John/Horace

Too bad this post can’t be be stickied on an electrical forum like some sites do. Very very useful for people without a Mitchel login. Search option is crude and awkward. Ground zero for complex electr problems. Even the title of this post…is so appropriate. Someone deserves member of the month award!

No leak during two storms now. The passenger front door where leak is had a bent hinge from an incident my wife had with a gust of wind. I managed to bend back hinge and adjusted striker plate so door closes properly again. The water on the floor could be related to this prior incident from Feb of this year. Although there was no leak at the time. Two 3/16 drain holes were drilled in the channel underneath the door sill. Could not seal out water from entering door frame channel via wheel well. Sealed a lot of cable openings, added weather stripping to rubber seal around the door etc. Adding drain holes was only thing that finally worked. I also cleared crap out the existing drain holes, which work better now. But I started doing that first and by itself was not a solution.

Some arms are welded together pieces of metal. Journey is a solid stamped assembly, no welding so they last well. Captured nuts can be an issue seizing on control arm hardware …. a real pain. Unless rubber is crumbling I would not change them. Oem have two yr warranty for $275each on RockA, Moog are $76 for 3 yr warranty, Mevotec are $55 for a 5 yr warranty.

All wheel balancing is not equal. At the autobahn speeds you mention you need better than ave balance. The 17” being better is a clue, because it shouldn’t matter. Find a Porsche BMW shop with a Hunter Road Force or other high end German unit. High speed dynamic vibration analysis equip can be used in problems like this. Try a different shop. Trouble shooting can be tricky.

Milage on car, engine size ? How did you test an ecm yourself, you must have a very high end scanner. Crank no start causes is a very long list. Trouble shoot via codes is always the starting point. Only cheap wear item that can cause no start and not always trigger code is CPS crank position sensor. OEM are around $30 us. Common 2.4 engine issue, heat vibration wear them out eventually, often by 100k. If it’s a programmed chip key, try the other key.

Always start with what engine and what mileage, recent work performed on car. Scanning for codes is the first step to avoid throwing parts guesses at it. Try putting it in neutral next time it’s a no start. Park neutral switch possible. Does a jump start start the car afterwards ? Lightning bolt symbol on 2.4 engine is often electronic throttle body. Wear item that goes by 100k ish miles. Should show a code for it. Approx $150 for Hitachi oem unit from RockA, about 30 mins labor. Does not usually cause a no start, normally just limp mode.

On older cars the alternator was not hooked to a bms battery management system. On this vehicle it’s the pcm that regulates voltage via a 5 volt feed wire going to alternator. It’s varies this voltage depending on system load. So not necessarily battery voltage 12.5 ish at the alternator on both wires. Part of pcm that controls voltage could be faulty with rest of pcm still working fine. Or could be wire harness issue. Charging system wiring diagram needed. Fusible link by starter mentioned by Dean H has to be checked for output voltage. https://www.chryslerminivan.net/threads/alternator-or-pcm-update-fixed.179009/

You must have rear heat in your Journey. Removed the damaged leaking section of aluminum coolant line, cut it out with a plumbing tube cutter tool, will leave nice clean non jagged ends. Buy a 3-4 foot section of rubber heater core line that is big enough to fit over an ends of the aluminum line. Probably around 1/2 inside diameter. Add gear camps on the section that slides over the aluminum. Several tywraps so new hose is well supported. Top up and bleed glycol system of trapped air from plastic bleeder screw in plastic thermostat outlet on engine if 3.6 engine. Some people just make up a bypass hose and don’t bother with circulating through heater core.

How many miles on the engine, curious. Intake manifold gaskets can cause the same code. Should be replaced when plugs are changed out. Car accident and micro crack on intake plastic can also cause that code. There is a glycol test to prove if it is head gasket, but often it overheating issues at highway speed when it’s cracked head.

The max torque spec is stamped on oil filter assembly. I think it is 25 N/m or 18 ft/pds. So not much. Dizzy/RT your small leak might be your pcv valve. My failed around a 100k, started to drip oil from flanges. Air flow can make drops travel to other locations. It’s not that cheap to buy.

Water pump change on 3.6 requires working threw passenger wheel well. Motor mount needs to be removed and engine supported with a jack stand. A decent torque wrench needs to be used on aluminum engine work like this. Replace the plastic housing with thermostat/bleed screw ($20 item) while doing this job. Use a new pump, not a reman unit. If you struggle with brake jobs…stay away from doing this repair on a daily driver. Free advice worth everything you pay for it.

Just hope your insurance company doesn’t charge you more thinking your driving an Acura.

