Does anyone know what voltage an e-locker is supposed to receive from the oem control module? I retrofitted an e-locker into my 86' 4runner and wired it using relays based on this write-up...

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/electric_locker/

I used the relay method, but did not use the resistors. Prior to installing the relays I tested the e-locker (and used it a few times on the trail) using a drill battery. While setting up my relays I applied 12v power to the e-locker motor and got no response. The motor gets hot but makes absolutely no sound and I can't feel it doing anything. Did I fry my motor by sending 12v power to it? I'm a novice with electricity, I can setup relays and follow directions (or can I?) but don't understand all the fundamentals behind them. I read somewhere that the factory module steps the power down to 5v for the e-locker, but I only found that info in one place and now I can't find it.

I'll remove the motor and disassemble to confirm it's not just jammed, but I imagine I would hear it attempting to move if that were the case.

Thanks,

—Josh

 

Welcome to YT!

I would say 12v...

What exactly do you mean tested on the trail? Like hot wired it? What size drill battery, 12v, 18v...?

 

DC Motor it will take any system voltage the higher the voltage the faster it turns.

As the voltage drops it will of course get to the point it will no longer turn just like a starter.

Then if things are not lined up or any sort of mechanical failure.

Perhaps you have your relays wired wrong so your telling the motor to turn in both directions at once. Which would make it warm.

switches or switch wired wrong??

Just what circuit protection did you use??

 

I think it was an 18V drill battery. I crawled under the truck and used it to directly power the motor prior to installing relays. When I went to install the relays later is when the motor seemed dead, so I just disconnected them and tried sending power strait to the motor from a 12v power wire in the truck with a 15amp fuse on it. I tried disconnecting the locker from the 3rd member and still no luck, but maybe something inside the motor is jammed. I just figured the toot was fried since it wasn't making any sound or "struggling", only heating up. I'll report back once I have time to pull the elocker and open it up.

 

The 4x4 wire article you referenced mentions possible problems with it jamming if you drive the motor too hard. (without the resistors). There's a good chance that's what's happened to yours.

 

I pulled the e-locker today and went through it. i was happy to see that the internals looked great. Clean grease, no corrosion on moving parts or wiring, brushes in tact with lots of life left. The spring was loaded so I think the motor may have jammed, as previously mentioned. And after removing the spring and still getting no results, I discovered that one of my alligator clips wasn't working (rookie move)! The motors working again with no problems now. I'll definitely hook up those resistors when I wore my relays back up.

One issue I did run into during reinstallation, and possibly the cause of my original problem, was indexing. I'm following these instructions on marlin crawler...

https://www.marlincrawler.com/tech/guide/how-index-your-electric-locker-motor

Since my install is a retrofit I have two studs and one bolt mounting the e-locker. I'm assuming they're originally mounted using only bolts? It says to insert the locker gear and then rotate counter-clockwise, but with studs I can't seem to do that. Is this to load the spring? I'll remove the studs to achieve this, but I ran out of time/light today. Nothing like wrenching under a truck as it gets dark on the street in San Francisco!

 

Remember when you remove the elocker diff, you have to lock it. Either electrically or by hand. So, if you removed the motor while it was in the unlocked position, slid the collar over to pull the diff and then forgot to slide the collar back over after reinstalling the diff and then installed the motor....you will bind it all up.

The FSM instructions provided my Marlin are.....kind of understandable. It wouldn't hurt to run the motor thru electrically a couple times before you install it. Then run it thru a couple time after you install it to check to make sure you installed it right!

I only remember one bolt and that was for the cheezy metal cover thingy...