bramfrank

One of the issues with synthetic oil is that if you change over after a full break-in it can get past rings and seals . . . . have you tried going back to dino oil with a subsequent change to see if your oil consumption is moderated? I do know that FCA has some interesting views of what constitutes acceptable use. But if you go back to conventional oil you may find it uses less oil. As to whether there's a recall for the power steering or not - there was one for the 2010 Journey, but I don't see any recalls listed for this issue for the 2009, so you need to contact the dealer (phone them) and ask if them to run the VIN for outstanding recalls. This was clearly a design defect - Dodge claims it was because the power steering fluid they used would thicken up (the term I recall them using was 'gelled up') in cold temperatures resulting is very high pressure in the return hose for the power steering that would blot it out. The repair simply puts the same hose back in so the next time it gets really cold you can get a recurrence - and you are out of warranty if the recall has been done they'll make you pay for the repair anyway. I don't understand why anyone who has had this happen more than once, or in years not covered by the recall hasn't been on the NHTSA site filing safety and environmental complaints. It is REALLY easy to force them to do the investigation - all that needs be done it to describe the problem the owner has experienced, why it happened and state clearly why it is a safety hazard. If there are enough reports on the web and if you choose, you can sometimes file in small claims court to recover the cost of the repair in some jurisdictions - where I live there is no time limit on design and other latent defects, so if the manufacturer won't step up, they can be forced into paying if you can make your case. So you might want to have a PLEASANT chat with your dealer to see if he can't somehow convince FCA to step up and cover the cost of the repair, assuming there's no recall (which there does not appear to be). If properly phrased (i.e. without malice), a simple statement that if they decline to cover the cost that you would get it repaired and then try to recover the cost in small claims and that given the number of failures and the 2010 recall (assuming that nothing changed in the power steering design between the 2009 and 2010) it wouldn't be hard to get a judge to see things your way . . . . . .

A proper projector, that . . . well done.

And you can always add whatever is missing, within reason. The 2.4 isn't a bad engine, though if you like cruising at 80 and decide to punch the throttle to pass someone it isn't exactly going to leap forward like a scalded cat.

Sounds a lot like what killed my LHS which also had a 3.5 V6. If you don't have a blockage (a blockage wouldn't be likely to leak coolant) you might have a water pump issue (unless it is spilling out the gaskets, you shouldn't be losing coolant because of this either) or a cracked block, leaking hoses or gaskets. You may have a blown head gasket and your coolant may be going out the exhaust or into your oil (I hope not - coolant kills bearings, rings and seals). Exhaust may also be displacing coolant from the head which would make coolant go out the overflow. Check the oil color - if it is a cloudy/milky color you have your answer. Check the exhaust for condensed coolant, too. You can get both fluids checked for contaminants.

HIRs have a rated lifespan of 1400 hours vs 1000 hours for a conventional halogen equivalent. Sylvania bulbs are not HIR - and those 'blue dye' bulbs (PIAA included) don't actually put out more lumens unless they are high wattage versions - the blue coating on your Silverstars does make them run warmer than a regular 'yellow' bulb which shortens their life span. So buy proper HIR bulbs like I did and be happy to remain pretty much street legal. I buy mine from www.candlepowerinc.com Here's a link to the HIR product page there: http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

No. The Caravan is a minivan and the Journey is a CUV - different vehicle classes.

Yup - the only way to validate the installation is with a hard shot that shows the cutoff - and if there's light above the line or the line is fuzzy you are dazzling oncoming traffic, not to mention that unless you install an approved projector assembly you are technically not road legal.. That's why I went HIR - all other filament bulbs are either blue-died wannabes with short lifespans or they are high wattage, which is tough on the wiring and reflectors.

Here are a couple of links to get you started with part numbers: Antenna: http://www.factorychryslerparts.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=1248145&ukey_make=1062&ukey_model=15496&modelYear=2014&ukey_driveLine=10064&ukey_trimLevel=25160&searchString=rb5antenna Radio: http://www.factorychryslerparts.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=573277&ukey_product=8656043

Your battery in the FOB may be starting to age. They're inexpensive and simple to replace. Do NOT by no-name batteries; Stick to names you know.

You'll need a new radio module (REB) and you'll need the Sirius antenna module and cable to do this. You can usually find the radio module on eBay - I also seem to recall that the antenna and cable aren't expensive.

Cross reference and vehicle fitment charts are easily located on the web - if you are in the UK you can find the specifications (and a new battery) here: http://www.eurocarparts.com/car-battery?gclid=CN2nxc7noMoCFQuSaQod1i0Fuw From what I saw a new battery is about 60 pounds from the site I located - and there are lots more out there . . . . eurocarparts also sells via Amazon UK and Amazon has a large selection themselves. Maybe Steve can buy a battery and ship it to Ivan?

