Locker Position Sensor Potting - DANA 44

[LukeDagny]

Mine was replaced under warranty by dealer.

Was yours replaced under the original 36 month/36K mile warranty?

Mine is a 2021 with 37k+ miles. I bought it, last year, with 20k miles. I only have the Mopar CPO extended warranty

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[UncleArt]

Thanks @chevymitchell for the write-up.
Besides my failed rear sensor being about 90% full of oil, the flag was jammed with metal particles!
30k miles, gear oil still a little golden, housing was clean, & the mag plug had some metal. I ended using sensor #1 from the Mopar replacement sensor kit.

Also I didn’t need to pull the bearing cap as my Icon t-handle wrench easily cleared the cap bolt.

I potted the sensor & will let it cure overnight - install tomorrow late morning.

 

[Terrymo]

Thanks @chevymitchell for the write-up.
Besides my failed rear sensor being about 90% full of oil, the flag was jammed with metal particles!
30k miles, gear oil still a little golden, housing was clean, & the mag plug had some metal. I ended using sensor #1 from the Mopar replacement sensor kit.

Also I didn’t need to pull the bearing cap as my Icon t-handle wrench easily cleared the cap bolt.

Did you pot the new sensor?

 

[UncleArt]

Did you pot the new sensor?

Yes I did - it’s curing as we speak. I’ll install it tomorrow late morning!

 

[LukeDagny]

Well the plot thickens for my Jeep. The $7.20 part came in, but it doesn't look like a sensor, just a pass through connector. The dealership insisted my warning light is caused by this connector getting exposed to oil.

Maybe I got lucky and my repair is a lot less than everybody else.

 

[UncleArt]

Well the plot thickens for my Jeep. The $7.20 part came in, but it doesn't look like a sensor, just a pass through connector. The dealership insisted my warning light is caused by this connector getting exposed to oil.

Maybe I got lucky and my repair is a lot less than everybody else.

Not likely your problem.

I replaced this connector as well; because oil was leaking through it. I wanted a new one, so I didn’t need to clean the old one. I filled both sides with dielectric grease; hoping that will block the gear oil coming through.

 

[LukeDagny]

Not likely your problem.

I replaced this connector as well; because oil was leaking through it. I wanted a new one, so I didn’t need to clean the old one. I filled both sides with dielectric grease; hoping that will block the gear oil coming through.

Thanks for the info. I don't expect this connector to solve my problem, but a $130 diagnostic fee from the dealer insisted.

 

[UncleArt]

Thanks for the info. I don't expect this connector to solve my problem, but a $130 diagnostic fee from the dealer insisted.

I bought my sensor kit from Mopar Parts Online:
https://parts.moparonlineparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-axle-sensor-kit-68544629aa

sensor #1 ended up working for me.

 

[LukeDagny]

I bought my sensor kit from Mopar Parts Online:
https://parts.moparonlineparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-axle-sensor-kit-68544629aa

sensor #1 ended up working for me.

I ordered the parts, but how did you determine which sensor worked? Connect each one, individually, and then turn on the ignition, but don't start the engine?

 

[UncleArt]

I ordered the parts, but how did you determine which sensor worked? Connect each one, individually, and then turn on the ignition, but don't start the engine?

Yep. That’s exactly what I did & I was in 4-Lo & cycled the locker also. It’s just trial & error.

 

[WannFly]

Finally did this today. Kudos to @chevymitchell for posting the steps. I drilled the holes a little differently and with a lot of patience.

I used a drill stop, 1/8 inch for the top plastic, 1/2 inch for the rear and freehanded this. I did not want to use a drill press or a vice since I wanted to feel when the drill gets through the plastic. It worked (thankfully) as I expected.

First, use something like this pick tool to and press it in lightly and turn it a few times so that it makes a little dent in the plastic.

Then, this is how I drilled it. This is a test of patience. I stopped every few seconds, blew out the plastic that was accumulating in the drill stop.

Another angle:

Set the drill stop at little shy of 1/8 inch. That is good enough. I did touch the PCB once (front locker sensor), but there was no damage that I could see.

For the rear, see the measurements below. The Blue dot it where you will hit something inside the housing, if you set your drill stop to 1/2 inch, it should work just fine. Again, do it very slowly, the back plastic is very thin, and you will feel when the drill bit goes through it. As soon as the drill bit goes through the plastic, release the trigger. This is another reason to just touch the trigger and use the slowest rotation you can achieve while drilling.

Another way to know if your drill bit has penetrated the rear side, is to spray copious amounts of contact cleaner (put the nozzle right around the hole) and you will be able to feel the cleaner coming out on the other side.

Final result - I sprayed a crap load of contact cleaner on them, so will let it dry overnight and pot it tomorrow.

Rear:

 

[WannFly]

This is a dumb question, but I would rather ask before I do something even dumber.

Per first page instructions:

I combed through everything I could find including the full torque specs thread and the only thing I can find is bearing cap bolt. Are we talking about the same thing here?

80 ft-lb for front
48 ft-lb for rear

 

[chevymitchell]

This is a dumb question, but I would rather ask before I do something even dumber.

Per first page instructions:

I combed through everything I could find including the full torque specs thread and the only thing I can find is bearing cap bolt. Are we talking about the same thing here?

80 ft-lb for front
48 ft-lb for rear

Yeah. Same same.

I'd use the Dana spec though. It's the same front and rear.:

 

[UncleArt]

This is a dumb question, but I would rather ask before I do something even dumber.

Per first page instructions:

I combed through everything I could find including the full torque specs thread and the only thing I can find is bearing cap bolt. Are we talking about the same thing here?

80 ft-lb for front
48 ft-lb for rear

If you have a longer torx driver, you don’t need to remove the cap. Like this:

 

[WannFly]

Yeah. Same same.

I'd use the Dana spec though. It's the same front and rear.:

Sweet. I will do the same. It bugs me when they give a range lol. I will just do 70 and call it good.

b/w got the lockers potted today, cleaned with acetone after 5 hours. Thanks again for helping a newbie out.

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