4 wheel does not engage

[Ozymandias]

Try another dealer??

Like said, the AA in the partnumber clearly indicates that this part fails very rarely otherwise it would have been superceded a long time ago.

 

[crazy jerry]

I'm not sure my last actuator actually failed.

i have serious doubts that any of them failed. like i said, they should be able to be bench tested in minutes, really without even removing it from the axle. red flags should be slapping you silly. sorry brotha but 6 actuators dont fail. you have something else going on, the dealer is obviously incompetant in figuring it out. trying a different dealer seems like a logical decision

 

[crazy jerry]

do you happen to still have the paper work from any or all of those dealer visits ? im curious what it says

 

[TDickerson]

I really don't want to hijack this thread as the OP was originally having this issue. I'm just going to leave this alone.

 

[DBrooks]

I've had 2 fail, the second one was trying to engage the 4wd going down the road and chewed up the engagement gears, they had to tear down the axle and rebuild all of that as well. In my case they found the weatherseal on the connector was torn and was letting water in causing a short or at least that is what I was told. They replaced the subharness to the unit.

 

[SimpolMike]

I now have had this issue as well. 4 wheel drive auto engaged while towing at freeway speed, twice, with bad noises coming from the front axle. We were mid road trip, towing a trailer and I disconnected the connector on the right hand side coming down to the axle, which takes out, abs, cruise etc. but was able to finish the trip in 2wd. Now of course the dealer is saying there is no issue, they cant replicate the problem etc. which is beyond frustrating. So i am having them fill out the inspection form so i can add an extended Chrysler / max care warranty (first time in my life) saying there is nothing wrong with the truck. Then, like i have had to do in the past, i will video with my phone, the next time this occurs (which i hope is right away) so i can force them to address the issue. Like someone else posted i have no doubt if i drain the axle i am going to find metal shavings, but what infuriates me is having to argue with the dealer that a problem exists. It’s a 2017 crew cab with 22k miles and this is the 5th warranty / issue related trip to the dealer.
A question for those of you have experienced this. How many times has this occurred while trailering vs. not trailering? I was dragging about 8 to 9k lbs when this occurred.
I have thought about bringing my tools and a pan and draining it in the parking lot of the dealership and then carry the pan with the metal shavings through their sales floor in my coveralls to make point.... I am subtle like that.

 

[SnoKing]

You towing at freeway speed in four wheel drive. Were you on a snow covered road???????

 

[SimpolMike]

SnoKing i think you missed a point there, "4 wheel drive auto engaged" or attempted to. To be clear: on its own, not selected by the driver, the front actuator tried to lock one or both of the front hubs.

 

[crazy jerry]

something must of sent a command signal to the actuator. tcase position sensor maybe ? dealer could easily remove actuator and tell if it tried to engage. maybe theyre just stupid like most dealers. letting it grind more would be stupid move on your part as well but whatever. hard to say how much metal shavings have migrated through the housing