longhorn

Hello All, I have not been on this site for a while. I traded in my 2010 dodge journey sxt for a toyota venza awd. the feature i was looking for among others was the electric power steering. it has been great and no worries about pumps or leakage. I have had some experience with this issue as you may have seen in my previous posts. I did in fact replace the ps fluid with a synthetic fluid from kal tire. it stated that it is compatible with chrysler fuid. since i was out of warranty it was worth a try since my last repair bill was 800.00 to replace and diagnose a blown return line for the third time in three years. the dealer stated that it never happens but my brother in law has a 2010 r/t and he blows his every year as well. its a known problem with this vehicle. one dealer that i knew the service manager well, told me that he has many poeple commin in for the problem and he sends out the hose to a hydrolic hose place and they rebuild the hose with high pressure fittings and lines and then no problems. the root of the problem is that in low temps the fluid ( ATF+4) gels and gets thick, as a result it either blows the clamps off or splits the line. Chrysler knows about, however they choose not to do anything about it. there is a guy on here trolling the site claiming to be a chrysler rep. under the name of Chrysler cares that knows all about it. he mentions how chrylser is trying a new synthetic blend for the problem and is very " SORRY" that this is happening. it's been happening for 7 years.. and chrysler will not recall or create a fix for this problem. for a simple reason. once out of warranty the average repair bill is around 700 to 800. that is labor and parts. the part itself is around 400. that is a good reason to lie to the customer and tell them that they really dont see many of these failures. no surprise that there are low on stock for the return lines. as far as the dealer fix is concerned, the dealer must replace with a stock return line. and refill with ATF+4. the problem is that this is the very line that fails at low temps and the ATF+4 is the very fluid that gels. so repeating a repair that is known to result in failure of the line is crazy. however that is what the dealers must do, replace with chrysler approved parts and fluid. they are not interested in resolving but want the warranty work or, out of warranty work. replace with a ful synthetic fluid or have the return line retrofitted for high pressure. this will solve the problem, neither will the dealer or chrysler tell you how to resolve this issue. there will be some on this site that will tell you that you must stick to chrysler approved lines and fluids, that is correct for warranty purposes, however, for those out of warranty, this is a cheap method to solve the problem. considering the amount of the repair, doing the retrofit and fluid change is a lot cheaper. good luck to all.

I went to cal tire had a wynns full synthetic fluid power steering flush for 150$. Was a not mopar atf crap that gels.....

FYI... Mopar ATF+4 is Chrysler's tranny fluid. Chrysler uses ATF+4 for the p/s system. The Chrysler Cares advocate on this forum has stated that the ATF+4 will gel at low temp. as a result the line will blow.

I don't have the work order handy. the weather gets very cold here in Alberta, Canada. when we got the journey in 2010, the return line blew at about -25. we had to wait for a new hose.... the dealer told us to just keep filling up the reservoir. that it would be fine to drive until the part came in from Toronto. I tracked one down in a day from another dealer a few hours away and got it shipped to the dealer in Calgary. the next year, it blew where the power steering line went from metal to rubber. the rubber portion of the line is the weak link. it will blow as the atf+4 gels. there is a clamp that holds the metal portion to the rubber portion, that is what blew off the second time... it was at the dealer for an ongoing water leak and as I was picking it up, there was no power steering.... puddle on the floor. they got it in right away and knew exactly what the problem was. seems from the service manager and the tech, these lines will and have blown many times. the service manager said that the problem is so bad that when the customer comes in for a blown line, he removes the line, brings it to a hose shop and gets the line re fitted to high pressure rubber and fittings. afterwards he re installs it and have not had any problems again with that unit. the last time it blew was last winter where the temp. was -40 for two weeks. I brought it in to another dealer, and before I could tell them to save the hose for modifying it the tech had cut it to save time on the job... cut it at the metal line. couldn't do anything with it. my brother in-law has a 2010 r/t, he has blown his p/s line every winter since he owned it in 2010. to answer your question, the hose they install is the same as the older hoses. I asked that very same question as I didn't see any sense in putting in the same line to have it blow again. same rubber fittings and composition. the part # might be different. the price when your out of warranty is steep.. the line is very long and snakes around from the reservoir to another line that leads to the rack on one end and all the way to the front of the engine bay in front of the tranny cooler and back to the reservoir. I think the line was 280.00 and labor, plus fluid and shop charges and taxes. they tried to tell me that the fluid must have been contaminated with moisture. the fact is that every time they replaced the hose they charged me to flush the system. so moisture couldn't have been a factor with the fluid less then a year old. Chrysler has a problem with this issue and I have heard from other on this forum that journeys as new as 2014 are having the same problem. I have flushed the p/s system with a compatible fluid that is full synthetic.. power flushed it not gravity drain. I hop this will solve the problem.

