John/Horace

The following is pasted from the Ram forums. An electrical engineer circuit designer posted the info which I hadn’t heard before. The original ram thread is also posted below the excerpt from the main discussion, lengthy reading required. Journey uses Can bus, but the led bulb problem is probably not related to that at all it seems. While your statement is technically correct, the context is misleading because of improper terminology used to describe the lighting circuits on Chrysler vehicles. A CAN Bus is a differential bus just like ethernet and requires 120-ohm termination. Google CAN bus for additional. Somewhere along the line, someone labeled Chrysler's lighting circuits as CAN BUS which is completely inaccurate and not true in any way what so ever. The lighting circuits are controlled by an FET (field effect transistor) in the body control module. The FET pulse width modules the circuit to create an effective DC voltage to the lighting source. The FET has the ability to measure the amount of current the lighting circuit is consuming. Based on the threshold values in the calibrations for each lighting circuit, the BCM can determine if the lighting circuit is faulting, for example, short to ground, short to power, open, etc. The issue with the current/late model years is Chrysler has tightened the calibration values for the amount of current that should be flowing on a lighting circuit. If the amount of current is out of range then the BCM can mitigate the circuit often seen as flashing or turning off then back on. In order to trick the lighting circuit FET, it needs to see a load that pulls the same amount of current flow as the halogen bulb which is around 4.3 amps. Solutions are to use a resistor to do this. The ideal solution would be to develop a HID ballast that has a circuit designed to not only consume the 4.3 amps but also power the HID power supply. https://www.ramforumz.com/threads/defeating-canbus-system.224775/

My beetles were always bullet proof, ran until the fenders fell off and battery in back seat started to fall through floor. Journey owners squawk about fender battery location; how about springs from back seat arcing out on battery terminals when the plastic terminal covers are left off by accident. https://jalopnik.com/this-is-very-likely-the-only-bulletproof-vw-beetle-for-1846100539

If the tires are in decent shape bead sealer should last a few years. Here in the salt belt the rims get pitted from corrosion, mainly with aluminum rims. Fixing with bead sealer usually holds a few years until tires are worn out anyway. Soapy water spray on the tire usually helps figure out where leak is. Newer tires seem to wear out faster anyway; if they aren’t cracked to hell or tread gone at 5-6 years you are lucky. DOT code on sidewall will tell you week and year of manufacture; important tire info.

If you have documentation about the noise then the March warranty deadline shouldn’t be as critical. With driveshafts balance makes a difference. Used shafts and coupling are match marked and reassembled in the same orientation to avoid noise and harmonics. The new shaft could be reinstalled 90 or 180 degrees from its present location on a chance its balance related. After work is done a test drive should have turned up this noise issue. Could try different dealership if you are losing faith in current crew.

Daughters and car maintenance ; very familiar story. Are you using 5w20 synthetic and a block heater, also helpful. I have family in Calgary, extreme winters for vehicles. But no salt is nice; kills our Ontario cars. The biggest parasitic drain issue in the journeys appears to be blue tooth modules that stay on. Fuse gets pulled and module later changed out. Pricy problem.

If fob is cycling locks the battery is probably ok. Must be related to something else.

You don’t have a forgotten blue tooth obd11 scanner plugged into under dash outlet? For real parasitic load you need to wait a minute or two with doors closed and everything turned off. There is a go to sleep type function that needs to kick in. I think around 100 milli amps is the most you should see for digital clocks etc on most cars. Glove box and trunk lights are common hidden battery killer. No after market remote starts or dash cams ad ons ? Good luck.

Yeah fob communicates with wireless module to close the loop for starting. I think there is an antennae as well. Could ask for a diagnosis of problem first. They should should be able to pin point problem first without throwing a lot of parts at it. Don’t just sign a blank work order and say fix it. Ask for communication and details up front. You have tried flipping battery in fob the opposite way to make sure there is proper polarity.

Thanks for the follow up info, helps the rest of us. They don’t have to replace flex coupling with the drive shaft I think; parts are sold individually. Shaft by itself is very pricy, you have scored some very expensive warranty repairs so far. Agree you want to keep warranty in affect as long as possible. Not much left to replace on your awd system except the ptu right close to front seats. It’s a transfer case they call a power take off unit . Metal filings in the oil would probably confirm a bearing wear issue. Another $1k ish item at least. Let them keep throwing parts at it; if they aren’t capable of diagnosing things it’s their problem. Most awd vehicles can be driven without driveshaft for a few minutes to help isolate drive line noises. Generates lights on dash and codes that can be easily cleared afterwards. Weird problems for a low mileage vehicle, not that common I believe.

Unfortunately I think fob could be bad. So buying and programming new remote might be needed, could phone and ask if they can do it without car being there.

