Toyota Tacoma Diff Lock Rebuild (E-Locker)
by Peter Monshizadeh
January 29, 2020
6411
How to rebuild a Tacoma e-locker.
Rebuilding a Toyota Tacoma Diff Lock is certainly a DIY job.
I took a stab at rebuilding my 2003 Toyota Tacoma’s diff lock motor (e-locker for short). I’m glad I did, because these units are expensive to replace and the rebuild was fairly straight forward. Believe it or not, the mechanism actually worked afterwards! Be sure to check out the video I made of the procedure:
Below is an image gallery of the rebuild.
The differential lock rebuild kit can be purchased here: http://absolute-wits-end.com/toyota-e-locker-rebuild-kit-8in-diff/
The Toyota grease used during the rebuild (expensive stuff!!) is part number 08887-02007.
Awesome pictures and great video. Definitely helps! Thank you for taking the time into showing the steps.
Thanks for the comment! Glad to hear it was helpful!
So stoked I found you brotha! Really great video and tutorial. Quality work!
Thank you! Great to hear you found it helpful.
Can Permatex Dielectric grease be used instead of the toyota grease?
I don’t think it would work long-term. Dielectric grease is a lighter weight grease that I doubt would handle higher temperatures very well. It might get watery where the Toyota grease will retain its consistency.
What do you think was the actual problem with your locker?
I’m not sure. It had to be one of two things: 1) the internal sliding connections were gummed up by the grease, or 2) the motor’s brushes & commutator needed freed up and cleaned.
Do you have any alternative kit recommendations? It’s been sold out for months and now they just took it off the website entirely.
I wasn’t aware of that so thanks for letting me know. Unfortunately, I don’t know of anyone else who offers this kit. On the up side, there wasn’t anything in the kit that you couldn’t source from your local hardware store. I don’t know the o-ring or screw dimensions, but you could take the old ones with you to the store and match them up to something close.