I need some help and I’m hoping some of you experienced guys on the board will be able to give me some advice. Let me preface this by letting you know that I’m not experienced in truck repair.

Two weeks ago, I took my 98 Dodge Ram 4X4 Magnum to an automotive shop for a repair. The 4WD light was staying on and it didn’t appear to be shifting into 4WD. Prior to taking the truck in, I put the truck in park, jacked it up, and was able to spin the front tire, so it seemed to be stuck in 2WD which was ok as I rarely use 4WD. But, I couldn’t be sure what was going on so I wanted a mechanic to look at the problem.

I take it in on a Thursday and they call be back Friday telling me that the 4WD works fine and that the indicator switch needs to be replaced. I’m happy because it’s a cheap fix. They say they should have it finished on Monday. Wednesday they call me and tell me they replaced the indicator switch, but they’ve noticed a new problem. They tell me that the truck is binding under torque when you accelerate. I didn’t previously have any “binding under torque”, but hey, the truck has 170k and with those miles- anything can go wrong at anytime. They tell me they need to replace the gear pinion and they should have it done by Friday. I don’t hear anything back from them so I call them on Monday and ask if the truck is ready. They tell me it’s ready, but they discovered an issue with the 4WD and that there is a vacuum leak. Interesting considering they previously told me the 4WD was working fine.

The mechanic tells me he needs to find the vacuum leak and he’ll call me when he’s done. Today he calls me and tells me he found that the vacuum leak was caused by a vacuum hose being melted in half and that they also replaced the vacuum switch. Can 4WD even work with a hose melted in half and a malfunctioning vacuum switch? I’m thinking nope. He also tells me that there is a new problem, a clicking noise coming from the transfer case. A clicking noise doesn’t really bother me at this point, I just want the truck back as they have already had my truck for two weeks.

I pay $1,100 and pick up the truck, feeling a bit relieved to be out of there. I start to accelerate up a slight grade onto the freeway, and I hear this terrible grinding noise coming from under the truck. My stomach sinks. At a stoplight, I begin to accelerate as it turns green. And again, a loud grinding noise that only lets up after a few seconds after I remove my foot from the gas pedal.

It seems to me, they misdiagnosed whatever the binding noise was and replaced the gear pinion ($1,000). Then, they realized they made a mistake and decided to tell me the “new” clicking sound is coming from the transfer case. Instead of allowing them to diagnose the noise coming from the transfer case, I picked up the truck.

I’m not sure what to do because I don’t really know enough about auto repair to really argue with them. Do I take the truck back and confront them on what seems to me to be a possibly unnecessary repair? Or do I just write it off as an expensive lesson learned and take the truck to a new mechanic?

Any idea of what might be going on? I didn't have any binding before I took it in, and now it's making an awful grinding noise. What's my best option here?

Thanks for reading!

 

Me being a mechanic i would talk to a couple your friends, famliy how ever and find a loc garage that has a good rep and take it to them and have them just look at it and take the page work for the other shop and show them and tell them. If it was not doing it when it went in i would think they screw it up. It sounds to me they are ripping you off. and yes this is a lesson to learn i learn it to. I just had to put a 2000$ long block in my truck. Hope this helps a little i sure ever one esle well give you there too sen as well

 

Thanks for the advice. I just moved to the area and don't know many people yet. My wife asked a couple neighbors, but they were not any help. I tried searching online before taking the truck in, but I couldn't find anything that rates mechanics in the area. So, I chose the closest one out of the phone book. Boy, am I regretting it.

 

this is just me i would take a 1100 dollar *** whoopin to someone just my opinion if ya lived close to me id fix it sorry no good advise

 

I was doing some searches on grinding from the transfer case and I came up with what seems to be a common problem with 94+ Rams. What I read was that if you hear grinding or an impact wrench sound coming from the transfer case, the problem could be that the transfer case output shaft snap ring is broken. So far, the grinding only manifests itself when I've put the engine under load. So, maybe this is the problem. Does anyone know the estimated repair time involved if this transfer case output shaft snap ring is broken?

Thanks