Exhaust hanger donut, cheap and not that critical compared to abs and brake lights. Check your brake fluid level first, if pedal is soft you will need to fix ASAP. Need to check for codes to see what problem is, probably abs wheel sensor needs changing. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge

If you have a second key fob, try if it helps. Could measure fob new battery voltage, new batteries is 3.3 volts usually. Anything 3 and over should work. Placing fob right against the start button and pressing is supposed to start car. Unhooking battery probably won’t do anything. Car keeps fob settings even without power.

So flex plate from cvt engine bolts right up to regular automatic tranny flex plate, no difference?

Lots of issues like cvt transmission on some compass models, I believe. It still could fit, auto recycler would probably be able to figure it out. Might have to reuse intake manifold from Journey. LKQ have pretty good search options if you are patient. https://www.lkqonline.com/

If not starting from battery going dead remove fuse for blue tooth module, search site it’s a know issue. If it’s just randomly stalling replace CPS crank position sensor, fairly cheap wear item. If not starting but turning over and it’s fuel pump, pressure gauge etc will show this...TIPM module is possible. Relay built into wire harness can be by passed or new harness section installed. Lots on data around. https://circuitboardmedics.com/tipm-module-repairs/

How long is repair warranty? Complete rebuild was what, torque converter, pump and solenoid pack.? How many miles before rebuild was done, and since rebuild. Input and output speed sensors issues can create sudden shifts.

Tire shop can use a wire wheel and remove the corrosion back to bare material. A heavy coat of good bead sealer will fix leak for quite a while. Tire shops do this all the time. If the rim has impact damage that is leaking; you will need another rim. Steel sometimes fixable but not aluminum.

Noise can travel on a vehicle making it hard to pinpoint, Some shops have a vibration sensing tool they can use to zero in on noise. If you are close to end of warranty, wait and see not great. Try to get something in writing about the noise, might be useful later. Sometimes the same part on cars is given three different names, can be confusing. Dodge likes to call their transfer case a ptu unit, no idea why. The rear diff and drive shaft are expensive items, part about $800 each. If diff lip seal failed and unit ran out of oil then I can see them replacing it. Driveshaft change seems odd. Does your paper work actually say it was replaced. I think the noise could be the flex coupling on the drive the shaft( $80 rubber round thing in pic below) or if the driveshaft was not replaced then the hanger bearing on driveshaft. (thing in middle with bracket). It’s one piece shaft assembly so whole unit would be changed out. A new shaft with a bad hanger bearing possible, but very low probability. Could be flex coupler and rear diff assembly was replaced; and now entire driveshaft needs replacing. Sometimes the noise is not actually new, but was covered up by noises from the other failing parts. I’m curious, how many miles on the vehicle.

Did you get a labor quote yet? On a good set of ramps and jack stands, could still be a diy job, with a second person for reinstalling the ptu back in place. Not really the weight I would think, more the awkwardness of bolting it back in place after removal. Some vehicles go through CPS sensors because their location close to engine heat. Lots of timing belt cars have them behind the covers and timing belt. The 3.5 Santa Fe v6 CPS sensor if not changed when belt is; would take approx 4 hours to change. So there are worse locations than the Journey sensor, believe it or not.

The new Unit comes with them already installed.

The seals are for the plastic lower intake that is removed to get to heat exchanger. Seals compress over time and from being under compression. If money is tight you can reuse the seals, but IMO a little bit of risk involved and lots of time if one seal leaks vacuum. The new assembly has no dielectric grease on the two plug connections (or at least mine didn’t). Most mechanics put a dab on new plugs, helps if moisture especially salt water gets on the plugs. Copper coated electrical connections can still corrode, these plugs are pretty awkward to get to after unit is installed on engine. I think FCA is subsidizing this part a bit; something this size and complexity on cars is usually quite a bit more money than what they are charging.

Might as well do spark plugs at the same time. If you are in there that deep. I replaced the lower intake seals with oem stuff, don’t want to go back in there again. Use an inch pound torque wrench on those low torque fasteners. Die electric grease on the plugs to the oil temp and pressure sensor plugs on harness.

Unfortunately a lot of TPMS stuff is not plug and play. New module may still need to be configured by dealer or a shop with a TPMS interface tool or programmer. The early TPMS systems like in my F150 never even told you which tire was low or the actual pressures. So not really even worth fixing if they broke.

Just switched from an F150 to a 2015 Ram that a close friend owned. Seems fine first few days, hope carbon taxes don’t go nuts after COVID situation. Have owned a few Honduh’s, decent vehicles in my opinion. Good engineering and ok to work on. I haul too heavy for Ridgeline, but I wouldn’t be afraid of buying one.

It sucks to be right sometimes. On a hoist a trained mechanic can probably do it pretty fast; can’t imagine it taking over 2 hours. Getting a shop to admit this, maybe not that easy. Start shopping around for a good honest shop. Use the slightly more expensive oem part. I’m curious, how many miles are you at. Thanks for following up with this info for the rest of us on the site, decent of you. When you jam the same engine in too many different vehicles; stupid stuff is bound to happen. I also got nailed with the heat exchanger replacement; not looking forward to CPS swap.