I have a 2009 larm crew 4x4,driving home in a snow storm i was in 4lock for approx 2hrs driving 40-80km due to the weather and traffic then i could smell burning oil thought it was a car ahead of me changed lanes still could smell it,get home lift me hood driver side engine compartment covered in oil,battery blanket is burnt on top sticker melted and aburnt mark on the hood insulation above the battery as well as the positive terminal red cover is melted, called the dealer and had it towed there, they called me and said my transfer case was empty and because i was stuck in the snow spinning my tires it over heated and spit out all the oil, my reply bull@#t i was driving never stuck or spinning the tires!!! then they asked why is your spare on the drivers front i told them i ran over something and it blew the side wall, and my new tire will be here in two days,thats when the dealer said because the spare is on and its a different size that is why all the oil dumped out of the transfer case,they told me they topped it up and it should be fine i am totally confused, this is my 3rd ram and have never had this happen before, any ideas?

 

Smells like BS to me! How fast were you going? Couldn't of been going that fast, why did you not put it in 4x4 auto? Yeah I don't buy their explanation at all, take it to another dealer and have to go through it, if you ran it out of oil, I wouldn't trust it. Did they give you a reason for the battery being toasted. And finally if they say the spare tire caused it, have them replace the transfer case regardless, you used the item that came with the truck if it caused a problem then they are at fault for not giving you the proper size spare to use without damaging the drivetrain (in other words a real tire instead of the donut spares we have).

 

Maybe this is what the dealer is talking about.

This is from the 2010 Owners Manual, not sure if the 2009 is the same...


"Proper operation of four-wheel drive vehicles depends
on tires of equal size, type and circumference on each
wheel. Any difference in tire size can cause damage to the
transfer case."

Also, I agree with rolltidehemi...have them replace the transfer case because of the spare. Depending on how long you drove w/o fluid could have damaged the transfer case. Refilling it won't take care of any problems already sustained.

 

haha you think they'll replace the transfer case? Good luck!... they will point to that exact sentence in the manual and say you are SOL. I HATE dealerships..

 

Haha and I would empahtically remind them that I used the spare that came with the truck therefore making them responsible for the damage.
Its not as if the guy said gee I guess I use this extra tire laying on the side of the road. The spare put on the truck is supposed to be used in an emergency and not cause damage to the truck when used as intended below the speed required, now if you find a sentence in the manual stating not to use the vehicle in 4wd when spare added then you may have something. Even then I would push it.

 

If they say he is SOL because of that sentence, then WHY is there a different sized spare in the truck? He obviously has to use what is given to him while waiting on a new tire. And then he had to use 4lock because of the weather. I think he should see about getting that transfer case replaced no matter what-lifetime powertrain warranty.

 

Using a smaller tire isn't going to cause transfer case over heating, and in a truck with no lockers it really won't cause any issue at all - the differential will take care of the size difference - as long as only one of the pair of tires is smaller.

Now if you were driving in 4 low on pavement that had no slip to it for that long - that will cause problems, but more likely with the diff gears or driveshaft u-joints.

Overheating in a tcase is usually caused by running in 4 low in a high gear. (4 low and truck in 4th or 5th for an extended period of time)

Does the dodge tcase actually have a filler in the engine compartment rather than filling at the tcase?

 

I doubt if they will replace the transfer case unless you can point to some actual damage ie slippage, grinding, something of that nature. They won't replace it because something might be wrong. It does suck that the spare tire is crap and I would pursue that with the dealer. Make sure that you do get some assurance that future problems with the xfer case won't be blamed on you and you using the spare that came with the truck from dodge. I grew up in a time when the spare was the same as the tires on the truck, then it changed where the spare was an option, don't choose that option-don't get a spare. Then they came up with the temporary spares and donuts, anything to cut a few buck out of each vehicle. Most people think, wow they save $45 bucks or so on a $45k truck, but then multiply that by the millions of cars/trucks produced and you see why a few dollars on one item makes a difference. I have made it a habit of going down and purchasing a new tire for the spare that matches exactly what is on the truck now. I have it mounted and a one time ballance only. I would recomend this to anyone buying a vehicle that will hold a full size spare. It's like insurance, sucks to have to pay for it until it's needed!

I do think you should get your new tire on then go out as soon as possible and 4 wheel that SOB as much as possible to make sure you have no other problems with the xfer case or any of the other things that got damaged. Jeff.

 

Are you running stock size tires? If not its your nickel.On the other hand Chrysler put a lot of temp spares years back in Jeep Gran Cherokees with posi.Owners had flats,put the spare on and tore up differentials in a few short miles.Chrysler took care of the repairs and a new spare.Then they issued a recall for correct size spare tires.

 

I wasn't mentioned, but do you have the original tires? I would think the transfer case is a separate problem, could have been caused when the tire was damaged? What did you run over? It could have had a slow leak over time and just finally emptied out in the snowstorm.
Jim