I took my 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 on the beach at Assateague Island, MD, and the 4-wheel drive (4-high) worked perfectly getting on and off the sand. The next day I could not get into 4-wheel drive - the light just continued to blink. I tried making the transfer in park, neutral, drive, and reverse to no avail so we bailed on driving on the beach. The next day I could get into and out of 4-wheel drive no problem so we gave the beach a try. I got out to a good spot, parked the truck in 4-wheel drive, and hung out for 5 or so hours. When I got back in the truck to leave, the 4-wheel drive indicator was again blinking and would not transfer into 4-wheel drive (high or low). Luckily I was with a buddy and once he towed me for about a mile, I was finally able to click into 4-wheel high. Since this trip, I have been able to get into and out 4-wheel drive without issue. I have not tried to drive on sand since.

Has anyone ever experienced this problem on sand and no what to do about it? I am due to drain and fill my transfer fluid, but again I have not had any problem since when on blacktop.

Thanks!

 

first off, do you have a lever on the floor or a dial on the dash to switch into 4WD?

If the light is blinking it means that the truck has not met the criteria to allow a safe switch into 4wd, or you have not followed the proper procedure to allow it to engage... if you turn the truck off in 4WD is should not disengage itself from 4WD until you do so manually.

Can you list any modifications you've made to the truck?

Lift Kit? Level Kit? Bigger Tires/Wheels? etc. etc.

 

2007 has **** on dash Izero.

To engage in 4Hi, drive as normal. You dont even need to slow down. You can engage at 55mph on the highway.
4Lo is a different story. Owners manual walks you through different situations, but for most part you need to be at a standstill, shift into 4Lo and then go 5mph until it engages. There is a T-case nuetral button in selector plate if needed to align t-case.

 

I haven't made any modifications, everything is stock.

The day that it would not switch over to 4-wheel drive, I actually pulled out the user manual and followed the instructions word for word on how to get into 4Hi or 4Lo and it just wouldn't go (criteria not met).

When I got stuck on the beach, I truly turned it off while in 4Hi and when I turned the truck back on with the **** still on 4Hi the dashboard light was blinking and I was not in 4Hi.

The only thing I can think of that makes this situation different than other times I used 4-wheel drive is the sand. There is no possible way sand could have gotten into the transfer case and caused the proper conditions to not be met is there? I'm not real familiar with causes of not meeting proper criteria.

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

Just so we understand what is happening I'm gonna list the events as I am understanding them from you:

1) You arrive at beach
2) You switch into 4HI
3) Truck goes into 4HI (steady 4wd light)
4) You drive around on the sand and arrive at your location
5) You put the truck in Park (4wd light still on steady)
6) Turned Truck Off

Later On

7) Turn truck on
8) 4wd Light is blinking
9) You are stuck on sand
10) buddy tows you for a bit
11) all of a sudden while in motion the truck engages 4HI...

Is that what happened more-or-less?

If you aren't getting any DTCs then the truck is not seeing anything wrong...

If you haven't changed your Transmission fluid in awhile (~30K) then it is time to change the fluid and filters, you might even want to pull the transfer case cover off and just give it a good once over inspection visually....

If you do end up seeing Sand in there then there might be a problem somewhere.

 

That's exactly what happened. I'm due to change the transmission fluid and I'll definitely take off the transfer case cover to inspect this weekend.

 

Let us know what you see in there.

If you have a mesh screen filter sift the trans fluid you drain from the trans through it... see if you have any metal in the trans.