Not sure why this is a new thread, There is a fairly complete thread on the OP's problem here: http://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/8296-battery-drain/ Well, let's start again by listing the obvious possible causes: If the battery can start the car one day and not the next then either; 1. the battery is being drained when the vehicle is idle (as in switched off and the doors all closed and lights switched off) 2. the battery isn't being charged properly (as in 14.2 or so volts across the battery terminals when the vehicle is running) and is slowly draining 3. the battery has a wonky cell 4. Connections somewhere in the vehicle (perhaps a relay contact, ground point, connector pin) are defective/corroded. 4a. Perhaps the park/neutral switch isn't working reliably Now, usually the alternator is wired directly across the battery and there is usually a fusible link to the battery . . . . from there it goes to various keep-alive circuits (like the ECU, Radio and such) via the fuse block and there are switches (like the brake light switch, door lock switches, the switch on the dash dimmer control, the map lights, the various door switches and does the glove box have a switch?), power seat switch that can cause power to be drawn while the vehicle is idle. The issue is one of the 4 above. Bad connections - grounds in particular can cause all sorts of very weird problems, but I've seen glove box light switches and brake light switches also do bad things. Current leaks - the regulator stack in the alternator can be a discharge path as can salt-corroded connections. If there are any added accessories - something drawing significant power plugged into one of the unswitched power outlets this can be a problem - a bad relay may not be opening or a wonky control module might not be going to sleep. Sneak currents are a real pain to find, but it shouldn't be hard to eliminate the alternator as the source of the trouble . . . . connect a voltmeter across the battery and start the car and measure the voltage - it should read 14.2 or thereabout . . . . . Next, with the car OFF, put an ampmeter in series with the battery and see what's being drawn - it shouldn't me much - the battery is likely capable of 60-100 amp-hours (I'd have to look up the battery specs) an assuming the lower limit, that the battery starts out charges and that the vehicle goes dead after 12 hours, you ought to be able to tolerate a draw of at least an amp and a half and still have more than 50% of the battery's capacity for starting. If you see considerable drain start by disconnecting the alternator to see if that changes things. If it does, get a new alternator. If battery draw is less than one and a half amps and the vehicle still can't be started after 12 idle hours then it isn't likely to be the battery, unless the battery is wonky - to figure out whether it is a bad bond in the battery or not put your voltmeter across the battery terminals and try to start the vehicle . . . if the voltage doesn't drop during the start attempt and just sits at above 12.4 or so volts then the car isn't even trying to start, so look elsewhere. Such fun. If this was my vehicle. . . . . and I'm not a mechanic - I'd do the basic testing and then relegate the repair to the dealer . . . . your dealer is probably (hopefully) better at this than I am. But make sure he knows what's been done and that while you appreciate that diagnostics take time, you are not agreeing to pay to replace parts that aren't actually defective. I'm certain that others will chime in with their suggestions to add or to critique my comments.

Have you checked to see whether the lines match the image by backing into a spot with the lines on screen centered between the parking spot lines and then putting something down on the ground right on the screen lines to see whether the lines are right and the image is offset or the lines are in the wrong place? If it is an image issue you will be able to use the guidelines without concern, since they will reflect the reality.

They do put refurb modules into vehicles- there have been posts to this site about it.

Name calling; the last refuge of the indefensible. While I am pleased to see you have apologised, it was clearly for the wrong reason. As to the "resume", as you called it - it was not - it was an explanation of why I took the time to correct your bad information, since you had engaged in a apoplectic name calling session when your 3rd attempt to bully it through was refuted. With reference to my expertise, please don't project your personna on my character. YOU might enhance such things. But I do not. In fact, a statement like yours calls your own credibility into question. How can you stand by and try to defend your outright wrong claims? THAT is what you should be apologising for.

M. QuarterSwede; Again, a jkeaton pointed out, you are entitled to your opinion and I to mine since this is a TRULY subjective issue. I don't suggest that the systems in our vehicles qualify as audiophile quality - then I have yet to be in any that does, and I've been in some very high end vehicles in my day. And that include vehicles where thousands of dollars have been spent on 'improvements'. The environment is the biggest challenge. But subwoofers almost never deliver qualitative improvements, to mention one common modification. Initial impressions unfortunately are not definitive; in fact you need to live with a system to see whether that 'clarity' doesn't translate to peakiness with time or that 'tight' bass isn't just a resonant peak present on one particular track. I don't keep my vehicles long enough that I am willing to experiment (because that's what it takes to realise a real improvement that stands the test of measurements and time) and to invest the not insignificant amount of money necessary for the task - quick switches of speakers and some monoblock amp isn't going to deliver true concert hall sound.

The stock system is actually not bad at all as these things go - it can have adequate high end and does have fairly good extended low end response and doesn't demonstrate any of the boominess that most systems which have subwoofers tend to. Of course if your audio source is an MP3 you're starting our with a serious compromise up front and if you are using the Sirius radio as your source then nothing you do will improve anything - it just sucks. In my youth I worked in the high end sound business (and in the recording industry, AND I worked touring sound for some of the top music acts of the day) and much of our store sales were for people who couldn't actually hear the difference between various options - I was called in to more than one client's home to give my opinion as to which combination of hardware sounded best - and the client would buy whatever I recommended, not that he o she could tell the difference - those are the people that buy $1500 power cables and $1000 speaker leads and 'bit dejitter' boxes and expensive HDMI cables today. We had another term . . . . . suckers. The reality is that the vast majority of people wouldn't know good sound if it came with a letter of introduction and the psychology of acoustic perception allows us to adapt over time to however good or bad the sound may be and it will sound good unless it is truly, and absolutely disgusting, lacking all low and high end and loaded with distortion. Whatever it is you may be sticking in the highly resonant, high ambient noise environment of our vehicles to replace the stock hardware, unless you have active phase and frequency compensation and somehow manage to damp out the sympathetic vibrating plastic bits in the vehicle all you are doing is substituting one essentially unoptimised and mediocre sound system for another.

