conecters aren't the problem .

  • So, it doesn't seem to be drawing any power from the battery when I flip the switch on. My switch is on the pillar post and has an LED light in it. The light doesn't turn on when I flip the switch and it is drawing no power at the battery. I guess that could mean a problem with the switch (unlikely I think) or with the E-Locker connectors/converters in their bundle.

  • I don't have an elocker so I might not be much help. Most of the single pole switches I have seen with a light in them have three terminals. One is from a positive source and should have battery power to it either all the time or when the ignition is on. The second terminal is the switched power and should be on when the switch has power and is in the on position. The third terminal goes to ground to make the internal light work.
    If the light does not work when on, then either the switch isn't getting power, the ground terminal isn't grounded, or the bulb is out.
    I would connect a test light from a known ground and probe the wires at the terminals. In the off position there should be one hot wire, in the on position there should be two. The ground wire would then be the third terminal, which you could connect the test light to and probe back to the now known hot wire to check that it is grounded.
    Sometimes a multimeter will give weird results where a test light works better.

  • I'm assuming you checked the fuse and the relay in the Eaton wiring harness. My old Auburn ECTED was blowing fuses because of a short in the wiring. The light on the switch wouldn't light when the fuse was blown.


    I pulled the diff cover off my suspect E-Locker this weekend and confirmed that the electromagnet was engaging -- it is, and there were no broken parts I could see, so I guess the locker must be working.

  • did you check to see if it is drawing power when the ignition is on? probably wouldn't if the key is off.


    should there be a light on all the time on the switch? ie, my switch for the light bar has letters that say "led light bar" when ever the ignition is on, then when i turn the light on, a light icon illuminates.


    if still no power when the ignition is on, u know you are getting power at the connection to the battery, just keep testing up the line until you find a problem. is there 12V after the fuse? if yes, 12V at the switch, if yes, check ground at the switch...

  • The light on the switch only turns on when I activate it - and might not until the locker actually engages. I have noticed a delay in the past until I move forward slightly to where the pins can engage, then the light comes on. Really hope I have a wiring issue and not an issue with the magnet!


    Will follow up on your testing ideas as soon as I get some time. Luckily not a critical issue for getting around day-to-day.

  • Update: So, I pulled a lot of the wiring out of the protective plastic gizmo to check if maybe there was a break caused by whatever created the slack mentioned in the first post. There is a connection just beyond the fuses, etc that come with the Eaton wiring harness. Basically that is the start of the wiring heading down the frame towards the rear diff.


    There was a small crack in one of the connectors. While I didn't think that was the issue, I reconnected both wires just in case, bundled everything up again, pushed the button, and ...bupkus. :hmm:


    I had kind of resigned myself to following Haugwild's approach and taking it up to Jeff Daniels sometime. And then, this morning, I pressed the button again and Boom it worked. 8o The locker definitely engaged with my tires squelching down the driveway.


    My guess is that I might still have an issue like Haugwild and maybe some connection just happens to be engaged right now. Time will tell. But, the good news is that I don't seem to have a problem with the locker itself.

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