Also my tires are all still pretty new with an alignment as of last year

 

Question: Is there any benefit to occasionally engaging 4WD and 4LO? I engage each a few times each year to make sure everything is working in there, and drive a few blocks before switching it back. 4LO usually engages and disengages with quite a bit of racket, but it still seems to work just fine. 4WD always engages and disengages pretty quietly - just a servo/switch sound.

I don't know if this works as a preventative measure, but it's been my experience with all things mechanical that not using them often results in problems. Incidentally, I wish I had AWD without 4WD high/low, because I have zero use for them and they're just another thing to break.

 

If the truck is paid off, I would expect that spending $2k or so to fix the problem would be much cheaper than buying a new vehicle and starting over. I constantly hear people say it's "not worth it" to put a few thousand $$ into repairing vehicles, but they have no problem spending $500/month or more on a new vehicle for 60 months, particularly when the down payment far exceeds the repair cost. I just don't get it.

I had a Ford Ranger that required $2,500 in repairs, and it was fine for 5 years after that. Breaking that down monthly, it cost me $41.67/month over those five years. I expect it would have cost substantially more to trade it for a new truck.

 

If I may chime in on 08Aspen's thoughts. I totally agree with your thinking. I would much rather pay the repair cost instead of the new car payment or price. I have a 98 Dodge Stratus and a 94 Ford Ranger both with over 170,000 miles. My son's 99 Dodge Ram 1500 has over 203,000 miles and my 05 Durango is getting close to turning over 100,000 miles. My son and I do our own oil changing and recently we replaced the valve cover gaskets on the Stratus as well as new plugs, wires, cap and rotors in all our vehicles except for the Durango. I couldn't imagine have much we have saved by doing this ourselves. Recently there's been talk about trading the beast Durango but right now it is going strong plus I hate car payments! Have a good day all!

 

08Aspen- I occasionally switch the 4x4 switch in my Durango also. I don't usually drive it with it locked in unless the roads are wet. I don't want that chance of something getting torn up on dry pavement. Thanks!

 

I would not put it in 4lo unless you are in dire need and stuck in 4hi. I had Durangos for over eight years and I never put it in 4lo and only put it in 4hi a few times a year,
FF

 

Well…got 170K on the D now and have the “can’t fill up with up without fuel puking all over you and then can only put in 1 gallon a minute” problem as well. So if I spend $3000-$5000 I “might” be able to solve these problem, not sure I’ll get the same pay back you did on the Ranger. I really hate to have to eat a car payment again but she’s on her way out.

 

Wanted to report back, that so far so good! Replaced the the transfer case motor and after 2 weeks all is well. Hopefully anyone else with issue can have same findings.

 

Hi all. I see I'm not alone in this electronic transfer case fiasco. Mine is an 05 Durango Limited with the Hemi. She's been very good to me, but I can't afford to have the TCCM replaced out of warranty.

Sooooo , I was wondering if someone here may be able to tell me how to just disconnect the transfer case from the tccm , leaving it in AWD , so it wont go into 4-lo or lock on it's own anymore.

I need specific locations of what plugs , harness or fuses to disconnect.

Thats about it, like I said, she's been a good ride for last 6 years.

Thanks

 

05:

If you crawl under your D, you will find the transfer case bolted to the rear of the transmission.

There will be a harness going to the shift motor that you can disconnect to solve your issue.
The Service 4WD light will be on, but other than that you should be good to go.

As far as "exercising" the T case through 4 Hi/Lock and 4 Low, I do both several times a year. Like anything else, non use is as hard as overuse.

Obviously, you won't want to exceed 20-25mph in Low, but as long as you are driving straight ahead you can engage both modes on dry pavement.

I do the 4 Lock at least twice a month, and 4 Low probably every 2-3 months.

Don