Cars are like jigsaw puzzles. It sounds to me like you may have to disassemble part of the console to get to it. Maybe you can get to it by removing the top trim and shifter cover. I also know the left and right sides are covers - if one of them has to come out I think a seat has to be removed first.

I don't know whether those guide lines are generated by the radio or by the camera but the alignment issue is more likely to be the display or the radio's video decoder (if it is the camera) or display drivers (if the radio). The dealer is probably right . . . short of replacing the radio and/or screen (which they will not be likely to get authorisation for because FCA will almost certainly consider to be a cosmetic issue, rather than a true defect) there is nothing more they can do, though you can always ask that the dealer raise the issue with the factory support team to get their input - they might authorise the replacement. You never know. However if you have factory Navigation bear in mind that any radio they supply will be a refurb; one that likely has suffered the dreaded 'can't unlock maps' issue that will not have actually been repaired, while the one in your vehicle is working properly . . . . . that's a major temptation for fate to start making your life miserable. If you plan to keep the vehicle I would also suggest you might want to consider buying an OEM extended warranty - pricey, but a lot cheaper than the cost of any significant repairs.

You crack me up (pardon the pun). I'm not OCD, just accurate. I'm sorry you are upset to have been wrong, but that was you. Not me. You challenged the correction THREE times, and almost certainly didn't bother to check anything (like that statement about printed warranties on everything you've purchased). I spent 10 years managing a high tech support call centre and 20 years (5 of which overlapped the support function) as director of sales for international markets selling, negotiating contacts and designing high tech wide area wireless data networks for military, public safety, transportation and resource clients around the globe - mission criticality was the key factor in those products and accuracy of information was the key to the success of the company and to growing it's reputation. So I have come to be sensitive to when people seem to be blowing smoke. And when they do it I will take the time to verify the claim - it serves to inform ME if I was unaware or wrong. And when done in public, as a component of trying to help someone it will protect others who may be influenced by the misinformation. For some reason you seem to always keep pushing when your perceptions have been corrected . . . it isn't hard to verify your facts and it shouldn't be hard to admit you were mistaken. And you were mistaken. That it might bite you in the rear is one thing. But the public you are counselling should know what the facts are. So if someone knows that advice is wrong they really ought to step up and issue the correction. That's no reason for you to get upset with anyone but yourself and certainly no excuse to go off on a tirade.

They COULD but they have zero motivation; Engineering an access port from the interior would involve mods to the design for each and every vehicle and would increase their build cost - and car manufacturers count pennies. The few that die under warranty cost less for them to repair than the cost of modifying the design. And they don't really much care if the ones that need repair after the warranty expires costs more to repair than it would otherwise.

So . . . . it ISN'T in all the instruction sheets of everything you've bought over the last 20 years and it ISN'T documented in your extended warranty documentation? Your dealer doesn't approve claims. Mopar protection does.

I guess so: http://www.mopar.com/assets/pdf/service_specials/mopar_parts_accessories_warranty_statement.pdf Since I had already called and spoken with the customer service specialist ad she had said in no uncertain terms that accessories added after the fact are NOT covered by the new vehicle or extended warranties I'd have thought you might actually go and check.. So, just for the heck of it I took out the instructions I have here from the backup camera - it has no warranty statement. I also took out the sheet from the cross rails I'd purchased. IT has no warranty statement. I looked at page from the roller blind I got for the '11 ad it too has NO warranty statement - and all those were purchased in the US. And the other various sheets that came with other things I've bought also no warranty statements. The ONLY statement I could find is the link above - and IT says that until October 1 2014 it was 1 year and since October 1 it is 2 years. As you know I try to be thorough, so I went and read the coverage documents for the OEM extended warranty and they say nothing about covering things you added after the fact as far as I can tell. And there's the fact that FCA says it isn't so either. So, is it possible you are right and they are not?

Given where it comes from, the click is most likely the solenoid that releases the shifter lock that keeps the stick in neutral.

Well, as it happens I thought that it sounded a bit off, so I decided to call Mopar Protection (the US entity that administers US extended OEM warranties) and the representative told me in no uncertain terms that anything that was added after the vehicle was manufactured is NOT covered under the vehicle warranty, neither original, nor extended. OEM parts and accessories are covered by the specific warranty for those accessories, generally one year. What she then she told me was that claims are validated against the original build order and if it isn't listed there it isn't covered by factory. But, like I said, your friendly service manager can always find a way, if suitably motivated.