Won’t come out of 4X4

Don_T · Nov 29, 2018

We have a lot of snow covered dirt roads so I need to use four wheel drive regularly. I even need four wheel drive to get out of my driveway. The truck has no problem going into 4X4 but when I switch back to two wheel drive the indicator shows the front axle disconnect releases but the transfer case doesn’t let go of the front drive shaft. On a good road the front end will jerk the truck side to side. This keeps happening until I am able to stop and back up a few feet, then it releases. Yesterday I had to drive over three miles with traffic behind me before I could get off the road and put it in reverse to get it to let go. Has anyone else had any trouble like this?

RAMMAR · Nov 29, 2018

Is your truck really a 2018?

Don_T · Nov 29, 2018

Yes it is, why do you ask?

RAMMAR · Nov 29, 2018

Don_T said:
Yes it is, why do you ask?

Why? Well that's nearly a brand NEW truck!

Such issues are supposed to be unheard of until years later. It's just ridiculous!

mtnrider · Nov 29, 2018

Never heard of anyone having this issue. Have you tried taking to the dealer? It's still under warranty.

.

22hemi13 · Nov 29, 2018

RAMMAR said:
Why? Well that's nearly a brand NEW truck!

Such issues are supposed to be unheard of until years later. It's just ridiculous!

Lol. I wouldn’t say ridiculous. New stuff breaks all the time. Now if fed get it to a dealer and get it fixed. It shouldn’t do that.

Don_T · Nov 29, 2018

It is under warranty but I had a shop do a gear change so if the dealer figures that out I will have to pay their labor rate for the fix. I am beginning to wonder if the shop put the axle disconnect back together right.

mtnrider · Nov 29, 2018

Ah, the plot thickens. I would for sure go back to who did the gear swap and talk to them. Maybe something is binding in there or something?

Not picking on you but it should be mandatory when someone posts a problem they say what mods/changes have been done to the truck. People over on the Cummins forum are notorious for this. You'll get a guy saying his turbo is shot and the transmission is slipping. 20 posts later you find out it's fully deleted the truck and was running a 200 HP tune! Lol.

.

22hemi13 · Nov 29, 2018

mtnrider said:
Ah, the plot thickens. I would for sure go back to who did the gear swap and talk to them. Maybe something is binding in there or something?

Not picking on you but it should be mandatory when someone posts a problem they say what mods/changes have been done to the truck. People over on the Cummins forum are notorious for this. You'll get a guy saying his turbo is shot and the transmission is slipping. 20 posts later you find out it's fully deleted the truck and was running a 200 HP tune! Lol.

.

As Paul Harvey would say. Now you know the rest of the story

RAMMAR · Nov 29, 2018

22hemi13 said:
Lol. I wouldn’t say ridiculous. New stuff breaks all the time. Now if fed get it to a dealer and get it fixed. It shouldn’t do that.

Yea, but really? Ram? No...that's more like - Ford: Fix Or Repair Daily

I'm stickin' in with ridiculous! lol

crazy jerry · Nov 30, 2018

im not a professional mechanic but i like to use as much common sense as possible when sorting out a problem. these are questions i would ask myself. did 4x4 work fine before the gear change ? your comment of the cad is disconnecting but the truck pulls side to side makes no sense. if the cad disconnects but tcase remains in 4x4, there will be no power to the wheels because the passenger side half shaft will just free spin. in lamens terms, there is no 4x4 if the cad cant lock the axle shaft

ive never taken the cad apart but is there a chance it could be installed backwards or maybe its out of adjustment, assuming there is some kind of adjustment but maybe there is no adjustment. it shouldnt be that hard to figure out whats wrong

Don_T · Nov 30, 2018

My concern on the CAD was maybe the shop missed the coupler with the shift fork. That would allow the fork to push the coupler to get the axle shifts locked together for four wheel drive but not pull it back apart when shifting back to two wheel drive. I now have the left front wheel off the ground to check the system function out. The CAD works as it should.

