Hi, i have a 99 dakota 3.9 v6 standard transmission.


i had to replace the transfer case recently as the last one blew up. now. i dont know what the 4 wheel and 2 wheel positions the shifter sets.


in the user manual the NP231 says 2hi-4hi-n-4lo

on a seperate website doing some research, it suggested that the shifter was 4hi-2hi-n-4lo

when i got my truck back, it was in the second slot, and no light for 4 wheel drive was on. so i threw it to the top position, again, no light. so, now i have no visual indicator weather or not im using 2 or 4 wheel drive.

right now, the roads are covered in complete snow and ice, so it doesnt bother me if im accidentally using 4 wheel drive. but i dont want to improperly use it and destroy another tcase.

i took a look on the back, and it says its a 231D HD it doesnt say whether its np of nv(i dont know if that makes a difference) now, i just really want to know, what the 2 wheel setting should be, and what the 4 wheel setting should be

 

NP and NV are the same thing. New Venture Gear bought out New Process in the late 80's, early 90's, but the transfer cases kept the New Process name until the late 90s, early 00s when they became electronically controlled, after which they took the New Venture Name.

Anyway, the 231 is...

2hi
4hi
N
4lo

... from the dash back. On the transfer case itself, 2wd is in the position where the lever is closest to the case.

If you still have your old transfer case laying around, take the 4wd position switch from it cause it sounds like your new switch is broken.

 

ok, thank you very much, i figured it would be 2hi at the top position after doing alot of reading, only one person said 4hi would be first, and it doesnt make too much sense that way.

is the 4wd switch something integral or is it just used as an indicator?

also, after research ive found that the 231HD is normally on dodge ram, and the 231 is a light duty for dakota, is this true? and could that explain why the electronic indicators might not be working?

 

The switch is just something that threads in along the shift shaft at the back of the transfer case. If the harness plugs in, it should work, so if the harness plugged in and it doesn't work, the switch is bad.