2012 Crew Durango AWD 5.7 Motor 86K Miles

The other day the car was stuck in low range. LOW light came on along with Traction Control Light. Shifting into LOW and back didn't do anything.

Took it to dealer and here is the bad news: They said the Low Range switch is bad, P/N 56046137AC. But that part has not been available for years, being replaced by P/N 56046427AA. They look similar (both have a dial to turn from normal to low range) but the new part has a plastic bin. But here's the problem: the new switch only fits the new console housing (which they call a bezel) The switch is something like $150 but the bezel is over $1,000.

So I have an extended warranty so the switch is covered, but the bezel is not because it's not a mechanical part! The bezel P/N is 1SU811X9AG. That alone makes no sense to me.

But it gets worse: the bezel is not available, so even if I was willing to pay for it they still couldn't fix it.

So I need to look at other solutions, The technician managed to get the car back to standard AWD mode but who knows how long that will last.

So...

1 - anyone had the problem and solved it?

2 - the bezel looks like it has no electronics and only serves to hold the switch


Has anyone tried to mount the new switch in the old bezel? Or mount it somewhere else?

3 - Is there any way to hot wire the old switch to force the car to stay in AWD (non LOW) mode? I never use LOW mode anyway.

Any and all comments welcomed! Tx in advance to all who respond.

 

The only information I have for that switch is, it has three wires, power, ground, and an output. What the switch does between power and output, is unknown...... Question becomes, can you find the old style switch from your local parts store aftermarket? Or maybe try car-part.com, and see if you can find one in a yard nearby you can cop.

 

I never had a reason to remove that switch from my former Durango so I'm not sure of the functionality. Does the "switch" have the Neutral button as part of it, or is there a separate connection for the Neutral switch? From the wiring diagram it doesn't appear there's a separate connection for Neutral. Normally I'd suspect that the switch would just switch between high (supply voltage) and low (ground) but the Neutral switch would add a wrinkle in that, meaning it might also have a floating condition, have a resistor divider network, or use some other means of providing 3 different modes. But I would be quite surprised if Dodge changed that for the newer models but kept the **** and separate Neutral button, meaning I would expect that you could swap the new switch to the old bezel unless there are physical changes, which I think gets you right back into the state where you were with your question.

Finding one from the used market may be your best bet. If you don't find any listed on the popular sites you might search for another instrument cluster item, then reach out to the seller to see if they happen to have that switch. Maybe it's typically a low demand or low dollar item and they don't consider it worth their time to list for sale.

-Rod

 

Oh, I pulled up the diagram for the Transfer Case Selector Switch for the 2013 Durango and it has 6 wires connected to it versus the 3 for the 2012 model, so it seems Dodge did change things up from 2012 to 2013 model years. The wiring diagram for 2012 only shows 3 wires, but I suspect the other 3 are there, just not listed on the diagram as they are for interior illumination and indicators. But, that being said, the pinout and wiring colors don't match between 2012 and 2013.

-Rod

 

Tx for all who replied. The different wiring from 2012 to 2013 (3 wires vs 6) is a little disconcerting.

On a positive note the car is running OK in high range but of course that could change at any time.

I did finally get someone at Chrysler who said the bezel would be covered under the warranty. He also was able to locate one on a website called mopar parts giant. He also said there was no claim entered by my dealer, they just saw that the bezel was not a covered part and also not available so they ended it right there. Rather poor performance by the dealer (Ramsey Chrysler, Ramsey, NJ).

I would pursue getting the switch and bezel replaced if I was sure that would work. BTW the new switch seems to have a socket for a plug. Cannot find a picture of the old one to verify it accepts the same plug.

 

Well, that's good news that the warranty will cover getting the bezel too. I'd like to expect that it will also cover any other modifications needed to make it work.

-Rod

 

Well if I was confused before now I'm even more confused. This is my wife's car so I rarely drive it. I just looked at it and here is a picture of the console:


That sure looks like the new switch.

If I browse the net this is what shows up for a 2011 console:



So do I already have the new bezel which would accept the new switch?

Dealer said nothing but they probably just saw that the 2012 bezel won't work with the new switch and that was that. Could the bezel have been changed during the 2012 model year?

Thanks again to everyone trying to help

 

Maybe. If you bought it used, a previous owner may have updated it as well.

 

No, bought it new in Jan 2012. Plenty on online pics of the new switch (56046472AA). Not many of the old switch (56046137AC) but I did find this:

Which matches the one in the 2011 console. So it looks like Chrysler's records are wrong and my 2012 has the new switch ???? Very confusing.

 

Not the first time the documentation has been wrong.... If swapping out the switch solves the issue, run with it.