I bought a 01 1500 Quad Cab 4x4 on Wednesday. When I test drove it, of course I put the truck in neutral, put it into 4H as well as 4L, and made sure the light came on and that they're were no strange noises. The light did come on and it felt like I had more takeoff power when I pushed the gas. It's been dry here, so I haven't gotten to truly test it in soft ground or anything. But, this morning I put it in neutral again, put it in 4L, and put the truck in drive, and no 4WD light came on. I also put it in 4H, no light. I'm new to 4x4's because I drove a 1995 2WD for 2 years, so am I overreacting? or could this be a problem? Any help is sincerely appreciated!

 

4wd is engaged by vacuum. First, there is no reason to shift to neutral for 4 hi, its shift on the fly so you can be moving. For 4 low, stop, shift to neutral then to 4 low, then back to drive.

With the system being vacuum, there are times when it will take a few seconds to shift into 4wd.

To check, put it in 4 hi and drive straight for a few feet and see if it engages and the light comes on. If it doesnt, check the vacuum lines from the cad on the front axle housing for any breaks or holes.

 

the front axle disconnect (cad) is a mysterious thing.
the light is controlled by the movement of the coupling fork, which is often sluggish to engage or disengage.

+1 on never shift t-case to neutral.
to shift in/out of 4lo, shift transmission to neutral, speed at 0-3 mph, then shift t-case through neutral as hard and fast as possible, do not pause in neutral or it will grind.

if you do get stuck in neutral, turn off ignition, finish the shift and restart. there are no synchronizers in/out of 4lo.

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

 

Thank you two very much, I will check this as soon as I get back to the truck!

 

It must be a vacuum tubing issue, I'm still getting No light. I'll check tomorrow

 

mine was always very sluggish, and required easing forward, then backwards, then forward, to encourage the splines in the collar to line up and eventually slide over.

i fixed it a couple of times, and then threw the damn thing away and bought a posilok.

the safe and effective way to test it is to put it up on 4 jack stands (or at least 2) and run the engine to produce vac. t-case and cad should all operate with transmission in PARK or NEUTRAL if you are only using 2 jack stands.

 

What is a posilok and how hard is it to put in?

 

This
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dodge-Ram-15...c81856&vxp=mtr
It replaces vacuum actuator with a cable you engage.
It also gives you one more gear - 2Lo
Simply if you engage 4Lo you leave the front disconnected.

 

Although the cable might eliminate the CAD and 4x4 probs. You still need to figure out where you have a vac leak.

 

Okay guys, so in TN here it's 100 degrees in the daytime, so I crawled under it at a buddy's A/C'd garage...found that my dog had chewed the sensor for the light and the vacuum lines. -.- A quick splice, and $5 spent at AutoZone fixed my problem (1 foot of 9/32 vac tubing and a little roll of hard emission tubing) Thanks guys for everything!