Thread: Oil in ARB locker air line

Very well known problem. Needs a new actuator Oring in the diff.
Oh Joy!
Regards Philip A

Meanwhile will the airlocker work as normal ?
What's the effect of said O-Ring not being right?

Is it a hard job ?

Yes you will need new o rings but I spent a while talking with an ARB engineer. I think his name was Daniel. Slunnie will correct me as he put me onto him.
Anyway there are some retaining clamps in the diff centre which can just ever so slightly push on the diff lock slide actuator which then after a while damages the o-rings enough to leak oil into the actuator.
The fix is to pull the clamps off and file down the part of the casting that touches the actuator housing and then replace the o rings.

This is assuming we are talking about the same locker (RD56) and revision.
I have the latest revision RD56 but I think the only difference is the o ring type and how that part goes together.

When I bought the o rings I ordered them from ARB and eventually the new x rings turned up for all of $6 for the pair from memory.
However they took so long to show up I ended up buying standard viton rings from a normal supplier which actually cost more than from ARB.

Took about 2 years to start leaking initially I think.

It is not a hard job but the diff has to be removed from the housing so naturally the rear one is easier.

The airlocker will work normally however eventually it is possible the o rings will not hold air so at that point it won't work anymore.

Mine never got that bad. It just leaked oil up the line.

I don;t know which version it is. Its a 94/5 Tdi Defender with Sals rear. A previous owner fitted the airlocker. I do have a book about it... somewhere... but can't lay my hands on it at the moment. That would probably tell me the model I presume.

Not the one I'm talking about then as mine is the standard rover diff in a Disco1.

It will still be an o ring problem though.

Good info - thanks.

I have had exactly the same problem

Before you go jumping in and pulling the diff centre. Double check that you diff breather is not blocked. Mine was and thus the diff was using the airline as a breather.

My fix was to pull the airline off at both ends and flush with compressed air and some shellite or brake cleaner.

Works a treat now

The other option if your locker still works fine is to buy one of those little remote mount exhaust ports from ARB (about $60). Then fit the exhaust down on the chassis so you don't have the smell in the cab

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-...ker-seals.html