2006 Durango Limited, 21K miles, 4.7L . Last night shifted from "4 lock" to AWD - and moments later the "SVC 4WD" light appeared. It feels as if it is stuck in 4 lock. Backing, changing the positon of the switch back and forth and even pulling any fuses with anything to do with 4wd in an attempt to "reset" it have yeilded nothing.

I have a 500 mile trip scheduled for Monday am, and this occured on a Saturday night, of course.

Any ideas? Please help!

TIA

Chris

 

Did you put the tranny in Neutral when you switched from 4lock to AWD? You have to switch to neutral to even get into 4lock.

 

No the wife didn't. Actually, much to my suprise the owners manual mentions nothing about shifting into neutral to change from AWD to 4 Lock or vice versa. Scary as it sounds, I have completed that change many times without incident....

 

I do believe that the manual does say to switch to neutral. I have never had a 4wd that you didn't have to switch to nuetral.

 

aplguys:
You do not have to be in neutral to switch to 4 lock. That can be done not only in gear, but at speeds up to 55 mph as long as all wheels are turning the same speed. 4 Low is the only selection that requires the trans being in neutral and the vehicle moving no more than 3mph (preferably stopped)
Of course, you only want to use4 highwhen the roads are snow covered or otherwise slippery.

Sounds like your transfer case is having trouble switching back to AWD which could be the shift motor or another mechanical issue. Hopefully it is still under warranty. Being an 04,even if you are over 36k, you should still have the 7/70k powertrain with $100 deductible.

I would not make that 500 mile tripuntil you get it resolved. 500 miles in 4 high on dry pavement s a recipe for transfer case destruction.

Don

 

I'm experiencing a similar situation with my 05 SLT. I bought it a month ago. The sales guy was great, now the service guys not so great. Anyhow when I took it home, the first time I went to put it in 4-LOCK when it was snowing the light on the dash just flashed at me and wouldn't engage. I called the service department and scheduled an appointment. It's still under the bumper to bumper warranty. I had it scheduled for 2 weeks out because I didn't have a day off work for 2 weeks. Well 2 days after I made this appointment the SVC-4WD light came on and wouldn't go off. This was on a Friday, I called the dealer right away and bumped the appointment up to the next wednesday, that was the first appointment they had. I took it in had a few small things looked at, and told them about the light, of course the light went out on the way there, I also got an oil change and had the differentials serviced. After sitting there for 4 hours they said it was done. I went to sign the papers and they said and I'm quoting from the paperwork, "Cust states the 4WD will not engage properly and the SVC-4WD light is on the next line down says OK ITEMS ARE A.O.K.". The minor things I took it in for they fixed one problem and had to order the parts for the other. I was fine with that. The oil change and differential service was $190. Needless to say I was pretty mad that they didn't fix the 4WD. 10 minutes after I left the dealer the light came back on and has been on since. When they called saying the other parts were in I told the guy I talked to that the light was on again and it needed fixed. I scheduled another appointment to have the ordered parts installed and the 4WD fixed.I took it in on the scheduled day, dropped it off at 7:30 my appointment was for 8. They finally called me at 4 to say that it was putting a code out for a volatge being too high but the guy that does their electrical work was out sick. I could either leave it overnight for him to look at it in the morning or I could pick it up. I asked for a loaner car and they said that they don't do that with a used car. I said fine I'll pick it up I have to have a vehicle for work tommorow. I scheduled another appointment when I picked it up. I dropped it off at 9:30 this time, I figured why get up early on my day off when they're going to keep it all day. They called me back at 4 again to tell me that they had to order a sensor for the transfer case and no one around here has the part. I'm still waiting to schedule another appointment to get that installed. Sorry this was so long. I've never this kind of trouble with a dodge dealer. I've owned 4 dodge vehicles and never been treated this way. I did get the owners name and address from a plaque in the waiting room. I'm going to write him a nice letter when this is all don letting him know what I think about his service department. My family has bought 3 vehicles from this dealership since January and we won't be getting any of them serviced there. Like I said earlier the sales guy was great, no pressure at all he didn't even go with us on any of the test drives just gave us the keys and let us go that made one heck of an impression, I just think their service department needs to get on the same page.