Locker Position Sensor Potting - DANA 44

[grimmjeeper]

Add me to the list of people who successfully applied your technique to my sensors. I did it to my 2022 Xtreme Recon with only 1,800 miles on it. I wasn't taking any chances. The worst part was getting that goo all over the place.

Just an idle thought, but it's probably all the steel and iron particles floating around in the diff oil. My front oil was crystal clear, but the rear was already black with microscopic particles on the magnets.

Thank you

With the front diff spinning a lot less that's normal. Mine was similar when I potted my sensors.

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[rdfact]

I potted mine recently on my XR with 14k miles. Front oil was clear. Rear was pretty dark. Lots of metal fuzz on the drain plug and the magnet the sensor reads but no metal chunks. Lockers do seem to connect and disconnect faster but that’s just parked on flat ground. Haven’t had a change to test them off-road yet.

 

[mgroeger]

I potted mine recently on my XR with 14k miles. Front oil was clear. Rear was pretty dark. Lots of metal fuzz on the drain plug and the magnet the sensor reads but no metal chunks. Lockers do seem to connect and disconnect faster but that’s just parked on flat ground. Haven’t had a change to test them off-road yet.

Color of the fluid you are describing is totally normal. The lockers can be a little finicky off road, if they stick a bit try moving forward and backwards or popping it in neutral and letting it coast a foot.

 

[rdfact]

Color of the fluid you are describing is totally normal. The lockers can be a little finicky off road, if they stick a bit try moving forward and backwards or popping it in neutral and letting it coast a foot.

Thanks. I should have clarified and said "Haven’t had a change to test them off-road since potting them."
I have used my lockers before and am aware they can be slow to lock or unlock if they're under load.

Big thanks to OP for the write up.

 

[HungryHound]

Thanks. I should have clarified and said "Haven’t had a change to test them off-road since potting them."
I have used my lockers before and am aware they can be slow to lock or unlock if they're under load.

Big thanks to OP for the write up.

He's describing the problem: JTE thought open sensors would be fine since diff juice isn't conductive. Somebody neglected the fact that shavings get thrown into the mix (literally) and cause conductive conditions which short-out the sensors.

 

[quikrick22]

Dealer just replaced my rear locker after it failed again. I can also confirm there is no change to the sensor (see pics)

Pulled it last night and got it potted.
Hopefully it will work for years to come.

Thank you for the write up!

 

[Gorilla57]

I finally potted my front sensor.....only took me 2 years from when I did the rear. The front was still dry inside, so that's a good thing. But.....last time wheeling, when I tried to turn the front locker on, the light blinked a few times, when solid, then blinked again. That was enough of a butt pucker to make me pot the front locker. After I removed it, there was plenty of metal dust on the drain plug magnet and the magnet that moves the slider ring back and forth for the locker to engage. Cleaned everything up, potted the sensor, and it works better that ever. So, I'm thinking that the metal dust on the magnet that connects to the slider ring was causing a connection error of sorts.

Thanks again to Shawn who figured this out for us.

 

[SloCal]

Also, if you're not comfortable drilling into the sensors, you can remove them and ship them to me. I'll pot them for free + cost of potting compound and then ship back. Not everyone is comfortable drilling into an electronics housing and I get that. It's not a hard job, just don't drill too far.

I know I’m a little late to the game here. But the community and I owe you a great deal of gratitude for 1) pulling together this information; 2) continuing to be engaged in the thread; and 3) offering to help fellow jEEpeers out with the fix w/o any labor costs. I’d like to buy you a beer sir I have been a wheeler for a fair stint, never had a purdy jeep like my JLUR before, but you embody oldskool wheeler mentality.

 

[chevymitchell]

I know I’m a little late to the game here. But the community and I owe you a great deal of gratitude for 1) pulling together this information; 2) continuing to be engaged in the thread; and 3) offering to help fellow jEEpeers out with the fix w/o any labor costs. I’d like to buy you a beer sir I have been a wheeler for a fair stint, never had a purdy jeep like my JLUR before, but you embody oldskool wheeler mentality.

Many thanks, man. I just truly enjoy this community. So, wherever I can help, I'll be happy to do so.

 

[dpowell5523]

I am a little late to the party but I just got the locker symbol on my dash yesterday. I just want to be clear in my thinking. If I have sensors with oil in them, I can clean them out and pot them and they should be fine? I have 1600 miles left on my extended warranty but have regeared. I have a mod friendly dealership, but not sure how mod friendly.

 

[chevymitchell]

I am a little late to the party but I just got the locker symbol on my dash yesterday. I just want to be clear in my thinking. If I have sensors with oil in them, I can clean them out and pot them and they should be fine? I have 1600 miles left on my extended warranty but have regeared. I have a mod friendly dealership, but not sure how mod friendly.

If the sensor has failed, there’s no recovering it. One of the capacitors inside has failed. You’ll have to replace it. The potting only helps if it’s done prior to failure.

 

[dpowell5523]

dammit. OK I have a little mileage left on the warranty. hopefully they don't give me crap about the regear.

 

[JLR_AEV]

@chevymitchell need some professional advice

Soooooo I poured the epoxy in the sensors, check on them 23 hours later and one of the sensors still has tacky/runny epoxy -_-
I am pretty sure it was the first one I did and not sure if the epoxy mixed well.

Has this happened to you/anyone on this thread?
Should I just let it sit to see if it dries? Or should I try to force more of the remaining epoxy i have left into the whole? Should I buy some silicon to cover the holes? Any solutions welcome

Thank you so much in advanced!

 

[chevymitchell]

@chevymitchell need some professional advice

Soooooo I poured the epoxy in the sensors, check on them 23 hours later and one of the sensors still has tacky/runny epoxy -_-
I am pretty sure it was the first one I did and not sure if the epoxy mixed well.

Has this happened to you/anyone on this thread?
Should I just let it sit to see if it dries? Or should I try to force more of the remaining epoxy i have left into the whole? Should I buy some silicon to cover the holes? Any solutions welcome

Thank you so much in advanced!

Hey there.

The cure time is very temperature and humidity sensitive.

If you used the mixing tip that comes with the compound, then it was mixed just fine.

Give it some more time and it should be OK. If it never cures, then you may need to wash it out and get a different tube of compound. I have yet to see this happen with the potting compound, but it certainly does happen with chemicals. I think you're OK. Just needs more time.

 

[JLR_AEV]

Hey there.

The cure time is very temperature and humidity sensitive.

If you used the mixing tip that comes with the compund, then it was mixed just fine.

Give it some more time and it should be OK. If it never cures, then you may need to wash it out and get a different tube of compound. I have yet to this happen with the potting compound, but it certainly does happen with chemicals. I think you're OK. Just needs more time.

Will do! I will maybe give it one more day or 12 hours just to see the consistency of it.
I feel like I will most likely need to fill it again
Crossing my fingers.

Thanks again!

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