OK i don't have 4wd. I shift it when i am moving no light come either when i engage it. I can turn the front driveshaft while in 2wd but shift it into 4wd and i cant turn it so its not the transfer case... Any help as to what this can be? Searched all over here and couldnt find anything. Read a website that said the drivers side wheel is perminently attached to the front end. Is this true? Also no noises are coming from the front end. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

CAD problem more likely than not. On the passenger side of the front axle, is a little housing with two vacuum lines, and electrical connector, and a vent hose. Pull off the vacuum lines, start the engine, and see if you have vacuum at one of the lines, if you do, put the T-case in 4x4, and see if vacuum switches to the other line.

If you don't have any vacuum there at all, source vacuum comes from a line that goes up from the switch on the t-case, to the back of the motor on the passenger side. (where all the rest of the vacuum lines are.....)

 

Does the CAD work for only 4LO or Both?

 

First do the Vacuum check If there's no Vacuum check the vacuum switch. On top of transfer case. Also check to be sure that the Vacuum is hooked up on passenger side of the motor. It's a gray vacuum line. It should be T'd in with a couple other small ones. Mine stopped working and after replacing a lot stuff to find out that the vacuum was broke up by the motor.. If you have vacuum and it changes when u shift lever. then pull the little house apart. Could be actuator or the electric switch which i believe just controls the light.

 

http://dodgeram.org/tech/repair/4X4/4x4_engagment.htm

 

I read that article and what threw me off was that it said that the drivers side front wheel is permanently attached to the front diff and therefore if i could turn my front driveshaft in 2 wheel drive, something is either broke up there or there is something else that i don't know which is what my question is....

 

Nope. In 2wd, the central axle disconnect is... well.... disconnected. So, when you spin the driveshaft with the truck sitting on the ground, you turn the ring gear, which turns the spiders, as the drivers side side gear won't turn, it spins the passenger side inner axle twice as fast instead. You cant see any of that from the outside though..... so, being able to spin the driveshaft in 2wd, with the truck sitting on the ground, is normal.

 

both.
99% of all 4wd problems are vacuum related, and the stupid vacuum cad can fail in about 99 different ways.
your driveshaft description is normal. it freewheels in 2wd, and is locked up with the transmission output in 4wd.

the BEST way to troubleshoot it is put the truck up on 4 jack stands and crank it up and operate it. verify front drive shaft is turning in 4wd and trans in drive. shift to park and test for vac at the cad. should be vac on one line in 2wd and the other in 4wd. this is critical. if vac is ok, then remove the stupid cad and free up the rusty shaft inside.

 

+1 cad problem. Check vacuum and vacuum switch on the t-case, and verify that vacuum is connected on the passenger side of the engine. If nothing else, the problem is inside the cad housing: one of the e-clips may have broken, could have a bent or broken shift fork, or a bad vacuum motor (<--most likely this if not vacuum source).

If problem is not vacuum source related: disconnect everything from the cad, take out 4 bolts holding the housing to the axle and remove housing. Should be 2 e-clips that hold the fork in place on a shaft that is actuated by the vacuum motor, and 1(2? cant remember) that hold the motor in the case.

If all the e-clips are accounted for, hook the vacuum lines back up to the unit, and while holding it parallel to the ground, with the transmission in park have someone shift into 4wd (hi, lo, doesn't matter). Fork should slide over with a constant force (should have a fair amount of *** behind it as well).

If nothing happens, the vacuum motor is bad. Easily found at a junkyard (better to find the whole assembly, that way its a simple, apples-for-apples exchange, and you dont have to deal with taking the e-clips out to swap just the motor)

Good Luck

 

Thanks guys, looks like im off to the junkyard...