Rear lockers staying locked.

[ronhallam]

Ok, Lockers light came on while in 2 wheel drive. I take my 2018 Rubicon JL with 47,000 miles to the Jeep dealer to check it out because I still have 6 months left on the 5 year power train warranty.
They ordered new sensors and other parts under warranty. The jeep tech was having problem putting it back together and then realized it had been regeared to 513, and I knew that.
Luckily, they stood by the parts for warranty and didn't charge. But he still couldn't get the lockers to unlock. He said if I put the original gears back in the lockers would work. I do have the parts. I talked to a lot of knowledgeable people since then and said that doesn't make any difference.
SO, I called the previous owner and ask who regeared it and he told me. I called and they said, BS it should work. The jeep shop said drive it home. I did and parked until the other shop could look at it. As I was driving it to other shop the left rear brake area was blowing out smoke, pulled over and fluid leaking out the axle just above the rotors. I had it towed back to Jeep and he said now the axle was trashed. What kind of tech would say drive it home? they should of told me to be safe tow it the other place.
Now the Service Manager says since you changed out the gears you have to change the lockers to match? IS THAT A TRUE STATEMENT? I contacted the shop that did the switch and they advised they never swap out lockers.
Everyone else I have contacted says NO, you don't have to change the lockers!!!
I feel the Jeep dealer at least owes me an axle, and I will take it somewhere else to fix!!

Any input would be appreciated!

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[word302]

Ok, Lockers light came on while in 2 wheel drive. I take my 2018 Rubicon JL with 47,000 miles to the Jeep dealer to check it out because I still have 6 months left on the 5 year power train warranty.
They ordered new sensors and other parts under warranty. The jeep tech was having problem putting it back together and then realized it had been regeared to 513, and I knew that.
Luckily, they stood by the parts for warranty and didn't charge. But he still couldn't get the lockers to unlock. He said if I put the original gears back in the lockers would work. I do have the parts. I talked to a lot of knowledgeable people since then and said that doesn't make any difference.
SO, I called the previous owner and ask who regeared it and he told me. I called and they said, BS it should work. The jeep shop said drive it home. I did and parked until the other shop could look at it. As I was driving it to other shop the left rear brake area was blowing out smoke, pulled over and fluid leaking out the axle just above the rotors. I had it towed back to Jeep and he said now the axle was trashed. What kind of tech would say drive it home? they should of told me to be safe tow it the other place.
Now the Service Manager says since you changed out the gears you have to change the lockers to match? IS THAT A TRUE STATEMENT? I contacted the shop that did the switch and they advised they never swap out lockers.
Everyone else I have contacted says NO, you don't have to change the lockers!!!
I feel the Jeep dealer at least owes me an axle, and I will take it somewhere else to fix!!

Any input would be appreciated!

The dealer has no idea what they are talking about, but I wouldn’t expect to have anything covered under warranty since you have re-geared axles.

 

[ronhallam]

I didn't,,, the tech just tore into without asking questions. now they ruined my axle.

 

[J0E]

Another horror story regearing. At this point I'd get an attorney. From your description, it's clear they cause the axle failure.

 

[DonBindas]

My stock 2020 JLU Rubicon had the same issue while traveling in 2WD on the freeway at 70 MPH with 27,000 miles on the odometer. At this point in time-I never had the Jeep off road in the 4WD mode yet. The Jeep dealer said the locker activator switch was a common problem that they used to replace the entire rear end assembly to fix under warranty. Now, they just replace the faulty switch in the differential. My problem was just limited to remote control locker issues and the switch can be bought separately from the dealer.

 

[bjm00se]

What a cluster.

And first, yes, you do NOT change the actual differential when swapping gear sets for different gear ratios. (There do exist some differentials for which a carrier swap is required when regearing. So it's not a *complete* BS statement. But it doesn't apply in this case to these Jeeps.)

But on to the practical advice:

Unless the dealer did something obvious like fail to put oil in the diff before they gave it to you to drive home, you're gonna have trouble making it stick to them. They're gonna have the credible defense of "well, it was already broken when you brought it to us, complete failure was only a matter of time."

Meanwhile, the other shop can say "You had a locker fail. You drove it to the dealer. You weren't experiencing drivability problems. Advice to drive it here was sound based on the information you gave us."

You're in a position where you need some shop or dealer to fix your axle. None of them are going to offer to do it for free at this point. If I'm picking who I'm going to pay to get the job done, I'm going with a 4x4 shop that does gears and axles on Jeeps all the time; rather than a dealer that only knows how to swap in factory parts.

