I cant shift into 4wheel drive at all on 96 dodge 1500
Asked by Nathan Feb 20, 2012 at 10:26 AM about the 1996 Dodge RAM 1500 ST Club Cab LB 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I just bought a 96 dodge ram 1500 with 123,000 miles on it, it wont shift into 4
wheel drive. I put truck in neutral and the floor shifter wont move at all. Is there
anything i can do to lube it or check to see whats wrong without going to a
mechanic??
10 Answers
it sounds like the linkage for the transfer case is seized. try lubricating it with a penetrating oil like pb blaster, and trying to then move it, if it doesnt free up then youll need a new shift linkage
canalbreath answered 12 years ago
Do you mean 4 high ,4 low or both. To shift into 4 high your transmission should be in drive (D) under 55 mph. 4 low is when you should be stopped with the transmission in neutral(N).
canalbreath answered 12 years ago
Sorry forgot to add that Nick answer could be right as well , but whatever it is, you should never have to force it as hard as you can. So don't try that.
i havent tried it while in drive and where do i lubricate it? I will try moving to 4 high while in drive. thanks
get under your truck and coming through the cab floor and attaching to the transfercase will be your shift linkage
alright, i tried it in drive and same result, i will check under the truck. thanks fellas
canalbreath answered 12 years ago
Yeah sorry it wasn't that easy !!! There could be a branch or anything jammed in the linkage keeping it from moving freely and or something hit it and bent it. I've never seen linkage corroded solid but i suppose if it were never used that could very well happen.
If this still comes up on anybody's radar, I was wondering if anyone knows what resolved the problem? I have a '99 with the same problem. Everything had worked fine until I was driving and took it out of 4H. I was only going about 15mpg. Since then it will shift easily into all the other positions and function appropriately, except 4H. Any ideas? I'm guessing it's probably something within the transfer case, but I was hoping it's not. All the linkage is solid and it "almost" goes, but can't.
Nevermind, I had to change out the heater coil and in the process I had to disconnect the 4x4 shifter. Come to find out one of the screws had come loose and was sitting beneath the shifter preventing it from going into 4H. That was my fix. I hope if you're looking on here yours is that simple too.
Underneath the cab underneath with a shifter is that there's a little some kind of little lock I had the same problem I remove that lot caught all four gears
