Diff locks.

DCPU · Jun 29, 2023

Slightly off topic but I see an aftermarket company are putting Eaton e lockers into the Toyota Land Cruiser - "Terrain Tamer releases 300 Series LandCruiser rear ELocker kit" in Australia.

"ELockers are manually engaged by the driver of the vehicle, with the simple press of a button. If you need extra traction to drive a challenging object, push the button and the rear differential is now locked. When you have successfully conquered whatever was in your way, turn the locker off and you’re good to find the next challenge."

"Over the phone, I was quoted $1871 for the diff locker itself, and $164.56 for the required bearings and gaskets. This price doesn’t include fitting naturally, but the supply cost is pretty darn reasonable if you ask me."

Terrain Tamer releases 300 Series LandCruiser rear ELocker kit

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unsealed4x4.com.au

I wonder if they would do a kit for the Grenadier?

bemax · Jul 2, 2023

yesterday I tested the diff locks again. I did so on flat damp soil. After locking the center diff (it works nearly smooth by now) I started locking the rear diff. When the yellow light for the rear one began to flash and nothing happened after some seconds I also pushed the button of the front diff. I thought they might switch in in a row then.
Unfortunately I got a message „error front diff lock“ which didn’t disappeared after disengaging the other locks. I tried to „reset“ the locks by disengaging the central lock but the red warning remained in the display.
Switching the engine off and on again didn’t help.
I parked the car and tried again after more than a hour and the error had disappeared. I did not try to engage any lock again as I let the car in the garage.
As far as I felt it, the front diff lock didn’t engage at all during this test!

DCPU · Jul 2, 2023

And to think there was so much stick for the journalists on the Scottish launch not being able to operate such a simple system...

If you are up for it again try with the central screen in the Offroad menu (as least I think it's this one) to get the torque split/and diff icons that do a circling motion when engaging. See if these show anything that's different to just the error message.

DenisM · Jul 2, 2023

DCPU said:
Slightly off topic but I see an aftermarket company are putting Eaton e lockers into the Toyota Land Cruiser - "Terrain Tamer releases 300 Series LandCruiser rear ELocker kit" in Australia.

"ELockers are manually engaged by the driver of the vehicle, with the simple press of a button. If you need extra traction to drive a challenging object, push the button and the rear differential is now locked. When you have successfully conquered whatever was in your way, turn the locker off and you’re good to find the next challenge."

"Over the phone, I was quoted $1871 for the diff locker itself, and $164.56 for the required bearings and gaskets. This price doesn’t include fitting naturally, but the supply cost is pretty darn reasonable if you ask me."

Terrain Tamer releases 300 Series LandCruiser rear ELocker kit

News

unsealed4x4.com.au

I wonder if they would do a kit for the Grenadier?

I got the impression, perhaps incorrectly, that the Eaton e-lockers in the Grenadier are specific to its Carraro axles....

DCPU · Jul 2, 2023

Yes, I'm just not seeing anything substantive to back up that claim.

DenisM · Jul 2, 2023

bemax said:
yesterday I tested the diff locks again. I did so on flat damp soil. After locking the center diff (it works nearly smooth by now) I started locking the rear diff. When the yellow light for the rear one began to flash and nothing happened after some seconds I also pushed the button of the front diff. I thought they might switch in in a row then.
Unfortunately I got a message „error front diff lock“ which didn’t disappeared after disengaging the other locks. I tried to „reset“ the locks by disengaging the central lock but the red warning remained in the display.
Switching the engine off and on again didn’t help.
I parked the car and tried again after more than a hour and the error had disappeared. I did not try to engage any lock again as I let the car in the garage.
As far as I felt it, the front diff lock didn’t engage at all during this test!

When you pushed the button for the rear differential locker were you moving forward below 15kmh? (they require movement to lock into place)... Sorry.. I only mention it because it wasn't clear from the description.

Tazzieman · Jul 2, 2023

Take it offroad and try again.

DaveB · Jul 2, 2023

bemax said:
yesterday I tested the diff locks again. I did so on flat damp soil. After locking the center diff (it works nearly smooth by now) I started locking the rear diff. When the yellow light for the rear one began to flash and nothing happened after some seconds I also pushed the button of the front diff. I thought they might switch in in a row then.
Unfortunately I got a message „error front diff lock“ which didn’t disappeared after disengaging the other locks. I tried to „reset“ the locks by disengaging the central lock but the red warning remained in the display.
Switching the engine off and on again didn’t help.
I parked the car and tried again after more than a hour and the error had disappeared. I did not try to engage any lock again as I let the car in the garage.
As far as I felt it, the front diff lock didn’t engage at all during this test!

Engage the centre, shift to low range
Engage the rear and wait for it to engage , even if you have to roll forward
Engage the front

AnD3rew · Jul 2, 2023

DenisM said:
I got the impression, perhaps incorrectly, that the Eaton e-lockers in the Grenadier are specific to its Carraro axles....

