ARB Air Locker
Troubleshoot FAQ
Gear
Oil Coming
From Solenoid:
3 Basic
Causes:
1. Clogged axle breather
vent:
The ARB Air
Locker system
naturally vents off slight amounts of pressure into the axle housing as
the diff operates (hence the reason the compressor cycles normally
every
4-10 minutes depending on O-ring condition). Additionally axles build up pressure as heat increases and the gear oil warms, hence the reason OE manufactures included axle breathers in their designs from the start. If the axle breather is
clogged
or blocked, it can create a high pressure situation (sounding like a weatherman?) inside the axle
housing
forcing gear oil fluid to penetrate the O-rings and into the air supply
line. When the air line pressure is vented, this gear oil will be
pushed
up to the solenoid and out the release port. Once a slight amount of gear oil is in the line it can almost create a siphon effect, pulling more fluid from behind it. Check the axle breather
for
adequate passage, clean/replace as needed. Remove air line at the
differential
bulkhead fitting, purge line with compressed air and re-install.
2. Overfilled differential:
Check for
proper gear oil
level in the differential in compliance with manufacture differential
specifications.
Remove air line at the differential bulkhead fitting, purge line with
compressed
air and re-install.
3. O-ring failure:
Excessively
worn or improperly
installed O-rings on the Air Locker carrier can lead to gear oil
penetrating
the air system. When the air line pressure is vented, this gear oil
will
be pushed up to the solenoid and out the release port. Replace O-rings
to correct problem.
Other Possible Scenarios:
Damage to the Air Locker Seal Housing - Replace as needed
Damage to the Air Locker cylinder cap (seal surface for the O-Rings) - Replace as needed
Damage to the adjuster nut, usually caused by improper installation resulting in a seal housing that can't seat flat against the nut - Replace as needed
Case Study:
Oil seepage from solenoid - We installed an ARB RD33/CKSA12 into the
back of a 97' LX450 (80 Series Land Cruiser), the locker was bench
tested and held pressure prior to installation. The customer wired his
own compressor, thus the axle had never even been pressurized on the
vehicle while the problem started occurring. We started with the
easiest solution first, which was to make sure the axle had adequate
breathers. We added a much larger breather setup, cleaned the air lines
with compressed air and then pressure tested the system again.
Everything functioned as planned.
Approximately
2 weeks later, the customer was having the same symptoms again, small
amounts of gear lube leaking from the top of the solenoid (discharge
vent) as it sat overnight, regardless of whether or not the locker was
operated recently. At this point we decided to go ahead and pull the
3rd member and inspect the o-rings and seal housing for any obvious
problems. Upon disassembly the only thing we could see was looked to be
a small "manufacturing" mark on the cylinder cap of the Air Locker...
however it was minor enough that we felt comfortable reinstalling the
locker with new O-rings. The locker was bench tested using 110 psi (far
more than the operational pressure of the locker), it tested above and
beyond ARB's specifications. We reinstalled the 3rd member, buttoned
everything up and cleaned out the air lines, once again using
compressed air. The locker functioned as planned, we probably cycled it
a hundred time over the course of a day, each time it worked
flawlessly. Problem solved?
Another
month goes by and I get a call from the customer, I had actually called
him the day before just to double check that everything was holding up
as planned... bad news, the solenoid was "drizzling" lube once again,
enough to notice and cause lube to be "sprayed" after disengaging the
locker. I place a call to the tech gurus at ARB, hoping they could
think of something that we had missed. We covered the diff breathers,
o-rings, etc... the only thing he could thing of is that we didn't get
the lube completely cleaned out of the locker assembly. His analogy was
"oil on a table", you can blow it with air all you want, but its just
going to coat the entire table. He recommended using some brake cleaner
to clean all of the residual air out of the lines. This seems
plausible, we had no way of knowing how much lube was inside the piston
assembly of the air locker, not to mention all the residual lube inside
the plastic line that didn't get removed by the compressed air method
(using the compressor).
Our next
step is to clear the lines one more time... this time using some brake
cleaner and higher pressure to really clear everything out. However if
the amount of fluid leaking stays consistent between now and the time
we get the customers truck in our hand... this is likely not the issue.
If that is determined, we will once again pull the 3rd member, this
time paying VERY close attention to the minor "scars" we noted on the
cylinder cap, I have another cap ready to go if that turns out to be
the case. Stay tuned, if you have any suggestions/ideas let me know!!
To date
this is the ONLY locker I have dealt with that has experienced issues
as such, we have literally sold and installed hundreds of lockers over
the past 10+ years, and while we have had some isolated issues with
o-rings, nothing like this case. While o-rings have failed in the past,
I am convinced this unit has some issue besides the o-rings. All things
considered I'm still 100% sold on the Air
Lockers!
UPDATE:
We went ahead and pulled the 3rd again, the amount of fluid coming from
the solenoid was enough to prevent the locker from functioning. We
replaced the cylinder cap, u-ring/bonded seal, and used the newly
introduced "square" cross-section o-rings. Rechecked the system using
our pressure tester, re-installed the differential, and again rechecked
the pressure. The lines were purged and cleaned and reinstalled on the
differential. Fast forward several months and it is dry as a bone!!!
TROUBLESHOOTING
Air
Line Supply
Disruptions:
3 Basic
Air Supply Disruptions:
1. Compressor
fails to
switch on
- a.
Electrical fault (most
common, usually a fuse, wiring, relay)
- b.
Mechanical fault in
compressor (rare)
- c. Isolating
switch fitted
and not turned on (as in a aux. fuse block switch)
2. Compressor
fails to
switch off
- a.
Electrical fault (pressure
switch)
- b. Air leak
(compressor
trying to meet pressure switch required)
3. Lockers
fail to engage
when button is pressed on
- a.
Electrical fault (see
part 1)
- b. Seized or
leaking solenoid
valve (easy to swap, relatively cheap)
- c.
Mechanical fault in
compressor (rare as mentioned before)
- d.
Inadequate air line
pressure.
Common
Solutions:
1.a &
3.a:
- Check the
battery terminal
is connected
- Check all
connections
are secure, no loose or disconnected wires
- Check the
fuse (system
only requires one 30 amp fuse)
- Check
pressure switch
relay & dash mounted switches
(a simple
multi meter/test
light can be used for all testing)
1.b:
- If
mechanical fault is
suspected in compressor (return to ARB service center)\
1.c:
- Test all
functions of
isolating block with multi meter/test light
2.a:
- Check that
pressure switch
is functioning using multi meter/test light
2.b:
- Air leakage
can occur
at several locations in the air supply system for a number of reasons.
2.b.1 - Check
all connections
2.b.2 - If
leak is detected
at fittings, remove, clean, apply sealant, and tighten.
3.b:
- Solenoid
valves (Part#
180102 & 180103) can be disassembled and cleaned.
- Assemble
onto compressor
using hydraulic sealant (Loctite 569)
- If solenoid
continues
to fail, replace with new (or tested used) solenoid unit
3.c:
- If
mechanical fault in
Air Locker is suspected, remove differential and inspect
3.d:
- Using a
pressure gauge
on the line in question, measure the air line pressure. Pressure
readings
should match ARB specifications of
ARB
Compressor Fault
Diagnosis Procedure:
COMING
SOON! (email if
needed)
Install Notes:
Time and time again you hear somebody comment against the ARB Air Locker based on their experiences their 'buddy' had with one or some similar scenario. There is no mistaking that the ARB Air Locker does take special effort during the install however its of our opinion that these special install techniques don't detract from the units reliability or longevity, rather they just need to be done right for years of trouble free performance with your Air Locker. Cruiser Outfitters has been selling and installing ARB Air Lockers for over 15 years, literally hundreds of installs in various Toyota applications. We don't offer non-Toyota installs, we've become intimately familiar with all aspects of the Toyota application installs and we've chosen to limit ourselves there. Be sure your chosen installers has the knowledge to properly install an ARB Air Locker system, including correctly routing and tapping the differential housing for the air supply line, installing the bulkhead fitting kit properly and bench testing the unit to pressure before installing it back in the axle or sending it out for customer install. We bench test all of our built differentials at 100 psi for a minimum of on hour, under several different conditions. If any leak down is noted we address the o-rings or related air supply components before you get the differential in your axle, at which point its too late for a quick fix.
Install Errors:
Some of the install pictures that have been sent our way or we've had come into the shop over the years. Again we can't stress enough that while the ARB Air Lockers are not any more difficult to install than any standard carrier, there are a few special considerations that the installer needs to be familiar with such as where to drill and tap for the air supply line, this includes knowing which side of the axle housing to drill it on.

While it might be easier to route the line to the bottom of the differential on the inside of the housing, please do not! It goes without saying that this isn't going to end well for this locker setup.

Another case of install error. In this case the drill and tap location for the bulkhead fitting apparently wasn't given much attention or thought ahead of time. This customer ended up having to completely disassemble the axle to relocate the air supply setup.

Yet another case of install error. In this case the installer likely assumed this housing was a standard rotation low pinion where in fact it is a high pinion reverse rotation 80 Series front. At least in this case the problem was caught before the differential made it back into the vehicle and the installer was able to plug their mistake
Links: The Truth About Air Lockers - From the February, 2009 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road
Information
contributed by:
Cruiser
Outfitters
ARB Air
Locker Service
Manual
September 2003
*See
something missing,
wrong, or incomplete? Please let us know!
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Outfitters, cruiseroutfitters.com, its owners, contributors, employees
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