08 Dakota v6 manual trans stuck in 4WD due to bad electrical TC shift motor. New motor (presumed in neutral) splines don't line up with TC shift gear (failed in 4 WD). How to align? IF I plug the new shift motor harness in and change the cabin 4WD control switch will that rotate the TC shift motor to correct alignment?

 

that would be my thoughs.

 

Thanks Pierre I'll wait to see if anyone else chimes in. I'm usually on the Jag xke forum, my truck (300k) has rarely been a problem and I used 4WD just a few days before. Thankfully it didn't fail when I was in the backcountry.

 

What might happen is the new motor will sense its position and on startup will shift to the position designated by the ****. I'd say do it.

 

Well that didn't work. The old TC case shift motor failed in 4lo and plugging in the new motor with it hanging free (not mounted to the TC gear) will not move the new motor to 4lo with the cabin control switch to allow mating with the TC gear. Fuse 42 (TC case) was blown initially and replaced. Is there a relay in this circuit? If the new motor is not getting 5v either that or the control circuit is interrupted somewhere. Does anyone have a schematic of the TC control circuit? I'll ask another poster who mentioned this electrical issue. Any help appreciated.

 

There is no relay involved in shifting the transfer case. I never use 4lo, but I think it requires the ignition to be in the run position and the transmission to be in neutral to shift in and out of 4lo.

 

Not seeing a brake on the shift motor..... It's likely a worm gear drive, so, you are NOT going to change anything just cranking on the part that engages the t-case. If you do get it to move, it'll likely be because something broke.....

Try this: Jack up the rear tires. (block the fronts, so the truck doesn't roll away....) put the trans in neutral, take note of where the truck thinks the t-case should be. (what mode....) I *think* it gets it's clue there, from the shift motor though..... in which case, if the install instruction want you to have the t-case in 4-hi, or whatever, with the motor off, manually shfit the t-case to the correct mode, install the motor, and see what happens. (ignition off when you actually go to plug things in though.....)

 

I'm now out of 4lo with the new shift motor mounted after manually (vice grip) rotating the TC gear (with all 4 wheels off the ground) clockwise one position and now I'm in neutral on the TC with a red N indicator in the cabin with the gear in correct alignment to mount the new shift motor but the cabin control switch will not effect a shift (harness plugged in). If I manually rotate the TC gear further clockwise will that put me in 2WD? If so I'll temporarily leave the shift motor off. Thoughts?
Prior to electrical harness connection both rear wheels rotated together by hand and both fronts rotated independently e.g. not in 4WD.

 

Do things work the way they are supposed to now??

 

Here is a link to the factory service manual.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0xh46mwvxw...nual.ND.SM.pdf

The section for the transfercase (nv233 part time 4wd) starts at 21-874 (page 4481), and the shift angle for transfercase position is at 21-910 (page 4517).

There are diagnostic steps included in that section that may help to narrow down what might be happening. It also can't hurt to double check that the fuse hasn't blown again.