I took a test drive in a 2003 Dodge Durango 4WD V8-5.9L. Looks very well kept. Seller demonstrated 4-wheel drive on-the-fly on dry pavement when suddenly the wheels began to squeal . He had trouble disengaging 4WD and had to stop the vehicle: tried 4WD off, 2WD on, in park and neutralwithout success - it finally disengaged after reversing a short distance. Should I be concerned about buying this vehicle? Asking price is $7,000.00

old post
put car on
ICE (at least 1 tire) to shift.
or off road
shift to 4wd moving slow as possible;

your car is not AWD, (all wheel drive)
nor is it TOD. IT IS PART TIME 4WD. ONLY.
ITS NOT FOR DRY PAVEMENT OR EVEN WATER WET ONLY PAVEMENT ,AT ALL.
rtm
read the operators guide
or this
people been doing this since ww2 jeeps

http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/xfr-case/windup-hell.jpg

boom,
its for snow/ice or offroad.

part time or awd ?
do no engage part time 4wd on dry pavement.!! only on ice or dirt.
do post what your tires are touching? dirt or pavement????????

if stuck in 4L , on dry pavement , pull over to side of road, dirt
then shift out. if no dirt anywhere? sand or gravel or grass.?
then jack up one wheel then deselect 4Low. back do 2WD
options for your car, (do post what you have)
qoute sales brochure:
Those going 4WD can enjoy the standard Command-Trac II, or opt for the Selec-Trac II, featuring full-time AWD, 4WD Lo and a rearward-biased torque split. (end quote)

how you drive both cars, varies greatly.
in your glove box is an operators guide , did you read that yet
under how to drive in 4wd or awd.??????????

DO not use 4wd on dry pavement. do not. its for
ice, snow,or dirt.
if you do that and make a turn , it winds up the driveline. damage.
put in the dirt, at side of road, and get it out of 4wd.
read the manual on part time 4wd, its not AWD and has no center diferental to drive on hard pavement.

see stop driving. ..here


http://www.fixkick.com/part-time-test.html

RTM then RTM again......

what does that mean? 2wd to 4wd fails, sure.
my guess, is you are on PAVEMENT (not ice,. or dirt?)
and never read the operators guide?
http://ge.tt/7WrBuI91/v/0?c

nor this?

this car is part time 4wd it is not AWD , full time all wheel drive.
and most not be driven on dry pavement in 4wd. or 4Hi, 4LO

http://www.fixkick.com/part-time-test.html

or you will break good parts.

How did you fix this? We have the same problem. Please help!!

It sounds like you are driving in 4wd drive on dry pavement. The front drive axles do not work like the rear differential. When you turn, the outside front wheel must travel farther than the inside wheel, therefore they are traveling through the turn at different speeds. If you are on dry pavement, this causes the gears to bind. You don't notice this on slick surfaces because the outside wheel will slip instead of bind up the gears. You should not use 4wd on dry pavement. That's the advantage of push button, or shift on the fly, 4wd. You can shift back to 2wd when you encounter dry pavement. All wheel drive vehicles don't have this problem because they have a limited slip front differential as opposed to a locking differential on 4wd. Hope I didn;t confuse you too much.

there are 2 systems.
one is a part time system only.the 4x4 locks and is for ice mud and snow.Driving full time will damage the transfer case.The other system is a full time system and the selector says 2wd,4wd part time ,4wd full time and 4 lo. if in full time,it can be driven all the time even on dry roads.The full time is really an all wheel drive system.
the 4low is a very low gear and the main shifter has to be put in neutral and then the transfer case put in 4 low.attempting to put it in 4 low while in "drive" will make a gear grinding noise.
getting out of 4 low is the opposite.shifter to neutral and then put it in 2wd and then in drive.The newer durango has an electronic transfer case with a dial on the dash.The 2002 was available with 2wd,4wd,awd and 4 lo on a switch.The 1999 has the lever on the floor .

Awd is on demand 4wd, better fuel economy
4wd high is locked in high range
4wd low is lock in low range

possibles--chech and test 4wd / transfer case module --faulty switch --- transfer case failing