I have a 2001 4.7 V8 (2WD) Quad Cab. Yesterday out of the blue a service 4wd light comes on. I am confused first by the fact that I do not have 4WD WTF. I took it to ammco to get the computer read and hopefully clear the stupid light. No code came up of coarse, but the light will not clear. Ammco has no idea how to help me. I drove down to dodge which is against my religion since I feel like I have shelled out enough money to them to fix my crappy truck. I would rather support local shops. They want to charge me $85 to read the codes again. I walked out the door. Why should I pay to have a light fixed on my truck that should not exist in the first place. Some other forums that I have read suggested a few things. 1. Pull the battery. -Did that did not clear light 2. AC problem.- I have already had the AC problem mentioned in other posts and we replaced the resistor, it works now. So I don't think that is it. 3. Short in computer.- I figured if there was a short ammco would have found that. So I guess I am hoping that somebody can give me some insite. I don't want to go to dodge( I hate them) and I don't want to put a picture over the light to keep me from being annoyed. We did that with the check engine light for 3 years. I have also had the transmission and O2 sensor issue. My husband is deployed in the military so he is not here to do this for me. If it can be done from home I will try it or suggest a place I can take it that is not Dodge. Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've had the same thing happen to my Dakota 3 times in the 4 years I've owned the truck. I have an '01 4.7 2wd Quad like you. I have a code reader and it didn't pull any codes either. The Service 4WD light came on my truck last week. I tried disconnecting the battery a few times. What finally cleared the light was I had to leave the battery disconnected for at least 15 minutes.

 

or pull out the gauge cluster and remove the light bulb, otherwise you have some troubleshooting ahead of ya. never heard about this happening before, sorry i cant give you any better advice.

 

You may wind up having to take it to a Dodge dealer. For the 4WD light, there is a TSB number 08-032-00A DEC 00 4X4 Service Lamp - ON, 4X2 Vehicle, that instructs the dealer to replace the AC control in the Instrument Panel. The AC control in your truck is sending some incorrect messages via the vehicle's data bus. The Instrument Cluster thinks it should turn on the 4X4 lamp. The new AC control will keep the 4X4 lamp off and you should not notice any problem with the AC.

That being said, a TSB on the problem does not necessarily mean the dealer will do the repair for free. It just means Dodge is aware of the condition and sends the service info out to all its dealer service departments. It never hurts to ask the Service Manager to repair it for free or at a reduced cost. Dodge has a policy in place known as DSA, or Dealer Self Authorize for out of warranty repairs. It is at the dealer's discretion but the worst they could do is say no. If not, maybe one of the local shops in your area could get the new AC control head from the Dodge dealer and replace it for you, or you could buy the part and do it yourself. It's not very hard to remove the dash panel and replace the control head. No matter who does the work, do a hard reset on the PCM either with a code diagnostic tool or by disconnecting the negative battery cable and holding the ignition key in the "start" position for half a minute, then reinstall the cable.

You may even try the battery disconnect hard reset procedure before having the truck serviced, but with no codes being stored in the PCM, personally I doubt it would fix this problem. Still, it costs you nothing to try.

Jimmy