Calgary, -40 last year for about two weeks, the power steering return line blew.... 800.00 to replace at the dealer. I put in a p/s flush with a full synthetic fluid. hope it helps... mine is a 2010 sxt and it has blown a p/s hose every year since we got it in 2010. Chrysler has no fix... dealers have no fix.... the mopar atf+4 gels and pops the hose. very expensive to replace so I gave it a shot with 100 percent synthetic....

there is a new thread on this issue. As the Chrysler rep. mentioned earlier in this thread but left out what fluid should be used, Quaker State ATF+4 full Synthetic from NAPA. or Castrol Full Synthetic ATF+4. The Chrysler rep. is correct that the ATF+4 is semi synthetic and gels up in cold weather. Chrysler knows this, however they are not going to replace the factory fluid with full synthetic. they claim it's beyond the warranty. it's a bit more money but apparently, according to this Chrysler rep. that posted earlier and ( forgot) to mention, the fix is FULL SYNTHETIC ATF+4. it seems it's the un official fix for Chrysler as well.

I have commented on an other thread a little while ago. I live in Calgary Alberta and I have had the same problem. I have a 2010 Dodge Journey. My line blew in 2010, 2012, 2013. the First time, the power steering line blew during the winter time and Big 4 Chrysler got the wrong part # and then put that part on back order, telling us that we can come in daily and have the advisor top up the fluid level until the hose came in, estimated....2-3 weeks. It went dry after a few hours of driving. turns out the power steering return line was the problem and they had it in stock the whole time. the other time, Tower Chrysler simply replaced the factory clamps and refilled. This lasted for a year until the rubber hose that connects to the solid lines ruptured and started leaking at - 30. I brought it in to Courtesy Chrysler and instead of asking if I wanted to replace the rubber line only and then put it back into the vehicle.... they cut the solid piece instead and told me it was not possible to service the line in sections. 780.00 later I asked for old hose back, but it couldn't be used again. they charged me two hrs labor but replaced in less time. I spoke with the service manager at Tower Chrysler. He advised me that he has seen many Journey's with the same problem since the Journey came out in 08. He said he sent out the return hose to a hose shop and they replaced the rubber hoses that connect to the solid line with high pressure hydrolic hose and heavy duty clamps. that way the high back pressure that happens within the hose return line doesn't rupture the line. the material that Chrysler uses for the return line is not strong enough and will eventually fail. He says that he has never had another fail once the modification is made. it's a simple fix that Chrysler should replace if they cared, as opposed to profiting off of their customers for their cheap parts. this is a known problem but Chrysler has no incentive to recall or repair because if you look at it, Chrysler dealers make a killing at 700.00 + a hose. why should they replace what is a profitable repair, just like the brakes that they replaced in the middle of 2012 quietly without a fuss. they knew for over 4 yrs that the brakes were too small for the weight of the vehicle but kept producing them and installing them on all Journey's. and then blamed the driver. they lost a lawsuit in the USA related to brake defects. it's all about the money, to say that Chrysler is talking to the "platform" designer and it's a case by case thing is crazy.. to say that they are sorry that we are having a problem but..... is pathetic... to troll the journey forum reading all the problems Journey owners are having and asking for vin# and telling us that they are working on it, while this is has been an issue since 08 is a joke. Chrylser has failed the dodge customer and has pressured dodge dealers to deceive and blame the customer. I at least found an over worked and stressed out service manager that honestly told me what should be done to fix this problem right, not just charge for a defective hose and pocket the money until it fails again.

sorry to hear about your journey. the return hose should be under warranty. only rebuild the hose after the warranty runs out. they don't have a fix for the hose... good luck

hello all, I have the hose company that Tower Chrysler service manager used to modify and strengthen the return and other hoses on the power steering system. the name is Ability hose out of Calgary. they just require that you bring in the sample hose and they will manufacture an exact hose with higher psi requirements. I spoke to Baron and he said that the factory hoses are just not strong enough to handle the psi that the ps pump puts out... apparently a very strong pump. he had sent out the hoses to the hose shop and they strengthened them with higher psi hoses. he said he had no repeat failures on the modified hoses

