journeyman22

I have a 2009 Journey, 2.4 l. Around 180,000 kms it started overheating. I did a lot of sitting in the winter with the engine idling. Journeys seem to not like this. As time wore on, it got worse and worse. Checked the fluid levels. It started burning oil, and that got worse and worse over the summer. When it was good around 130, 000 kms, I could go months, in the summer, without having to add much to top it off. That fall, Nov/ Dec, started overheating, especially on long trips. By, Jan. It was overheating and burning oil to the point where I had to add it every couple of weeks. No coolant leaks or oil leaks anywhere. Dealership changed oil, filter, plugs one thermostat, there are two, primary and secondary, rad flush. There was oil going into the coolant, but they never told me this, just said it was really dirty. This helped, seemed to be proper for several months until summer, doing long distance trips, it would overheat occasionally sometimes lots, or a bit. I was doing a long distance trip and the engine started overheating bad. I had to stop, add some oil, checked coolant level. Let it cool off. Pulled onto highway, started making a weird electrical kind of sound under the hood near the firewall. It kept rotating from the left to right side and got faster and louder and louder, then my engine shut off and seized up. Cost $800 to get it towed to a dealership. Said it was seized, no shit, and the could sell me a new one for $13,000 plus $4000 installation. I declined, found a used, rusty 2010 with 186,000 km. for parts. They never said what caused it to seize, but the antifreeze was super dark, filled with oil. My research leads me to believe it was caused by a faulty head gasket. Was going to pull the engine and install it in the 2009. But, the interior was so nice in the 2010, it's near fully loaded, 7 seats, I decided I'm going to fix the suspension, steering on the 2010, rebuild the engine, rebuild kits are cheap, and have 2 good running journeys, I winter, 1 summer. So, I started driving the 2010. Now, at 195,000 kms, this one started overheating. I checked the oil every week, to make sure it doesn't start losing oil like the 2009. Oil is good, but I never checked the coolant, as there was some in the bottle. Assumed it was good. Started doing ling distance trips again. Started to not be as hot as before, while defrosting, then within two weeks, it is now overheating again I like the 2009. I went to the Dodge dealership, got 2 jugs of proper coolant, there's 5 year and 10 year. Not supposed to mix the, also concentrated, and mixed. It got to the point within 2 weeks where there was no heat when the fan is on, in any position except the defrost and only at highway speed. The temp would go between 3/4 and full alarm overheating. Just added proper fluid,not too much ran engine for a bit without the rad cap on to circulate the coolant and let the air escape from the block. Shut it down. Waited a bit. Started it again, added a bit more fluid with the engine running. Put the cap back on, pressurized the system, and am in a parking lot idling and messing around with defrost and all the other settings. Throwing heat in all settings. I'll be home for Christmas now. This 2010 was only heating on the driver side, warm only and cold on passenger side. Right after adding the coolant and playing around a bit with the throttle and watching the temp. guage, it started throwing good heat on both sides. I'm going to get some distilled water to add the final amount after driving around a bit and letting it cool off, safe enough to open the rad cap. Should be good. On e side note. On my 2009, after these problems started surfacing, when I shut down the engine, after a few minutes, you could hear a gurgling sound on the left side under the dash as air bubbles were being released. This happened for months until it seized. I bought a new Fel Pro head gasket that I am going to install on the 2010 as a precaution. Aluminum blocks suck. I've heard even new Chevy pickups with aluminum blocks or heads have this problem. I hear the blocks, heads warp, causing the head gasket to leak. Oil gets burned up quickly and mixes with the antifreeze or vice versa. Seized engines are no fun.