HVAC flow controlled by actuators (electrical switches) in the dash. Plastic internal gears start to stick and wear out. At least one of the 5-6 units is probably flaky. Some hard to get at behind plastic panels. Parts not that pricy, but because awkward access labor would be more than you think. One plug and a few Philips screws. Need to unhook battery or have someone with programmer hook up the sensors. Make sure elect plug pins match in replacement part. OEM china switches are better than cheapo aftermarket ones. Free advice worth everything you pay for it. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,2012,journey,3.6l+v6,3015568,heat+&+air+conditioning,heater+air+door+actuator,10721

Should be stamped on block some where. The oil filter is your only real concern. The 9-13 had a slightly different cartridge than the 14 plus engines. Can damage plastic oil cooler housing with wrong one, look closely before swapping it out. Journey never got the upgraded 2017 engine 3.6 with more horse power. That was Ram trucks etc.

Calibrate can be bypassed if you power off car. Remove the hvac fuse with continuous power in passenger kick panel, after you have heard hvac cycle itself closed, roughly 3 mins with car off. … and then install the new activator switch. Fuse goes back in again after that. Worked for me on passenger side fresh air recirc actuator. Hvac vents cabin for 90 seconds after every run cycle. Prevents mold/condensation issues, most cars do it. Are you hearing loud clicking from the driver side unit you installed. That would probably indicate it’s in wrong position now. Those switches are a bear to get to.

Most common Journey parasitic load (drain while sitting) is the hands free Bluetooth if you have it. There is a mini fuse in passenger kick plate panel. Called HFM I believe, but the 2009-10 are different. Need a multi meter set it to milli amps and start testing draw. After car is off 3 mins check what draw is on main battery, should be only digital clock and radio presets. So 50-75 ish milli amps.

Try putting on parking brake and put car in neutral position. Then try starting. If it still doesn’t start, try using jumper cables to start it. Weak battery can do weird things with push button start. Park neutral switch inside transmission if faulty can prevent starting, but neutral will allow starting.

Still minor leak. I found the urethane caulk doesn't stick well to the foam in the door sill chanel. Peels right off. So I removed the caulk on holes I covered again. Poked out as much expanded foam as possible like Hankster mentioned in his post. Used clear silicone the second time. Also removed 5-6 trim clips and plugged those too. Fingers crossed. Starting to get annoying.

The pic of car at finish line with rear wheels in the air caught my attention. Race car was front wheel drive. Car loses a 100 HP climbing 5,000 feet. Driver uses oxygen tank. Not your typical car race for sure. https://www.thedrive.com/news/what-was-i-thinking-this-is-insane-katherine-legge-on-the-perils-of-pikes-peak

So two rain storms and all dry. Still have some trim off so I can check underneath carpet. The plugged factory drain holes in the rocker just behind wheel well liner I think we’re the biggest cause. Lots of leaves and garden stuff blowing around where car is parked, could have started things. Car not garage stored. Hankster how did you pick out the foam from the rocker panel. There weren’t any large openings that I saw to do this from. I was guessing the foam was there to help water proof the sheet metal joints. But yeah it was helping trap water and not really functional anymore. I actually drilled two 1/8” holes in bottom of rocker at wheel well to make sure water isn’t going to get trapped again and rot things out. Could always spray in thin rust check later to slow down corrosion. When factory drain hole was cleared about two cups of water flowed out.

Sometimes people will have a used engine installed rather than have large engine repairs done. But there is risk in finding a decent used engine as well. New cars and repairs costs are higher right now. The car plants shutting down during Covid took out over a full year of vehicle production. Fixing older vehicles is becoming the cheaper option. Finding reasonable mechanics if you don’t have time to shop around. Definitely a challenge.

Could you list the code for cylinder 5 leaking down. There are no built in compression gauges on ICE engines that I’ve heard of. Turbo boost gauges, yeah.

My leak came back after heavy rain, , but only a few table spoons. Still enough to still cause mold. How do you pick the mold it’s injected into rocker panel ? I found the passenger front fender sheet metal drain opening was partly plugged. Cleared it with a piece of wire and a half cup of water came dripping out. Then I drilled two extra drain holes through bottom of rocker panel. Also the plastic sill plate cover is held by a clip right at the door seal. Mine has pulled away and wouldn’t click flush for a proper seal. I wedged in flush and caulked over clip opening and the upper edge which still had a small gap. This could allow water into the rocker panel. Did a 10 min spray test with a hose and there was no water coming in. Lots of openings in firewall sheet metal were caulked, lower ones were left open as they can function as a drain. Fingers crossed it’s fixed.Will post pics of sill plate clip.

First car I have seen with both the same, cool. NTK who are part of NGK spark plug company make the oem unit. I have had them on a journey for 5 yrs with no issues. Denso also make good products, they are mainly owned by Toyota and are one of the largest auto part companies. Have always had good luck with their products.

Lots of mechanics because of all the timing belt engines still paint mark their chains. If the paint marks line up again you should be fine. Always do another 720 degrees or two rotations again after you make marks line up. To make sure nothing has shifted, even after an adjustment. One tooth can be over 8 degrees and car won’t run right.