That is my impression that lockers are specific to the diff they are going into

bemax · Jul 2, 2023

DenisM said:
When you pushed the button for the rear differential locker were you moving forward below 15kmh? (they require movement to lock into place)... Sorry.. I only mention it because it wasn't clear from the description.

Thanks for asking. Yes I did. I drove curves as well. It was not the first time I tested them and they already worked fine in the past!

bemax · Jul 2, 2023

Tazzieman said:
Take it offroad and try again.

I did it in the past. Still, if the problem occurs while you need the diff lock you will maybe not have the time to stop for waiting till the system decides that it is time to delete the error. As long as the error existed it hasn’t been possible to engage (or disengage) the front locker!
So it is not about my problem - indeed I do not have one as everything is alright now - but about the possibility of this failure in a real off-road use case.

bemax · Jul 2, 2023

DaveB said:
Engage the centre, shift to low range
Engage the rear and wait for it to engage , even if you have to roll forward
Engage the front

I first went to low. But this doesn’t matter. I pushed the front locker button while the rear one was flashing. So I pushed to early while the order has been right. But pushing a button to early shouldn’t bring up tja failure, don’t you think so?

DaveB · Jul 2, 2023

bemax said:
I first went to low. But this doesn’t matter. I pushed the front locker button while the rear one was flashing. So I pushed to early while the order has been right. But pushing a button to early shouldn’t bring up tja failure, don’t you think so?

My understanding is you can engage the centre lock in high or low but the rear and front lock only in low.
Also the front wont engage unless the rear is engaged
So make sure the rear is engaged and not flashing before you push the button for the front

bemax · Jul 2, 2023

DaveB said:
My understanding is you can engage the centre lock in high or low but the rear and front lock only in low.
Also the front wont engage unless the rear is engaged
So make sure the rear is engaged and not flashing before you push the button for the front

Dave, you are right and I know how to do it. But I didn’t expect a failure when pushing the front locker button to early. If they don’t want them to be switched independent it just should not work. A red warning that doesn’t go away about an error is the wrong output. Don’t you think so?

DaveB · Jul 2, 2023

bemax said:
Dave, you are right and I know how to do it. But I didn’t expect a failure when pushing the front locker button to early. If they don’t want them to be switched independent it just should not work. A red warning that doesn’t go away about an error is the wrong output. Don’t you think so?

It is a difficult one.
Maybe they have over responded to the many journalists who were just pushing buttons and getting flashing lights.

Cheshire cat · Jul 2, 2023

bemax said:
yesterday I tested the diff locks again. I did so on flat damp soil. After locking the center diff (it works nearly smooth by now) I started locking the rear diff. When the yellow light for the rear one began to flash and nothing happened after some seconds I also pushed the button of the front diff. I thought they might switch in in a row then.
Unfortunately I got a message „error front diff lock“ which didn’t disappeared after disengaging the other locks. I tried to „reset“ the locks by disengaging the central lock but the red warning remained in the display.
Switching the engine off and on again didn’t help.
I parked the car and tried again after more than a hour and the error had disappeared. I did not try to engage any lock again as I let the car in the garage.
As far as I felt it, the front diff lock didn’t engage at all during this test!

I have exactly the same experience as you. I have repeated this exercise several times and always the same result as you have explained. I will have it addressed when next at the dealership.
PS. I am referring to warning lights and front diff not engaging. I have not tried operation of front diff lock whilst rear still engaging.

DCPU · Jul 3, 2023

bemax said:
Dave, you are right and I know how to do it. But I didn’t expect a failure when pushing the front locker button to early. If they don’t want them to be switched independent it just should not work. A red warning that doesn’t go away about an error is the wrong output. Don’t you think so?

Yes.

What are you supposed to do if you encounter a condition in front of you were you want both diffs locked? Drive through part of it with just the rear diff locking, then locked and then press the front diff button, for it to go through a locking and then locked cycle. By that time you may already be stuck, and it's certainly more of a distraction exactly when your focus should be just on driving.

ECrider · Jul 3, 2023

DCPU said:
Yes.

What are you supposed to do if you encounter a condition in front of you were you want both diffs locked? Drive through part of it with just the rear diff locking, then locked and then press the front diff button, for it to go through a locking and then locked cycle. By that time you may already be stuck, and it's certainly more of a distraction exactly when your focus should be just on driving.

Flawed logic these diff systems have. As we've agreed before, they should all work independently of each other.

trobex · Jul 3, 2023

DaveB said:
Engage the centre, shift to low range
Engage the rear and wait for it to engage , even if you have to roll forward
Engage the front

What does the Manual say to do?

DaveB · Jul 3, 2023

trobex said:
What does the Manual say to do?

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Diff locks.

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Terrain Tamer releases 300 Series LandCruiser rear ELocker kit

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