amijuststupid
Junior Member
I drive a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab Big Horn Edition with a 5.7L hemi and almost 260,000 miles on it. It has an Electronic Shift On-the-Fly (ESOF) 4-wheel drive transfer case that allows me to choose between four different drive settings by turning a dash-mounted selector dial; the settings are 2WD, 4WD AUTO, 4WD LOCK, and 4WD LOW. (A fifth setting, labeled 'N' for Neutral, is selectable by depressing a tiny button.) There is no way to shift between these settings manually. Everything is controlled electronically.
According to the vehicle's instruction manual, shifting between 2WD and either 4WD AUTO or 4WD LOCK should work normally whether the vehicle is stopped or in motion, at any speed. Shifting to the 4WD LOW setting only works when the truck's transmission is in neutral. Telltale lights on the instrument panel indicate which 4WD setting is currently engaged, and flash when the transfer case is in the process of shifting between settings.
But sometimes, even though the telltales are signaling that things are working normally, it seems to me that the electronic shift is not actually working, because even when 4WD LOCK is engaged, only one axle (the rear) appears to receive power, while the front wheels fail to be driven. And I don't understand why. There is no 'service 4WD' light illuminated.
The especially confusing part is that it appears to malfunction only sporadically - sometimes shifting to 4WD works just fine, with both the front and rear wheels receiving power as intended, and sometimes it doesn't. This seems to occur regardless of which 4WD setting is selected - AUTO, LOCK, or LOW. Of course AUTO relies on a sensor to determine which wheels need power at any given time, and thus automatically engages each axle when a loss of traction is detected, so that while this setting is engaged I have no direct control over whether or not the front wheels are driven. But even in this setting the truck sometimes seems to fail to send power to wheels which have obviously lost traction.
My understanding is that the other settings, LOCK and LOW, are intended to send power to both sets of wheels at all times, whether they need it or not, independently of any sensors. When either of these settings is selected with the dial, four-wheel drive is 'locked' and both the front and rear axles are driven in unison. Or at least, that's how it's supposed to work, right?
Driving this truck for the past four years, in all kinds of conditions, I've made use of the 4WD frequently, but several times now my observations have conflicted with what the telltales are telling me. Is it possible there is some kind of problem with the electronic control unit that relays the signal from the selector to the electric motor which actually effects the shift between the different four-wheel drive settings? Or perhaps a problem with the electric motor itself? Or some other part of the transfer case?
Or am I just totally oblivious to the fact that everything is actually working correctly, and I'm simply just bad at driving in four-wheel drive?
I haven't had this problem with other vehicles I've driven, for work or personal use: the four-wheel drive, even if electronically controlled, always seems to work just fine, and I've been able to get out of some sticky situations simply by shifting from 2WD to 4WD. Is the ESOF system on this Dodge Ram 1500 really so different?
For obvious reasons, it is sometimes difficult while I am inside the truck to actually tell whether the 4WD is working properly or not - I can't see the wheels themselves while I'm driving, so I have to rely on the 'feel' of the truck as it is in motion. There are sometimes subtle changes in motion that signal to me that both sets of wheels are being driven. But other times I can't feel any difference at all, and so it's often not apparent that my 4WD isn't functioning correctly until it's too late - until I've started driving up a steep, snowy hill, for example.
