stuck in neutral

[akvanden]

Drove my truck about 20 miles, parked for a few minutes, got back in and it wouldn't shift out of neutral. The neutral button below the 4wd was solid red and wouldn't let me go in reverse, drive, etc. Couldn't shift into any of the 4wd options. After failing to go into gear, would hear chatter coming from direction on transfer case once I put it back into park. Had it towed to dealer where it sits until hopefully they can look at it tomorrow. 112k for miles.

 

[akvanden]

anyone else experience this before?

 

[Hemi395]

Sounds like the shift motor in the transfer case is bad.

 

[akvanden]

I'm looking through the manual at the moment on page 471 where it shows how to "Returning to Normal Operation – Electronic Shift Transfer Case." I never put it into neutral to begin with ( didn't even know how until reading the manual now), but I hope it wasn't as easy as following these instructions to fix. Guess by the pure fact it went into neutral on its own mean something is wrong?

 

[Hemi395]

I'm looking through the manual at the moment on page 471 where it shows how to "Returning to Normal Operation – Electronic Shift Transfer Case." I never put it into neutral to begin with ( didn't even know how until reading the manual now), but I hope it wasn't as easy as following these instructions to fix. Guess by the pure fact it went into neutral on its own mean something is wrong?

Yeah it should never go into neutral by itself. I had an Explorer a few years back that got stuck in 4Hi because the shift motor went bad in it. It almost sound like the shift motor went bad and allowed the transfer case to slip out of 2wd and into neutral. Maybe try disconnecting the battery for a half hour and see if it resets it so to speak...

 

[akvanden]

So after reading a bit more online, I had a hunch that it might have gone into recreational tow mode (tow behind motor home) which I've never used before nor knew how to put it into that mode, nor have ANY IDEA why dodge would even have this option. Here's how you put into the mode.

1. Bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
2. Turn OFF the engine.
3. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position, but do not
start the engine.
4. Press and hold the brake pedal.
5. Shift the transmission into NEUTRAL.
6. Press and hold the transfer case switch NEUTRAL
button for four seconds.
7. After the shift is completed and the NEUTRAL light
comes on, release the NEUTRAL button.
8. Start the engine.
9. Shift the transmission into REVERSE.
10. Release the brake pedal for five seconds and ensure
that there is no vehicle movement.
11. Repeat Steps 9 and 10 with the transmission in
DRIVE.
12. Turn OFF the engine.
13. Firmly apply the parking brake.
14. Shift the transmission into PARK.

I never have gone through all these steps so I'm not sure why my transfer case when into this mode. I asked the dealer to run the procedure to take it back out of the mode just to see if that's what it was, but they were clueless. I drove up there and did the following.

1. Bring the vehicle to a complete stop, leaving it connected
to the tow vehicle.
2. Firmly apply the parking brake.
3. Insert the key fob into the ignition switch and turn it to
the ON position, but do not start the engine.
4. Press and hold the brake pedal.
5. Shift the transmission into NEUTRAL.
6. Press and hold the transfer case switch NEUTRAL
button for one second.
7. After the NEUTRAL indicator light turns off, release
the NEUTRAL button.
8. After the NEUTRAL button has been released, the
transfer case will shift to the position identified by the
selector switch.
9. Shift the transmission into PARK.
10. Release the brake pedal.
11. Disconnect vehicle from the tow vehicle.
12. Start the engine.
13. Press and hold the brake pedal.
14. Release the parking brake.
15. Shift the transmission into DRIVE, release the brake
pedal, and check that the vehicle operates normally.


It ended up working. What a PITA. I'm surprised no one else has had this problem?

 

[pickupman66]

My parents are looking at a ram with this feature because they are ful time RV'ers. I was testing it in my truck and you have to follow these instructions PERFECTLY for it to actually go into Neutral and to get out. any variation or mis timing and it just blinks.

 

[Andy578]

with mine i just put the transmission in neutral then push neutral on the transfer case. i only did it once to see if it worked and had no issues getting it back into gear

 

[Hemi395]

That's a pretty complicated procedure to get it into neutral. What I'd be concerned about is why it went into that mode in the first place without going through that procedure...

 

[akvanden]

Did it twice to me again today after starting the vehicle. Something electrical is going on.... it's easy to get out of the mode now that I know how to, but still annoying.

 

[xrsman]

I had a similar issue with my dad's 2010 one day. Here's what the Ram roadside assistance did. See the little box looking thing on the lower right side of the shifter? Open that up. There should be a reset in there! He did tell reset and it released the shifter and all was good!

 

[TSpain]

What a life saver. This has happened to me 3x in the past 8 weeks. I have spent over $1k in tow bills. I didn't do every step as described but Everytime it happened was when I pulled up to drive thru menu board, put it in neutral and turned off engine to hear and speak. Started up engine while in neutral and shifted to Drive but truck stayed in neutral no matter which gear I was in. I did notice the neutral button light would flash at the 4x4 selector prior to even arriving to the drive thru so I may still have something else going on but mechanic used your specified steps to take it out of tow mode and it operated properly. Ill keep an eye on blinking neutral light and if it happens again without turning off engine in neutral then I'll know there's another issue. Moving forward at fastfood drive-thru, I'll be putting in park first then turning off engine no doubt.

 

[chri5k]

Your truck loves you and is trying to tell you something. Fast food is bad for your health.

 

[Randy_ray]

This happened to me today. While driving I noticed the 4x4 dash indicator on my 07 flash a few times, then stop, then flash again. I had to stop at convenience store, put it in park, shut off the engine, and got out (key in hand) and I heard clicking coming from underneath. When I came back out about 6 minutes later the clicking was still happening, it was coming from the transfer case. When I turned the ignition on the clicking stopped but I noticed that the 4x4 selector was now in neutral. Panicked, I searched the web and found this thread. I followed the steps and got it out of neutral. The question is why did it do it. I honestly never had a need or knew how to put the transfer case in neutral, so not sure what happened. Hopefully it was just a fluke but I suspect something is about to fail. Thanks for posting the steps.

 

[WalkerBoh]

This happened to me today. While driving I noticed the 4x4 dash indicator on my 07 flash a few times, then stop, then flash again. I had to stop at convenience store, put it in park, shut off the engine, and got out (key in hand) and I heard clicking coming from underneath. When I came back out about 6 minutes later the clicking was still happening, it was coming from the transfer case. When I turned the ignition on the clicking stopped but I noticed that the 4x4 selector was now in neutral. Panicked, I searched the web and found this thread. I followed the steps and got it out of neutral. The question is why did it do it. I honestly never had a need or knew how to put the transfer case in neutral, so not sure what happened. Hopefully it was just a fluke but I suspect something is about to fail. Thanks for posting the steps.

I'm having this same issue now on my 06, and it's snowing heavily and I'm trying to leave work lol. My first issue was the clicking you spoke of a few weeks ago and the 4x4 flashing. I ordered a new TC motor, just haven't put it in yet to see if that is the issue. Here's to hoping I can get home this morning.