locking diffs.

[DPWS]

Hey Ya'll,
I was out doing a little first time off roading with my 2019 PW yesterday and had a little trouble locking in my diffs.
Upon engagement, message said "rear differential engaged" then immediately went to "engagement in process" and it kept switching back and forth between the two. Same thing happened with front and rear together. It didn't seem to matter what speed or transfer case position. Regardless of the message it seemed as though they were engaged, at least the rear anyway. Anybody ever have this situation.
BTW, I am new to the forum and this is my first posting. Thanks a lot everybody!

 

[crazykid1994]

Not sure but may need to open the rear diff and make sure the magnets are clean and then seal it back up and put in fresh fluid. I don’t have a power wagon but thought I read they have an e locker and if the magnet gets dirty it can cause issues.

 

[crazy jerry]

thats the problem when vehicles have all these nannies. **** never works right half the time.
if you plan to see if its something easy and trouble shoot it yourself i would choke the rear passenger tire. dont start engine but turn key to on or start then shift trans to nuetral and tcase to 4hi or low. turn on rear locker and jack driver rear tire off ground and see if its locked. do same with driver front tire. make note of what dash lights are doing.
could be the target sensor is fouled with metallic dust from the oil or the sensor gap needs adjusted. there could be some fault codes and a dealer may need to check that

 

[crazy jerry]

if your keeping the truck for a while i would probly contact abel and see if he has any bypass for newer models. i put one on my 17 and couldnt be happier. it locks up right now and no nanny constraints for speed or tcase position

 

[SeppW]

Hey Ya'll,
I was out doing a little first time off roading with my 2019 PW yesterday and had a little trouble locking in my diffs.
Upon engagement, message said "rear differential engaged" then immediately went to "engagement in process" and it kept switching back and forth between the two. Same thing happened with front and rear together. It didn't seem to matter what speed or transfer case position. Regardless of the message it seemed as though they were engaged, at least the rear anyway. Anybody ever have this situation.
BTW, I am new to the forum and this is my first posting. Thanks a lot everybody!

They are quirky to get locked. Assume you are following procedure in manual. Ditto on the Able by-pass; instant lock up.

 

[SkeeterBait]

My 2020 experience was basically the same, but I've used mine quite a lot since new and keeping the system exercised I found that the differentials will lock very quickly.
You gotta get out there more often and use it..!!

 

[olyelr]

I believe one of the many restraints is the vehicle speed has to be 3mph or less. I think that is one that many people fail to abide by.

But yes, in general the lockers are extremely finicky at best. As stated, the Abel bypass setup will rid the system of all the nannies, making them instantaneous.

 

[grimmecm]

For any other 5th gen folks falling down this rabbit hole - Able doesnt make a 5th gen option, unless you go hardwired and add the switches for it...

"On 2019+ trucks these systems are controlled on the high speed CAN-Bus data stream and not with traditional switches. The only way to modify these systems on a 2019+ truck is to change the software (I'm not a software guy) or hardwire them with dedicated switches."

 

[Big Cheddar]

Hey Ya'll,
I was out doing a little first time off roading with my 2019 PW yesterday and had a little trouble locking in my diffs.
Upon engagement, message said "rear differential engaged" then immediately went to "engagement in process" and it kept switching back and forth between the two. Same thing happened with front and rear together. It didn't seem to matter what speed or transfer case position. Regardless of the message it seemed as though they were engaged, at least the rear anyway. Anybody ever have this situation.
BTW, I am new to the forum and this is my first posting. Thanks a lot everybody!

Welcome. I've had them a little slow to lock in. So far. not that.

 

[2020PW]

The more you don’t use it the longer it will take. Engage them every couple months and you won’t have an issue.

 

[akguy09]

Luckily with the 19+ the rear can be locked in 2wd so it can be "worked" easily