bramfrank
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Everything posted by bramfrank
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Charging system / electrical problems
bramfrank replied to Lisa Brown's topic in Electrical, Battery & Charging
The only way the battery voltage is too high is if the alternator is delivering too much voltage . . assuming your BCM is good and the measurement is right . . or you have a bad ground - bad grounds are the bane of the repair shop.- 18 replies
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Charging system / electrical problems
bramfrank replied to Lisa Brown's topic in Electrical, Battery & Charging
If you are measuring 14.2 volts across the battery terminals with the engine running and if the battery is good it *should* be charging unless the alternator is kicking out AC or really dirty DC, rather than clean power. You indicated that the alternator had been professionally tested, which *should* eliminate it from consideration as the source of the problem. But that testing is not longer term - the alternator is cold and run for a couple of minutes - it never gets really warmed up. The alternator output is wired directly across the battery - in some installations (I haven't had a look at the wiring diagram for the Journey) there could be a relay that disconnects the alternator from the battery - in which case that relay and/or it's connections could be the source of problems, but if it was, or if the connectors or terminals were issues you would not see the battery getting the charging voltage . . . . are you measuring the actual battery terminals? Or are you measuring voltage at the connectors at the ends of the wire? Batteries (especially cheaper aftermarket ones) have been known to have a high failure rate - your battery might be have a high resistance bond or a bad cell - of course you could also have a bad alternator too . . . it could go bad when it gets warmed up - again, possibly a bad bond in the rectifier/regulator pack or a bad connection. Regarding the discharging; You said you have a starter - if it has it's own fob then it is aftermarket - my understanding is that like the current version, if you have a factory starter the buttons are on the key fob.- 18 replies
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Charging system / electrical problems
bramfrank replied to Lisa Brown's topic in Electrical, Battery & Charging
Not a definitive troubleshooting guide, but here's a couple of suggestions on where to start: I know that sometimes the pulley can be an issue - if the pulley is spinning on the alternator shaft you might get a no-charge condition. But there are two points you raised that make me suspect that this could be a corrosion issue - incidentally, I have my vehicles rustproofed mainly to avoid electrical issues related to corrosion; 1. You said the power cut and was restored 2. You indicated a battery drain condition It could be that you have a seriously corroded connector or relay - if there's enough salty, partially conductive crud on a key connector or relay you could lose battery power and/or charging - or it could be a corroded crimp or worn relay . . . . and corrosion might cause a sneak current between the two poles of the connector when it is damp or wet - and that would cause the battery to drain. This is going to need some poking into the electricals to see where things are going wrong - now that it doesn't charge at all it shouldn't be hard to figure out why that is happening . . . the sneak current is going to be a bit trickier - you will need to measure current as you disconnect things - the good news is that you have that new switch you can use to connect your ampmeter to while you disconnect circuits to see which one is causing issues . . . . by the way do you have any aftermarket devices installed? A car starter or aftermarket alarm system perhaps? If you do, look to those first. It is down right now, but you can find the electrical diagrams here: https://techauthorityonlinedemo.extra.chrysler.com/service/repair/wiring/view/classic.htm- 18 replies
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Installed New Winter Tires TPMS won't read one tire
bramfrank replied to Blackout's topic in Wheels & Tires
He didn't replace them, but installed a set of snow tires on a separate set of wheels for winter use - I do the same, but I didn't bother to install TPMS sensors on the winter wheels. For the record, they are supposed to last between 5 and 8 years under normal use. -
Batteries do 'recover' after use to some degree. I'm personally a fan of a solenoid or relay issue being the cause, but you'd mentioned that the lights dimmed on start (not to mention that your battery is 6 years old ad likely should have been changed anyway - possibly an intermittent ground or other connection to the coil or maybe a dead spot on a brush in the starter motor which is sensitive enough that slight changes in temperature are enough to make the connection. That leads to the obvious questions . . . . this is not unique. I've seen posts here and on other sites on no-start conditions. When you try to start the vehicle are there any clicks, clunks and so on at all? If you hear a relatively loud clunk, but the engine doesn't turn it could be the starter motor, the solenoid or the connections to it. No clunk at all implies the solenoid or the connections to that are involved - it could also be a worn relay in whatever module drives the solenoid (think expensive). There is a lot involved with the issue, but a good mechanic faced with the vehicle when it is refusing to start will almost certainly have little trouble diagnosing the problem and fixing it properly.
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You could simply have a bad alternator . . . . someone on the FB group in Chile had a no start issue that supposedly tuned out to be a bad pulley on the alternator. Even a bad battery could just be s symptom.
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Yes - if you have it you just lift the lever and fold the seat back forward and it will lie flat.
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Yes he can - I don't know how many ways we can all say the same thing . . . . .
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Well, your vehicle is 4 years old. That's $30 a year for the radio based on the amount of time you got out of the first one - maybe you should open the old one up and see if maybe there's a board that's become dislodged, some corrosion or whatever . . . . who knows? You might have a spare!! You aren't going to hurt it, since as far as you are concerned it's just a paperweight at this point.
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New safety recall recieved in mail yesterday
bramfrank replied to tyeayo's topic in Recalls & Technical Service Bulletins
Easier, actually. Slide out the old, slide in the new. 10 minutes to get back into service, in total. -
Can't Unlock Maps
bramfrank replied to lanc747's topic in Audio, Infotainment Navigation, MyGig, UConnect, etc.
