I Have A new One for You Guys. 2WD/4WD switch

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Dean2

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Was out hunting this past week. It was from -20 to -29 in the mornings, 2021 2500, 6.4 Hemi was parked outside, no in car warmer or block heater. Truck started great, however when cold, from -18 to -24 the 4WD indicator light on the switch would flicker and have a dull light. When it got even colder the light would not illuminate and none of the writing on the switch, 2WD, 4WD, 4 Low etc would light up. All the rest of the truck switches lit fine. As the truck began to warm up the switch and lights would start to flicker off and on and finally come on full time once warm. Even when not lit up, the truck seemed to switch from 2WD to 4WD lock just fine. Has anyone else run into this?
 

Timsdually

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I would guess the switch itself that is in the transfer case had some contact issue until the gear oil warmed up.
Complete wild guess.
 
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Dean2

Dean2

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I would guess the switch itself that is in the transfer case had some contact issue until the gear oil warmed up.
Complete wild guess.
Appreciate the input but I don't think that is it. Transfer switched back and forth okay between 2H and 4 Lock even though lights on the switch showed nothing, the dash indicator showed the change happening. Truck parked idling to warm up, started at -29, LEDs on the control switch went from off, to flicker to on full time as cab temperature rose.
 
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G-Ride990

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I had a similar issue to this a couple times while hunting in sub-zero F temps. Radio would not turn on, glowing dark screen but nothing popping up, didn't notice anything thing on the gear selector though.
When It finally warmed up a bit, the radio came back and I never had another issue again.
Maybe it was just too cold for the poor thing? haha
 

Timsdually

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I had a similar issue to this a couple times while hunting in sub-zero F temps. Radio would not turn on, glowing dark screen but nothing popping up, didn't notice anything thing on the gear selector though.
When It finally warmed up a bit, the radio came back and I never had another issue again.
Maybe it was just too cold for the poor thing? haha
An '03 I had would do that when the temps went down around 0deg.
 

JayLeonard

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My 05 would do weird things when it got really cold until I added a second ground cable from the battery to the body. Never one issue after that.
My theory was moisture between the connectors got frozen and didn't make a good ground.
 
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Dean2

Dean2

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I’m in Florida…….what does -29f even mean?……….
It means it is only half as cold as it can get. This was taken at noon last Feb after it warmed up a whole bunch from the overnight low. There is a very good reason block heaters come as standard equipment. A Battery Blanket is a good idea too.

81Yxrnc.jpg
 
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ColesRAM

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My back patio today……. Around 75*f…… the clocks off an hour…..EF34A8E9-E8A6-4B88-8030-9CB83877A293.jpeg
 

Rado

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My guess it is caused by the Shrinkage factor :O

But seriously that is strange, As mention previous post maybe moisture in the air or contacts dirty or loose ?
We have cold weather here in Maine but so far never had that issue !
If you ever find out why please update us.. Thanks
 

Power Wagon Chief

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I also have observed a number of times on the instrument panel, when in 2WD, the switch LED flashes along with the switch Axle Unlock LED until the cabin temperature increases above 40F. A similar condition was observed when 4WD High was selected (it would flash) and again the Axle Unlock LED would also flash. There is no issue when pushing the corresponding pushbutton going into 4WD High or 2WD from a transfer case standpoint, just the LED's flashing in cold weather (~30F) conditions.

The truck is still under warrantee but I'm concerned that the fix may not be worth the squeeze or just cause additional issues. I showed video's of the issue to dealership where I bought the truck and they were not aware or heard of any similar issues but will be checking into it.

Today, I was told by the service dept they want to replace the switch assembly that contains the LED's. I have my doubts that this is going to correct the issue but I guess its worth a shot

PW Chief
 

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Dean2

Dean2

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Dealer "not aware" is standard dealer speak. This happens a lot, my dealer knew exactly what the problem was, which in my case is small LED lights don't like cold. They said they would swap them out if I wanted, I figure as long as the switch actually works fine, and I know it is because the dash light shows engaged and I can easily tell when I am in 4 Low, I really don't care if the lights don't come on till it gets above -20.
 
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