First off, I'd like to say I know practically nothing about cars (at least in the mechanical sense), so keep that in mind when helping me with this problem. I have a 1999 Dodge Durango SLT. Ok, so, the other day I noticed that my Durango was making a whining sound when I turned the wheels, and I'm not sure why it did this. A month ago or so it was taken into the shop and generally checked over for problems and they didn't see any issues with it really (back in January I hit a deer with it, and had a friend who is sort of a mechanic check it out, and he told me to take it to a real mechanic, and they didnt find anything wrong with it, other than a broken sensor that kept telling me my parking brake was on, even though it wasn't). Well, earlier today I went to put the windows up because it was going to rain, and while I was sitting in it I decided to start it up and listen to that whining sound again. I know that with some Jeeps (and probably with others too) that if you have it in 4WD and try turning, you sometimes also hear a whining/humming sound, so I put it into the first 4WD option (I think its 4WD High - whatever you're supposed to use if you are on slick roads, but not really for maximum pulling power). It still hummed, and I pulled the thing all the way down through Neutral to 4WD Low (the max. pulling one). It continued to hum, so I figured I'd just put it back to 2WD and put the windows up and go back inside the house, except - it wouldn't go back into 2WD. It would go to Neutral, and back to 4WD Low, but wouldn't go back to 4WD High or 2WD. I tried driving it backwards and forwards in 4WD Low; I heard somewhere you can do that if gears get stuck, or maybe that's just for dirtbikes or something. At any rate, I messed with it for 20 minutes or so, and followed the diagram on the shifter to make sure I was pulling it the right way (pressing left when Im supposed to, and not right or down or something), and regardless it won't go back to 2WD. This got me mad, so I just turned it off and figured I'd mess with it later, maybe after it rained. Well, this Durango wasn't done tormenting me, because when I turned it off it wouldn't let me take the damn key out. I put it into Neutral (this is Neutral on the 4WD shifter, not the normal one) and it still wouldn't give me the key. Finally after another 10 minutes of hastle it gave me the key, and I went inside. I'm afraid to drive it anywheres as it's stuck in maximum pulling mode, and I don't know how to get it out. I bought this thing in January (ironically, I hit the deer 6 days after I got it), and it never came with a manual, so I don't know if the help is in there. Sorry for this huge message, I just wanted to provide every detail possible. Any ideas why it's refusing to budge? And what's with the whining sound? As I said, I don't think I can even take it to a shop because it's stuck in 4WD Low, and you're not supposed to drive too fast or else it screws up the engine (or so I'm told). Thanks for the help!

 

Next time try to let the roll with the engine running, it may go back to 2wd. Also ck under the truck and see if something could be jam in the cables.

 

You mean like, drive it down the road a bit and see if it unsticks? Is that what you mean by roll? I'll look underneath and see if anything is stuck tomorrow; it's dark outside now.

 

I had the same problem when I was test driving my 2000 SLT. I wanted to check and make sure that the transfer case still worked, so went into 4HI, then to 4LO, and it got stuck there. I had to really yank it and it came out. When I was reading the manual, it says that you can shift from 2WD to 4HI at up to 50 MPH. I always have the car stopped and in neutral (transmission) and then I shift the transfer case (2WD to 4WD). You might have to go non-technical and hit it the shifter really hard. Its just a thought that worked out for me, so I thought I'd pass it on.

 

Well, I was pressing moderatley hard on it, but I didn't want to break it. But I think it probably is a matter of it getting stuck, because a few times it got stuck in neutral and it wouldn't even go back to 4LO.

 

Put the transmission into neutral and it will come out. It doesn't like shifting into or out of 4 low while in park or drive. 4 high is different and is made to "shift on the fly" in case of inclement weather conditions so that when you go from icy points on the road to dry parts on the road. 4 low is only to be used in offroad situations where you are going very slow and need as much torque as possible to get through.

 

Ok, cool. That fixed it. I just let it sit in neutral for a bit and it let me put it back in 2WD. Thanks a ton. By the way, do you have any idea what the whining sound with the steering wheel is? It's not a big deal as I'm going to have it taken in to get looked at anyway, but just curious.

 

It is your power steering pump. Go to autozone or wherever you prefer and get some power steering fluid. The reservoir is on the drivers side of the engine. Fill it up to the right level and your whine will be gone.

Just so you know you can shift it into and out of 4 low as soon as you shift the tranny into neutral you don't have to wait. I'm glad you decided not to drive in 4 low you would have a hard time getting past 25 mph and it would kill your driveline components on pavement.