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Dana 44 Locker Sensor Problems

ekim

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Will the Bronco have the same Dana 44 locker sensors as the Jeep? Seems like they are creating havoc for Jeeps. I see people complaining about the sensors and about the locker getting stuck in the "on" position due to some plunger sticking. I assume that Ford will have the same problem. Has anyone seen anything that confirms whether or not Bronco will suffer from this problem?
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Jr87mustang

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I would assume the Ford ones aren't going to have that problem.
 

soonerbronco

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My ā€˜20 JL rubicon (with 9k miles at the time) had this exact issue. Light came on in Nebraska on way to Wyoming for a 5000 mile road trip. The NE Jeep dealer said ā€œdonā€™t worry and drive itā€. When I got back to TN, my dealer replaced the entire rear axle under warranty (after a 4 week wait for axle to come in). Apparently, the sensor canā€™t be fixed; replacing the axle is only resolution.
 

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My ā€˜20 JL rubicon (with 9k miles at the time) had this exact issue. Light came on in Nebraska on way to Wyoming for a 5000 mile road trip. The NE Jeep dealer said ā€œdonā€™t worry and drive itā€. When I got back to TN, my dealer replaced the entire rear axle under warranty (after a 4 week wait for axle to come in). Apparently, the sensor canā€™t be fixed; replacing the axle is only resolution.
Glad the warranty covered it, but that's crazy the whole thing has to be replaced. Pardon if this is a naive question, but would "don't worry and drive it" cause any other problems? Especially for several thousand miles and 4 weeks? Idk a whole lot
 

Used2jeep

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Thats a scary thought that a tripped sensor forces an entire axle swap. ?
It might have been something with the machining of the axle that fell out of tolerance for the sensor.
 
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ekim

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I assume the the axles and sensor are Dana parts and not Jeep or Ford. If correct then Bronco will have same problem. I really don't want to be correct....

As it stands now the failing sensor on Jeeps cannot be purchased, so if it fails the only remedy is an entire axle swap. Another failure prone one if you're in warrantee and I suspect an aftermarket one that somehow eliminates the problem if you are not.

There is a $150 per axle electronic hack that basically bypasses the sense and fakes the computer out to believe the sensor is working.

I don't know if this would be a deal breaker for me, but it's something I'd like to fully understand before pulling the trigger.
 

mrcx

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Thats a scary thought that a tripped sensor forces an entire axle swap. ?
It's probably cheaper/easier for the manufacturer to send a new one than pay the labor for someone to tear apart the original, replace the sensor and put it all back together again. Plus if there is another issue with it you'd have the manufacturer and dealer pointing fingers at each other on whose fault it is now.
 

vrewald14

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My ā€˜20 JL rubicon (with 9k miles at the time) had this exact issue. Light came on in Nebraska on way to Wyoming for a 5000 mile road trip. The NE Jeep dealer said ā€œdonā€™t worry and drive itā€. When I got back to TN, my dealer replaced the entire rear axle under warranty (after a 4 week wait for axle to come in). Apparently, the sensor canā€™t be fixed; replacing the axle is only resolution.
Iā€™m not saying that youā€™re for sure wrong, but I find that VERY hard to believe that the whole axle HAD to be replaced. Damn that would be silly...

wonder if it was just the easiest way for the dealer to handle it - for whatever reason
 

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Will the Bronco have the same Dana 44 locker sensors as the Jeep? Seems like they are creating havoc for Jeeps. I see people complaining about the sensors and about the locker getting stuck in the "on" position due to some plunger sticking. I assume that Ford will have the same problem. Has anyone seen anything that confirms whether or not Bronco will suffer from this problem?

I would compare the Bronco's axle more to the Ranger's Dana axle than the Jeep's. IMO.

Don't know if the Ranger has had problems but I have not heard of any.
 

BAUS67

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Iā€™m not saying that youā€™re for sure wrong, but I find that VERY hard to believe that the whole axle HAD to be replaced. Damn that would be silly...

wonder if it was just the easiest way for the dealer to handle it - for whatever reason

It could be that they just wanted a few that have had problems to see what has gone wrong.

....... This is a true story. I had a customer that had an early production Duramax Chevy dually he used top haul trailers across the country. The injection pump ( I believe, not a diesel guy, sorry) gave up the fight. When the service department contacted the tech dept. they said to warranty it. Service dept. asked why the truck has 350K or more on it (again not a diesel guy, could have been more but the truck was only a couple of years old, at the time). Tech dept. response .... because we haven't had one fail and we want to see why it did. Take care of the guy. Guy still has the truck today and had close to 1M before he retired it from hauling duties.
 

kodiakisland

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E lockers in Tacomas are notorious for not disengaging. Maybe it's the design of an e locker over all.
 

soonerbronco

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Iā€™ll try to answer multiple questions on one post:

-the issue was the sensor, not the axle. Iā€™ve driven enough vehicles (currently still own a ā€˜97 FJZ80 with diff locks and a ā€˜17 Landcruiser(my daily driver, which is equipped with diff licks as standard)) with diff locks to know that my differentials were not locked while driving. Anyway, I was not concerned with any potential damage, other than the sensor. Fortunately, even with some of the trails I took on this road trip (rimrocker, imogene pass, ophir pass), I did not need to engage the diff locks. With a faulty sensor, I was afraid to engage with the fear of not being able to disengage.

-when I picked up my JL after the service, the first thing I did was to look under the vehicle to see if the axle was in fact new. It was spotless and had a sticker tag that would be impossible to have made it thru my road trip without a spec of dirt or discoloring. They absolutely replaced the entire axle.

I suspect (and hope) the sensor has been redesigned or re-sourced to eliminate the problem on the Broncos.
 

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Generally, an e-locker will be designed to default to an unlocked position if faulty. But that doesn't account for a condition where wear or damage might leave it stuck in lock mode, physically unable to release (or a position sensor giving bad readings).

Dana may or may not sell Ford the same locking diff as Jeep, even if they both use the same axle family. It is entirely possible that Ford gave them specs or requirements that necessitated a different design. But its worth noting that Ford already has this part in production for Ranger, so we can compare them if we can get a hold of the physical diff parts. But the Dana 44 / M220 have multiple variations, so works for Ford may not apply to Jeep.

It is also worth noting that Ford already has service procedures for the Ranger e-locker, both for replacing the diff within the axle and for replacing the actuation coil on the e-locker. So, I would not expect that an entire axle replacement would be required if specific aspects of it are faulty; they already have precedent for servicing them.
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