The front driveshaft locks to the transfer case when shifted into 4WD. When shifted back into 2WD the transfer case won’t release the front driveshaft unless I turn it backward.

cuminslvr · Nov 30, 2018

I remember back in the bad old days when the 4wd interface was a manual lever in the cab, with locking hubs you needed to back up to get everything released. Did you pass thru a time machine recently lol.

22hemi13 · Nov 30, 2018

cuminslvr said:
I remember back in the bad old days when the 4wd interface was a manual lever in the cab, with locking hubs you needed to back up to get everything released. Did you pass thru a time machine recently lol.

Hahaha. I thought same thing when I first read. “Sounds right....oh wait it’s 2018 lol”

crazy jerry · Nov 30, 2018

you never answered if the 4x4 worked fine before the gear change but ill guess that it hasnt worked since day one. i say this because the gear shop would of had no business messing with the tcase. i dont know enough about these systems to offer a ton of specific help but there might be a clutch assembly in the tcase that isnt working right or maybe something wrong at the tcase electric motor.

Don_T · Nov 30, 2018

crazy jerry said:
you never answered if the 4x4 worked fine before the gear change but ill guess that it hasnt worked since day one. i say this because the gear shop would of had no business messing with the tcase. i dont know enough about these systems to offer a ton of specific help but there might be a clutch assembly in the tcase that isnt working right or maybe something wrong at the tcase electric motor.

The answer to whether or not it worked before is, unfornately I don’t know. We didn’t have snow until just after the gear change.

I checked everything out and it all works fine as long as the drivetrain is not in a bind. When the drivetrain is in the slightest bind, it won’t let go. What doesn’t make sense is as you noted, if the CAD is disconnecting it shouldn’t matter.

ronheater70 · Nov 30, 2018

cuminslvr said:
I remember back in the bad old days when the 4wd interface was a manual lever in the cab, with locking hubs you needed to back up to get everything released. Did you pass thru a time machine recently lol.

my 2018 ram has the floor shifter, I think its retro!

crazy jerry · Nov 30, 2018

Don_T said:
The answer to whether or not it worked before is, unfornately I don’t know. We didn’t have snow until just after the gear change.

I checked everything out and it all works fine as long as the drivetrain is not in a bind. When the drivetrain is in the slightest bind, it won’t let go. What doesn’t make sense is as you noted, if the CAD is disconnecting it shouldn’t matter.

it sounds like youll have to go to the dealer unless you have a mechanically skilled friend that could look at it. dealer wouldnt know you had a gear change unless they just happen to notice the pumpkin covers had been removed and started asking questions about it. but a gear change isnt causing your problem. just a guess but if infact theres a clutch assembly then maybe its not releasing for what ever reason or somethings going on with the electric motor. the ram electric cad seems to be trouble free from what ive seen , so i think you have a unique situation. mine has the floor shifter so im not even sure how the electric motor works

mtnrider · Nov 30, 2018

Go back to the people that did the gear change!

If the front end is binding, pulling (whether the indicator says it is disconnected or not) the axle is still connected. If it was the transfer case (and the axle was disconnected) you would feel Nothing while driving it.
You had the gears changed. They were in there and pulled that all apart so that is the first place to look.
You say the transfer case doesn't let go of the drive shaft? How do you know it's not the axle disconnect not letting go? It would show the same symptoms AND explain why the the front end jerks, pulls etc.

.

U&A · Nov 30, 2018

The drivers side axle is always turning the front diff gears. The passenger side has a 4x4 actuator on the axle that engages the axle. Is the actuator releasing?

So im saying it could be the actuator that is on the passenger side of the front axle.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Won’t come out of 4X4

Senior Member

DIRTY DIESEL DRINKER

Senior Member

DIRTY DIESEL DRINKER

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

DIRTY DIESEL DRINKER

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page