Hello everyone, obviously I am a newbie here and to anything domestic. I have always thought of Toyota as my first choice of a truck, however my entire family had Dodges at some point. I am in the US Army and I have been stationed at Fort Drum, NY I discovered one thing, here in the North Country there are a lot of Dodge PU's. I also realized that with the harsh winter months here that Dodge is my best choice.
I just bought my 1998 Ram 1500 Sport 4X4 today. I will pick it up on Wed, the dealer is replacing a couple steering parts on it.
I will not say how much I paid, but I think I got a great deal and thats what counts.
I have a simple question;
Once I placed the transfer case into 4H and then back to only RWD the 4WD light stayed illuminated. What makes this go off and where can I find out the do's and dont's of my new trucks engagement of the transfer case?

The owners manual was to generic and I did not want to ask the dealer. I didnt want them to think they could cheat me on this aspect of the truck.
The light was off when I started the test drive, my wife was reading the manual and I shifted the transfer case to 4H at around 25 MPH, however I had a hard time reengaging it to the 2H position ( I think it is in 2H) but the light is still on.

Thanks in advance for the reply. The site looks great

Jay-R

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My very first Domestic Vehicle and I love it

1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Club Cab Sort

 

My 4WD light stays on for a while after I disengage 4H. Most of the time I have to drive for quite some time (up to a hundred yards or so) before it decides to shut off.

Has your's EVER shut off?

 

yeah it's a pretty common thing.. does it to me too. stays on for a bit. but goes off after a little bit of a drive


i have heard that if it doesn't ever go off it is likely a vacuum leak somewhere. i can't remember where exactly though.

 

Nope, mine didnt shut off. After reading your replys maybe I didnt drive it far enough. It was off until I shifted the transfer case to 4H, so maybe after a while it will go off. Or maybe when it is started it will shut off.

Thanks to both of you for your fast reply. Gotta get back to my race now.

 

When the 4WD light is on, that means your truck is still in 4H

As for the original poster, try to AVOID shifting into 4wd when you're going that fast Yes, you CAN up to 55mph, but it's not good for the drivetrain.

Here is the proper procedure for shifting into and out of 4H and 4LO
If you find it hard getting it out of 4H, you can shift the truck into reverse and let it back up a couple inches. That's usually what I have to do.

It's also important to note that the truck should be put into 4H EVERY month to keep everything lubed and working correctly.

 

not always, the transfer case might be in 2H but the CAD on the front axle might still be locked. ive found to that move the wheel side to side sometimes will shut it off. if its not going off. i would say pull the switch out of the CAD unit. its on the left side where the plug goes in. just pull it out and see if its stuck.

 

Thank you very much, this is what my wife was trying to read as i was trying to drive. Everyone knows how complicated that can be especially when you are trying to test a new vehicle and ensure everything is in good mechanical working condition. I dont think my truck has any mechanical problems so your answers helped me a lot.
Thanks again.

Jay-R

 

I’ve noticed the same thing with my truck, it will disengage, but the light will stay on for a while, I asked my father who had a similar truck, and he called Dodge, or Mopar, or something like that and asked them, and they said that the truck should always be running in neutral while shifting the transfer case, it can be done while in drive, but its easier on the drive train, after I started doing that I’ve noticed it shifts into 4H easier, as well as out easier, and the light goes on/off faster. Just a little heads up.

 

That's because the gears and shafts don't have to sync when you shift into 4H if the truck is in N But the big feature of the 4wd system is that you're supposed to be able to shift into and out of 4wd while moving down the road/trail so you can use it as needed

For 4L you MUST have the truck in neutral, but I've had no issues getting it into 4H while the truck is in drive and moving. Like I mentioned up there ^^^^, it's important that you put it into 4wd every month to keep everything lubed and to keep the vacuum parts soft and working correctly. Most people don't know that, and as a result, when you buy a used Ram it hasn't been maintained properly in that aspect. I could tell mine hadn't when I got it. At first it was very hard to get it into and out of 4wd, but it's almost instant now...to get into 4H anyway. Getting out usually requires a backup, or traveling at least 50ft forward to get it to jump back out.

 

yeah thats how mine is.. i have the shifter on the floor for my 4wd (im guessing all 2nd gen. rams do???) i will be in 4hi and shift it into 2wd and it'll stay in 4hi till i either let up on the gas so it gets the pressure off the transfer case or back up acouple inches..