I have a problem with my 2002 dodge ram, 5.9 4 x 4. driving home I started to hear a clanking noise, pulled over looked under the truck saw nothing hanging. drives both fwd and reverse, however the 4 x 4 manual shifter wont engage anything

 

Did a part fall off?

 

mmm...sounds like t case......on a very old thread....Std or automatic?

 

I don't know if anything fell off. Once I knew i could drive it home thats what I did and parked it. My truck is an automatic, 2002, 4 x 4, 1500, 5.9, 4dr with 52k miles on it. Reading the different forums it sounds like a linkage problem due to the grommets being old or something. I have a Haynes manual, but it doesn't show linkage issues. Someone please advise.

 

Crawl under there, and have a look. If parts are missing, it should be obvious.

 

I did and didn't see anything unusual, Is the linkage inside the transfer case? I am willing to do this fix however I'm not too thrilled to take apart the transfer case due to comments in the haynes manual advising it is not for the unskilled.

 

Disconnect the linkage at the t-case. Trans in neutral, wheels blocked, so there is no tension on the drivetrain. See how the mechanism on the t-case feels... should be easily felt detents when shifting thru the various ranges.

 

There is no tension at all with the 4 x 4 manual shifter, fortunately I wasn't in the 4wd mode when this happened so the truck is drivable in 2wd, but again there is no tension at the shifter, free spinning so to speak. thanks I really appreciate the advice, keep it coming.