The latter scenario has now happened to me at least four times, and in all but one case it ended with me spinning out on the side of the road, and ultimately having to push the truck or have it towed out of its stuck position. Recently it happened while I was in a long line at a 'traction required' police checkpoint when trying to ascend a steep canyon road during a heavy snowfall - my truck had already been in 4WD LOCK mode for a long time, and seemingly working normally (though again, it is often hard to tell). The police officer took a look at my truck and saw it had 4x4 written in chrome letters on the side and waved me onward, but when I pressed the accelerator my wheels started spinning in place, as if the 4WD had suddenly failed to generate motion from a complete stop. The police officer who witnessed this told me it appeared that my front wheels were not being driven, and I ended up having to back up and turn and pull off into a parking lot to check my 4WD settings. I turned the truck on and off several times, shifting from 4WD to 2WD and back again, and suddenly the 4WD seemed to start working again. A similar scenario also happened several years ago when I was trying to extract the truck from being stuck on a snowy, angled shoulder on an otherwise flat road, and a passerby noticed I was having difficulty. He explained that only one set of wheels was being driven - again, despite the fact that I had 4WD selected - and suggested that I put the truck in park and turn it off completely (with the dial still on 4WD) and then turn it back on. When I did, the front wheels seemed to have power again, and I was able to get off of the shoulder easily and immediately.
These observations, and others from friends who have observed the problem, suggested to me that there was something wrong with my electronic 4WD shifter. Because even though I had selected and re-selected 4WD, and the telltales had indicated a successful shift, the front wheels still weren't being driven when they were obviously needed. Multiple incidents and multiple people apparently confirmed that. So I took the truck to a mechanic and asked him to diagnose the problem.
But he said everything appears to be working normally - that there is no failure to shift electronically that he could detect (though, to be fair, he only tested it for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, and as I've said, it appears to work sporadically). When I asked him if it is possible that there is a problem with the transfer case motor or the electronic control unit or some other element of the ESOF mechanism, he said no, it's not possible (though I didn't get a clear answer as to why exactly it's not possible). In any case, he seemed to think that it was the driver, not the car, that was the problem - that I wasn't getting traction when I needed it because I wasn't using the 4WD correctly.
But how could it possibly be any easier, or different, if the only way I can control the four-wheel drive setting is via the selector dial? It seems too simple. Surely all you have to do is select the right setting and the 4WD should kick in, automatically if in AUTO mode or permanently if in LOCK or LOW, right? Or am I missing something else really obvious? I'm not too proud to admit that that is a real possibility. I've discovered many times before that I am an ignoramus in various contexts, especially in automotive ones, so it wouldn't be terribly surprising to me if I was just somehow doing it wrong.
But still it doesn't seem likely. Still it seems like there are too many observations and situations which contradict the notion that everything is operating totally normally. Surely I'm not just totally incompetent at driving in four-wheel drive, right? Even after doing it in other vehicles without incident for years? Is there something unique with my truck that I simply misunderstand which causes me to fail to recognize that things are indeed working properly? What am I doing differently? What am I doing wrong?????
How is it apparently so easy for all the other drivers on the snowy canyon roads to use their own 4WD? Why does it always seem that this particular truck can't handle the most basic 4WD-required movements that all the other trucks can? So many other trucks like mine, many even heavier, seem to have no trouble driving up the same steep, snowy roads. So many tiny SUVs with 4WD manage them just fine, too. Sure, some truck models are simply not intended for efficient 4WD driving, even though they have 4x4 features built in. But my problems with this particular truck seem incredibly basic - like starting from a stop at the traction checkpoint, which literally everyone else waiting in the line appeared to do just fine. There's no way a Dodge Ram 1500 whose 4x4 features are all working perfectly would be useless in that most basic of 4x4 situations, right?
I'm aware that other factors besides simply having 4WD engaged are involved in maintaining traction in suboptimal road conditions - having good tire tread is equally important, for example. And in many of the situations where my 4WD has appeared to fail to do its job, I admit my tire tread was probably not ideal on one or more tires. But still I'd expect that, even if the 4WD was working perfectly and the tire tread depth was only 4/32", at least some of those extremely basic low-traction situations should have been manageable, right? Low tread depth isn't the same as no tread depth - in a lot of those situations, the 4WD should have been able to compensate for whatever grip could not be maintained due to the low tread depth. Right??? There's gotta be more to it than just tread depth. Isn't it possible the 4WD is failing to engage at the appropriate times?
Please, any help and advice anyone can suggest is greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks so much.