Well, the hundreds of thousands of 300, Charger, Dart and Journey owners who HAVEN'T had issues with their nav radios obviously aren't checking out threads about problematic ones I've suggested, based on the fact that a percentage of the owners who have experienced radio failures seem to have them repeatedly at intervals while people who have not had failures seem to be able to go forever. I can see two possible explanations for this; 1. If the radio has failed FCA will replace it with a refurbished one . . . . that means one that has failed and been recertified. Since they don't know WHY they fail due to memory issues, reloading the memory and testing will give them a functional radio that they send out - and whatever it is that triggers the problem hasn't been resolved in the 'repaired' radio - so essentially you are swapping out one defective radio for another. 2. Some combination of features and settings in the radio causes the processor to overwrite memory in critical locations - so if you have the combination of features, options and settings that causes the problem you will experience the issue when the stars line up (it could even be a combination of satellites, a set of region codes and a specific time of day and some option, like DRLs with the vehicle running at that time) . . . so even with an electronically perfect radio, this software bug would strike wen the combinations line up. I vote for the first explanation - but that's just a gut feeling. I have installed a nav radio in my Journey that I bought from a scrap yard - so far, so good. -
That's why we have access to the online wiring diagram - simple enough to figure out and splice the connector from the old seat onto the new one. Of course if you get the right seat from the same model year it won't be an issue, because the connectors will be the same.
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Can't Unlock Maps
bramfrank replied to lanc747's topic in Audio, Infotainment Navigation, MyGig, UConnect, etc.
Just buy an extended warranty FROM CHRYSLER for your vehicle. You can get up to 7 years and 160K coverage, though it can get a bit pricey - I have the 7/115 zero deductible on my vehicle - costs something less than $2K - if your dealer wants more he's being a pig. The radio is not the only liability in there - lots of electronics and many dealers aren't all that good at troubleshooting and repairing electronic issues. -
12 volt power fuse keeps blowing
bramfrank replied to bobcat98092's topic in Electrical, Battery & Charging
Actually, current does not initiate an arc - current will cause an arc when a high current connection is BROKEN - voltage and the specifics of the gaseous medium (pressure, temperature and the nature of the gas itself) are the factors that determine the distance required to spontaneously arc across a gap. The rules that determine the minimum gap is called Paschen's Law. At 12 volts and under normal atmospheric conditions that gap is so tiny that it is virtually impossible to have a traditional automotive installation where the wires are close enough to arc without shorting together. -
It's simple enough to disable the chime - I've always had it off on my Journeys. In any case there is no calibration of the occupancy switch required - it's a switch. And it would also be a simple matter to swap connectors between the seats if the replacement has a different size. Neither is a significant issue.
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Good point, but he'd be replacing the entire seat, right down to the rails - and the weight sensor is part of every passenger seat in all of the Journeys, so still no more difference than replacing the seat with one that has heating elements vs. one that doesn't.
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The only electrical option for the passenger seat is whether it is heated or not, no? I'd suspect that this would be the mitigating factor in whether the connector would be the same or not.
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12 volt power fuse keeps blowing
bramfrank replied to bobcat98092's topic in Electrical, Battery & Charging
I think you answered your own question; Mobile DVD players do not consume much power, so blowing a fuse is indicative of a significant fault. Since the fuse only blows when you plug in the DVD player something in the DVD player or it's cable assembly is shorting. If you have a warranty for it I'd suggest you return it or send it in for repair as appropriate if you don't want to get into fixing it yourself. (note to OhareFred: Arcing is not a possibility because of the low voltages involved). As an electrician you know that putting in a larger fuse to replace one that blows can be dangerous, though a slightly larger fuse in a residential application isn't usually an issue because wiring is typically larger gauge than necessary for the task - but in vehicles they don't overdo the wire size so they can save weight - so if the fuse blows twice you should not be tempting fate and stop replacing them until you resolve the cause. -
It was described in the manual for my '11, so it was probably in all of the current-design models ('11 onward). Adding it involves removing and replacing the entire seat assembly which isn't 'difficult', but is probably a 2 person job to muscle the entire seat out and back in. You can probably locate one at a scrap yard.
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It should not be too complicated to find alternate brands of battery that will fit in the vehicle - there are web sites out there where car parts are sold and many have cross reference charts. Perhaps if you work backwards, after finding the right part number to find what other vehicles that model battery is used in you might be able to determine a less expensive local battery that will fit. Note that the battery part number for my 2014 that I checked using Amazon is different than the one that Amazon says fits in the 2009 - so the year and the engine are factors in the battery selection process.
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It could probably be done without tooooo much trouble. The seats and belts would have to come out, as would the left and right side trim panels and the tray under the cargo deck. You could probably get the right parts (the trim, the cargo tray the cargo carpet (the part that sticks forward to cover the space behind the 2nd row seats and the cover) and the deck from a scrap yard for not too much money. There might be some other bits and pieces, but they could be taken from the donor vehicle - you'd be able to tell when you get to it to strip out the parts.
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Or, because you can stop and the yokel behind you can't, you may cause an accident by having snows .. . . . it goes both ways. I used to go to Waseca where the company I worked for had a facility. I remember how cold and windy it always was in February - it made me pine for home, where it was only -20.