hello all, I have a 2010 sxt with a 3.5litre. every year there is a ps line that blows in cold weather, we are in Calgary and when the weather reaches 20 below, a line always blows. we have owned this horrible vehicle for over 3 years. I have had such a horrible experience with the vehicle and the dealers that we had to buy an extended warranty. although, the hoses are not covered. in 2010, with 35k, a power steering hose blew after a few months of ownership, the following year a hose blew off the reservoir and needed to be re connected. this year at 98,500k the " return line" from the rack to the reservoir failed. no warranty,, extended didn't cover it, 275 for the hose and 370 in labour to install. I asked the dealer to see the old line when I came in to pick it up. the tech cut the he## out of the line ( to save time) but charged me 2.5hrs anyways. I asked him to show me where it leaked and he showed me where the solid metal line connects to two rubber lines. it was connected with standard screw type connectors. the rubber line were very short and attached with clamps. dealers will not just put on new rubber hoses to the solid line.... although it would make sense since they can easily be disconnected and replaced with a higher psi hose. I wouldn't think it would be much money to replace the rubber ( maybe 6inch each) so they throw out the entire hose. I asked why he didn't just replace the rubber, he said Chrysler builds these lines in one piece and they can't warranty if part of it is replaced. what a waste as the solid line is still serviceable. my brother in-law has a 2010 rt, his return line blew less then a year ago, he had a garage put it in, now just a few weeks ago,the hose blew again, Chrysler warranteed the hose but is now on back order. this is a known problem with the ps system in the dodge journey. the dealers make a killing on this problem. the hoses and labor easily reach 700 plus per return line. not to mention various other hoses this system has that blow off. this is proven by the fact that journey ps hoses are usually back ordered around this time of year. there was a service manager at tower Chrysler named baron that had a very good idea. he had a hose shop on Calgary sw side replace the rubber components of the hose not the entire hose. he said that the hose material and psi and connectors were heavy duty and resolved the problem. he has left tower Chrysler and works at crosstown in Edmonton. I am trying to track him down and ask which shop he used and what the procedure was to modify them. I will update as soon as I know how he did this!! it is funny that the tech I talked to mentioned that he didn't see many journeys with ps hoses fail........... I don't know if that is the line they need to use or since the newer journey's use electric power assist steering, owners of the older systems just go to non dealers since they are tired of getting screwed over. I have a hard time believing his version..... these ps hose failures bring in a lot of money to the dealers and Chrysler has no incentive to fix the problem. I have a question to all on the forum. 1. does anyone know if Chrysler has in fact resolved the ps hose problem splitting in cold weather? have they manufactured an improved line replacements that are now circulating in the parts system with new material and stronger rubber and pressure connector? or are they the same as they were when they came out in 08? my return line was original to my 2010 journey... tower Chrysler replaced the factory clamps with screw type clamps when the hose blew off in 2012. the original high pressure line is still intact form the ps pump to the rack. 09 (which is weird cause that was the hose the tsb was concerned with on 2010. it is still going!!!!) 2. the tech did mention that the ps fluid was dirty and needed replacing. he said that he suspects that there is moisture in the fluid, once the temp. reaches -15 to -25 the moisture in the fluid expands and ruptures the line due to expansion within the system. is there any truth to this and could this resolve the hose blow out? it seems to make sense but then again, could the ps system on these journey's just badly designed, and not able to hold up in cold weather? if so, then there really is no resolution to this problem other then strengthening the weak points of the system, ( the rubber hoses) with good quality high psi lines and connectors from a hose shop. 3. I also heard that the atf+4 is a tranny fluid and eats hoses? is this true and would that mean that these hoses are susceptible to breakdown? thanks to all in advance....

can anyone tell me how to post on the forum the tsb's? I can't seem to post them here because the file is too large. thanks

i have found the tsb's and brought them into the dealer today. the service rep said that they know about the problem and say it could be the filter in the reservoir housing, non replaceable. i told them about the pwr steering return hose replacement nd the tech not bleading the system and resulted in air being sucked into the system, leading to the noise being more pronounced. here is the tsb's

update, the dealer got it wrong and it was the return line. they replaced it under warranty and it seems to be alright for now. but now i am getting the rubbing grinding noise turning left. i think that since i had to drive with a leak, i think air got into the system. when i got the hose replaced i told the service advisor to comment that i believe that there is air in the system. he noted that he topped up the fluid and noted that i would need a few days of driving to purge the system. i did follow mjm48's advise as per his STAR Onlline case # K10403532 where it calls to fill steering fluid above fill line. on the first day, it has made the noise, hopefully in the next couple of days it will resolve the problem. does anyone have the tsb 19-001-09 or 19-002-08, in pdf or scanned? or where on the reservoir can i find the part number to see if mine is the updated one or the original one that is too small? thanks