First time for this, and boy do I need help. Last weekend, I replaced my heater core. When I dropped the steering wheel and or when I was moving the dash I managed to trash my shift indicator cable and cannot seem to locate one online. That's the first problem and I believe I can repair it if I get the part.

The biggest problem I have is when I assembled everything, everything works very well except the truck is stuck in 4H. The 4WD lever is in 2H, and will not move to 4H, but does go forward to other selections, yet it is always in 4H. I can tell it is truly in 4H because the steering is squirrely as expected. Either that or the front axle is engaged but transfer case is not? I have inspected the under hood areas to see if I left a vacuum line off, but nothing is readily apparent. Are there vacuum lines or electrical connections under the dash I may have pulled loose that will cause the axle to not disengage and cause this problem? Any help is appreciated and I look forward to getting this put to bed!

 

You have a vacuum problem to the CAD on the front axle, trace the 2 lines that go to it. And get a vacuum gauge and follow the directions in this link, http://www.dodgeram.org/tech/repair/..._engagment.htm


As far as the shift indicator cable goes, PM me .

 

Thanks for the response. I intend to tie into the vacuum lines today. I pretty much suspected it was a vacuum problem because of all of the terrific advice I found on this site. I only added a thread because I couldn't find one with my problem that followed a dash removal, so thought I would ask the question and see if (hopefully) I either pulled something loose and/or left something undone when I pulled it or the heater box. Soon as I can figure out how to send you a private message, I will. Again, thanks! Buck Tilford

 

And to read your PM's, just click on the "private messages" under where it say's Welcome and your name. Top right.

To send one, just left click on the persons name and a window will pop up with options.

 

Okay, before going to the junkyard, I decided to check out what was going on one last time. I have now found that When I shift the 4X4 selector into 4L or N, the doggoned thing disengages the front axle! The 4WD indicator on the dsah goes out, and the vehicle is in 2WD. I was successful in finding the shift indicator complete with cable, but that is the least of my concerns in that Colorado Winter is upon us and I have to have 4WD. Picked up a vacuum gauge while out too, so will run through those paces, but this makes no sense and does not fit the normal symptoms. I still think it must have something to do with the last major move I made when I removed the dask and heater box for the heater core swap. Before I get too much further, can someone answer if there is a vacuum line associated with the axle CAD that goes under the dash? I see one in between the AC lines that disappears into the firewall and it does go under the engine toward the CAD.

 

One more caveat. It still will not shift into 4H.

 

None of the vac lines in the dash have anything to do with the 2 lines on the CAD. Maybe they are reversed. Did you follow the directions in that link I posted ?