According to the vehicle's instruction manual, shifting between 2WD and either 4WD AUTO or 4WD LOCK should work normally whether the vehicle is stopped or in motion, at any speed. Shifting to the 4WD LOW setting only works when the truck's transmission is in neutral. Telltale lights on the instrument panel indicate which 4WD setting is currently engaged, and flash when the transfer case is in the process of shifting between settings.
But sometimes, even though the telltales are signaling that things are working normally, it seems to me that the electronic shift is not actually working, because even when 4WD LOCK is engaged, only one axle (the rear) appears to receive power, while the front wheels fail to be driven. And I don't understand why. There is no 'service 4WD' light illuminated.
The especially confusing part is that it appears to malfunction only sporadically - sometimes shifting to 4WD works just fine, with both the front and rear wheels receiving power as intended, and sometimes it doesn't. This seems to occur regardless of which 4WD setting is selected - AUTO, LOCK, or LOW. Of course AUTO relies on a sensor to determine which wheels need power at any given time, and thus automatically engages each axle when a loss of traction is detected, so that while this setting is engaged I have no direct control over whether or not the front wheels are driven. But even in this setting the truck sometimes seems to fail to send power to wheels which have obviously lost traction.
My understanding is that the other settings, LOCK and LOW, are intended to send power to both sets of wheels at all times, whether they need it or not, independently of any sensors. When either of these settings is selected with the dial, four-wheel drive is 'locked' and both the front and rear axles are driven in unison. Or at least, that's how it's supposed to work, right?
Driving this truck for the past four years, in all kinds of conditions, I've made use of the 4WD frequently, but several times now my observations have conflicted with what the telltales are telling me. Is it possible there is some kind of problem with the electronic control unit that relays the signal from the selector to the electric motor which actually effects the shift between the different four-wheel drive settings? Or perhaps a problem with the electric motor itself? Or some other part of the transfer case?
Or am I just totally oblivious to the fact that everything is actually working correctly, and I'm simply just bad at driving in four-wheel drive?
I haven't had this problem with other vehicles I've driven, for work or personal use: the four-wheel drive, even if electronically controlled, always seems to work just fine, and I've been able to get out of some sticky situations simply by shifting from 2WD to 4WD. Is the ESOF system on this Dodge Ram 1500 really so different?
For obvious reasons, it is sometimes difficult while I am inside the truck to actually tell whether the 4WD is working properly or not - I can't see the wheels themselves while I'm driving, so I have to rely on the 'feel' of the truck as it is in motion. There are sometimes subtle changes in motion that signal to me that both sets of wheels are being driven. But other times I can't feel any difference at all, and so it's often not apparent that my 4WD isn't functioning correctly until it's too late - until I've started driving up a steep, snowy hill, for example.
The latter scenario has now happened to me at least four times, and in all but one case it ended with me spinning out on the side of the road, and ultimately having to push the truck or have it towed out of its stuck position. Recently it happened while I was in a long line at a 'traction required' police checkpoint when trying to ascend a steep canyon road during a heavy snowfall - my truck had already been in 4WD LOCK mode for a long time, and seemingly working normally (though again, it is often hard to tell). The police officer took a look at my truck and saw it had 4x4 written in chrome letters on the side and waved me onward, but when I pressed the accelerator my wheels started spinning in place, as if the 4WD had suddenly failed to generate motion from a complete stop. The police officer who witnessed this told me it appeared that my front wheels were not being driven, and I ended up having to back up and turn and pull off into a parking lot to check my 4WD settings. I turned the truck on and off several times, shifting from 4WD to 2WD and back again, and suddenly the 4WD seemed to start working again. A similar scenario also happened several years ago when I was trying to extract the truck from being stuck on a snowy, angled shoulder on an otherwise flat road, and a passerby noticed I was having difficulty. He explained that only one set of wheels was being driven - again, despite the fact that I had 4WD selected - and suggested that I put the truck in park and turn it off completely (with the dial still on 4WD) and then turn it back on. When I did, the front wheels seemed to have power again, and I was able to get off of the shoulder easily and immediately.
