stuck in 4wd 01 ram

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anrosenb@gmail.com - 23 Oct 2006 18:48 GMT

I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of
times that I have put it in 4wd it has had a tough time disengaging.
To disengage the 4wd I have had to back up. I have never had this
problem before, I use to be able to push in the clutch and shift it
back in to 2wd and it disengaged fine. A friend suggested that I may
have a vacuum leak and I could possibly hear it if I put on the break
and crawled under the truck but he admitted he know very little about
Dodge. Any suggestions to what the problem is? Is it something I
need to get fixed promptly to avoid damage. Thanks for any info.
With winter on the way I will probably be using 4wd more.

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Tom Lawrence - 23 Oct 2006 20:30 GMT

>I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of
> times that I have put it in 4wd it has had a tough time disengaging.

If the lever tough to move, or does the lever move fine, but the 4x4 light
just stays on (meaning the front axle is still locked)?

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anrosenb@gmail.com - 23 Oct 2006 21:14 GMT

The leaver moves fine and the light goes off however it is still in
4wd. The first time it happened I moved the leaver into 4 and out of
4 about 15 times before it disengaged (light stayed on a few times).
The next time I put it in 4 I tried around 4-5 times to move the leaver
in and out before I tried backing up. As soon as I backed up it came
out of 4.

Thanks
A

> >I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of
> > times that I have put it in 4wd it has had a tough time disengaging.
>
> If the lever tough to move, or does the lever move fine, but the 4x4 light
> just stays on (meaning the front axle is still locked)?

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Mike Simmons - 23 Oct 2006 21:52 GMT

> The leaver moves fine and the light goes off however it is still in
> 4wd. The first time it happened I moved the leaver into 4 and out of
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Thanks

Are you trying this on dry pavement? 4WD will be difficult to disengage
unless you are on a loose, somewhat slippery surface. Also, are your tires
of roughly equal diameter? Unequal tires can cause this also.

Mike

> A
>> >I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>> light
>> just stays on (meaning the front axle is still locked)?

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Tom Lawrence - 23 Oct 2006 22:24 GMT

> unless you are on a loose, somewhat slippery surface. Also, are your
> tires of roughly equal diameter? Unequal tires can cause this also.

Yep - that's where I was going.

To the OP: Any kind of bind on the front axle will prevent the shift collar
from disengaging. I'd be hesitant to blame a vacuum leak, because that
would affect engagement, as well (unless it was a leaking line from the
transfer case to the CAD) - even still, there's enough vacuum there to move
the shift fork somewhat, that's why the 4x4 light disengages.

I'd remove the CAD, and check for proper operation (a hand-operated vacuum
pump would do the job) - making sure there's nothing preventing smooth
operation of the shift fork back and forth.

As far as causing any damage, no - it just means that your front axle will
be engaged for a while until it eventually disconnects. This does NOT mean
you're still in 4WD, with potential damage to your drivetrain on ard
surfaces... it's no different than the 3rd gen trucks with no CAD who's
front axle is "engaged" all the time anyway.

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anrosenb@gmail.com - 25 Oct 2006 15:29 GMT

Thanks guys.

One time I was on dry pavement when I tried and the other I tried to
disengage on wet grass.

This does NOT mean

> you're still in 4WD, with potential damage to your drivetrain on ard
> surfaces... it's no different than the 3rd gen trucks with no CAD who's
> front axle is "engaged" all the time anyway.

I am guessing that it is engaged since it tends to be tough to turn
and tears up the grass like it does when I know it is in 4.
Unfortunately I live in a town house so there is not any grass for me
to see if it is just a dry pavement issue. I will give it a try
tomorrow when I know I will be on grass

Thanks for the suggestions

Oh, yes the tires are the same size. Two are new so they could be
slightly larger due to lack of tread wear but currently they are paired
up so that the two old are on the front and two new on the rear.

I will reply with what I find on the grass issue

> > unless you are on a loose, somewhat slippery surface. Also, are your
> > tires of roughly equal diameter? Unequal tires can cause this also.
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> surfaces... it's no different than the 3rd gen trucks with no CAD who's
> front axle is "engaged" all the time anyway.

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