4WD Shift in Process

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dputnam01

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I have 2018 3500 with manual transmission / transfer case. I get a "4WD Shift in Process" message flash fairly often. If I "nudge" the stick it sometimes goes away. Or sometimes when I engage Cruise or Exhaust Brake the message doesn't come back. I'm thinking that there is a 4WD position sensor somewhere that has intermittent failure? Being a manual, I don't worry about it self-shifting, but it's pretty annoying. Any thoughts?
 

crazy jerry

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first thing i would do is make sure the linkage is adjusted correct and put dielectric grease on the harness going to the cad motor. if you still get shift in progress message then yes it may be the position sensor
 

SeppW

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I'm pretty sure this is prevalent in many 4WD Rams, especially the Power Wagon. I'm not a proponent of throwing parts at a problem, but in another board forum the solution was replace the Transfer Case Position Sensor (TCPS). It's in an awkward position on the Transfer Case (TC). I replaced it and the message has not reappeared. I assume your 3500 has the BW 44-47 TC, so the TCPS is located above the boss for the shift linkage lever, driver side of TC. MOPAR Part # 68211454AA. If it's a 44-46 then I cannot speak to it. The sensor must be in shift motor or the mode sensor.BW TC TCPS.jpg
 
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olyelr

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Yep, like seppw stated and showed, that is your issue for sure. Pretty common. I just had mine replaced because I was getting the same message intermittently. Has not come back since.
 

nukegm

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2018 ram 2500 g56. i get the shift in progress a lot. sometimes 100s of times a day ( every couple seconds sometimes ) took to dealer 2x. they say nothing is wrong, of course. maybe ill pick up a TCPS and see if it goes away... cheers!
 

crazy jerry

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pretty common ? going back 1year in the gen4 Hd section theres this thread and one other possible tcps related thread. i recall atleast 1 for sure , maybe 2 threads not long ago in the PW section. how does that even get close to equalling common ?
if you want to know what common is, death wobble on them new fords. there was over 60 threads as of 8months ago.
 

olyelr

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2018 ram 2500 g56. i get the shift in progress a lot. sometimes 100s of times a day ( every couple seconds sometimes ) took to dealer 2x. they say nothing is wrong, of course. maybe ill pick up a TCPS and see if it goes away... cheers!
The part is under $60 i think. I frikin paid a $100 deductible to use my lifetime warranty for it to get fixed at the dealer ugh.
 

olyelr

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pretty common ? going back 1year in the gen4 Hd section theres this thread and one other possible tcps related thread. i recall atleast 1 for sure , maybe 2 threads not long ago in the PW section. how does that even get close to equalling common ?
if you want to know what common is, death wobble on them new fords. there was over 60 threads as of 8months ago.
Very common.
 

Jughed

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your dillusional without any doubt what so ever. maybe stick to something your familiar with like leveling spacers or something

Well mine does it from time to time... I just don't post every mundane detail of the truck on the interwebs... I'm sure many others don't post every little issue as well... Death wobble isn't a little issue, so I would expect more noise on the subject.
 

crazy jerry

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Well mine does it from time to time... I just don't post every mundane detail of the truck on the interwebs... I'm sure many others don't post every little issue as well... Death wobble isn't a little issue, so I would expect more noise on the subject.

im betting its a very small number of people that could drive a 50k vehicle with dash warning lights glaring in their face and ignore it without posting on forums. sure ,there may be a handfull of folks like you that could ignore anything short of a atom bomb but i think most people are posting about every tiny squeek, squeel, knock, rattle , vibration, warning light.
browse any forum on the internet and look at how miniscule and insignificant many threads are. center wheel caps fall off and people make threads about it, as if they need professional diagnosing expertise from the forum engineers.
so ya the forums can be a good indicator of how many repeating problems a particular vehicle has. as for the tcps, i see a handful of threads. nothing more and nothing less.
 

dogman1911

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I had the same intermittent issue and just replaced the transfer case switch (68211454AA). It resolved the issue.

Removal and install was simple, but challenging due to the awkward location (and not being a spindly-armed boy didn't help). The release side of the cable on mine was pointing away so I had to fish around with a 90 degree pick in the blind to remove the connector. The hardest part was getting enough angle and torque on the sensor itself to break that first 1/32" turn. There is enough room for one click on the ratchet. I tried using a u-joint with the socket but it didn't give me any better leverage.

Going on went much smoother. Don't forget to pull the o-ring off the old one and put it on the new one.
 

2ndA732

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Mine eventually went away, but good to know about the sensor.
 

Earl Zeis

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Had the same issue on my 2018 Ram 3500 with manual shift transfer. The dealer replaced the transfer case position switch under warranty and that solved it.


Earl
 

BearlyFunctioning

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My 2017 PW also has the same problem. It comes and goes. The "4WD shift in progress" message shows for 1 or 2 days, 3 to 15 times. I won't see it again for a number of months, then it's back.

Thanks to this knowledgeable forum, we have the answer. But it hasn't bugged me enough to fix it yet. The reason for posting now is for the OP, and the other Helpful people.

Good luck dputnam01, you have a common, easy fix problem.
 

dogman1911

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Update: about 1500 miles on the truck since the sensor install and everything is good to go. I haven't had a randon 4WD Shift in Progress message.
 

tron67j

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2018 ram 2500 g56. i get the shift in progress a lot. sometimes 100s of times a day ( every couple seconds sometimes ) took to dealer 2x. they say nothing is wrong, of course. maybe ill pick up a TCPS and see if it goes away... cheers!
I have started getting this same error message in my 2018 2500 with manual 4wd and 6bspeed. Wondering if you continued getting the error message if you replaced the same part as others. Seems like a winning effort based on posts here and other places. But trying to get confirmation as much as possible. Thanks.
 

2020PW

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Covered in the star publication
 

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