These observations, and others from friends who have observed the problem, suggested to me that there was something wrong with my electronic 4WD shifter. Because even though I had selected and re-selected 4WD, and the telltales had indicated a successful shift, the front wheels still weren't being driven when they were obviously needed. Multiple incidents and multiple people apparently confirmed that. So I took the truck to a mechanic and asked him to diagnose the problem.
But he said everything appears to be working normally - that there is no failure to shift electronically that he could detect (though, to be fair, he only tested it for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, and as I've said, it appears to work sporadically). When I asked him if it is possible that there is a problem with the transfer case motor or the electronic control unit or some other element of the ESOF mechanism, he said no, it's not possible (though I didn't get a clear answer as to why exactly it's not possible). In any case, he seemed to think that it was the driver, not the car, that was the problem - that I wasn't getting traction when I needed it because I wasn't using the 4WD correctly.
But how could it possibly be any easier, or different, if the only way I can control the four-wheel drive setting is via the selector dial? It seems too simple. Surely all you have to do is select the right setting and the 4WD should kick in, automatically if in AUTO mode or permanently if in LOCK or LOW, right? Or am I missing something else really obvious? I'm not too proud to admit that that is a real possibility. I've discovered many times before that I am an ignoramus in various contexts, especially in automotive ones, so it wouldn't be terribly surprising to me if I was just somehow doing it wrong.
But still it doesn't seem likely. Still it seems like there are too many observations and situations which contradict the notion that everything is operating totally normally. Surely I'm not just totally incompetent at driving in four-wheel drive, right? Even after doing it in other vehicles without incident for years? Is there something unique with my truck that I simply misunderstand which causes me to fail to recognize that things are indeed working properly? What am I doing differently? What am I doing wrong?????
How is it apparently so easy for all the other drivers on the snowy canyon roads to use their own 4WD? Why does it always seem that this particular truck can't handle the most basic 4WD-required movements that all the other trucks can? So many other trucks like mine, many even heavier, seem to have no trouble driving up the same steep, snowy roads. So many tiny SUVs with 4WD manage them just fine, too. Sure, some truck models are simply not intended for efficient 4WD driving, even though they have 4x4 features built in. But my problems with this particular truck seem incredibly basic - like starting from a stop at the traction checkpoint, which literally everyone else waiting in the line appeared to do just fine. There's no way a Dodge Ram 1500 whose 4x4 features are all working perfectly would be useless in that most basic of 4x4 situations, right?
I'm aware that other factors besides simply having 4WD engaged are involved in maintaining traction in suboptimal road conditions - having good tire tread is equally important, for example. And in many of the situations where my 4WD has appeared to fail to do its job, I admit my tire tread was probably not ideal on one or more tires. But still I'd expect that, even if the 4WD was working perfectly and the tire tread depth was only 4/32", at least some of those extremely basic low-traction situations should have been manageable, right? Low tread depth isn't the same as no tread depth - in a lot of those situations, the 4WD should have been able to compensate for whatever grip could not be maintained due to the low tread depth. Right??? There's gotta be more to it than just tread depth. Isn't it possible the 4WD is failing to engage at the appropriate times?
Please, any help and advice anyone can suggest is greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks so much.
Secondly, my initial thought is a failing actuator. You can run a diagnostic routine on it and see if it reliably operates, or you can throw a new one on (not expensive) and see if this improves your situation. There's a bunch of "could be this and could be that" that applies here. I'm not a "fire up the parts cannon" and start firing parts at a problem kind of person, but sometimes you can get lucky and go for obvious/probable parts when you don't have the time/patience/tools/skills to go in depth. Not insinuating those apply to you, just making a general statement. Your understanding of the 4x4 system is correct. 2WD is 2WD, Auto is letting the computer figure out when you need 4x4, anything "Lock" should have the 4x4 system engaged regardless.