After the dust settles, you can try and document everything, keeping meticulous written records and photographing everything, to try and recover the cost from the dealer via a small claims court claim. But this is an uphill battle. It's not what you know, it's what you can prove. As mentioned above - they can make the defense that it was already broken when you brought it to them.

Good luck.

 

[Jamrock]

What a cluster.

I wish I could give you better news. This is not a good position to be in.

There is a well known issue with Rubicons. Oil gets into the locker position sensor and damages it. The sensor is no longer able to identify the status of the locker and the light comes on.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/“service-axle-locker-system”-light-on.13241/

There is a preventative measure that can be done before the sensor is damaged. This procedure makes the sensor oil proof.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/locker-position-sensor-potting-dana-44.59581/

It is also possible to bypass the sensor by installing a Z locker cable.
https://www.zautomotive.com/product/z_lkr_oem/

Initially, the dealers had to replace the entire axle to fix the issue. Eventually replacement sensors became available for sale. As a result, the dealers were able to replace the sensor.

Your issue has been complicated by the fact that a re-gear was done. As bjm00se has said, it will be difficult, if not impossible to get anyone to take responsibility.

The stock, original components have been changed. The dealer can say that the warranty is no longer valid.

The shop that did the re-gear can say that the damage was done by the dealer.

I suspect that you may have to pay for a replacement axle. Check the forums to see if there are axles for sale. Members who upgrade to more robust third party axles sometimes have fairly new stock axles for sale.

Please let us know how things progress.

 

[ronhallam]

Well the sensor where covered and then the Jeep tech found a few other things and ordered parts under warranty. When he went back to put everything together he had trouble. He never asked if the jeep had been regeared. SO when I picked it up I had $0 pay and the tech said take it to the shop that re gered it. SO I drove it straight home, about 12 miles parked it in my garage and found out from previous owner who installed the gears. I got an appointment for the next Monday and as I was driving it there fluid was leaking out the axle onto the rotor causing the rotor to smoke bad. I call wrecker and hauled it back to Jeep dealer. They never called for a week. I had to go stand in front of the service manage and ask more questions. We rehashed everything and I said no one called and asked if it had re geared. I said when a Rubicon comes in with 37 inch tires should that not set an alarm in your techs head?? Now they say since I drove it it tore up the splined on the axle. I said when I picked it up no service advisor told NOT to drive. They drove out of yard handed me the keys. I know I got lucky on their mistake about covering it on warranty, but now I think owe me an axle, and Ill take and let someone fix everything because I dont think the Service manager knows anything about jeeps. Also Jeep installs lockers at the factory with the idea, assumption that probably it will get bigger tires and be re geared. Maybe some lawyer ought to file class action!

 

[Jamrock]

I get it. I understand what you are saying. It is not a good situation to be in.

Let us know how things work out.

 

[word302]

Well the sensor where covered and then the Jeep tech found a few other things and ordered parts under warranty. When he went back to put everything together he had trouble. He never asked if the jeep had been regeared. SO when I picked it up I had $0 pay and the tech said take it to the shop that re gered it. SO I drove it straight home, about 12 miles parked it in my garage and found out from previous owner who installed the gears. I got an appointment for the next Monday and as I was driving it there fluid was leaking out the axle onto the rotor causing the rotor to smoke bad. I call wrecker and hauled it back to Jeep dealer. They never called for a week. I had to go stand in front of the service manage and ask more questions. We rehashed everything and I said no one called and asked if it had re geared. I said when a Rubicon comes in with 37 inch tires should that not set an alarm in your techs head?? Now they say since I drove it it tore up the splined on the axle. I said when I picked it up no service advisor told NOT to drive. They drove out of yard handed me the keys. I know I got lucky on their mistake about covering it on warranty, but now I think owe me an axle, and Ill take and let someone fix everything because I dont think the Service manager knows anything about jeeps. Also Jeep installs lockers at the factory with the idea, assumption that probably it will get bigger tires and be re geared. Maybe some lawyer ought to file class action!

A class action for what? The shop that did the re-great likely screwed something up. Note that the dealer also tore it apart I’m guessing it’s just going to turn into a finger-pointing contest. This is why I do everything myself.

 

[58Willys]

Did the dealer pull the axle? If so, they probably screwed up the seal. If not, the re-gear shop owns it.

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