bramfrank

I'm certain the dealer installed the OEM camera, as did I - the fact that the installer thought the camera had it's own connector is a indication that he wasn't familiar with the device or hadn't read through the instructions, because they are very clear as to what goes where. And the very first thing I did before ordering the kit was to go online and read the instructions. The only thing they seem to have missed was to mention that the rear escutcheon that has the camera and everything else in the rear is held in place with a nut. And it is not obvious that it is there nor is it as accessible as it might have been - so I wasted about 20 minutes trying to pull the plate off before I realised what the problem was.

No. But you said you have the Travel Link menu items. And, while I have the subscription, I don't have those buttons in my menu.

You don't need to press the 'accept' button to bypass the license screen to access the backup camera. If you shift into reverse the camera will come on right away, even if you don't 'accept' the terms.

I guess you did not read all that I wrote. I suggested to the OP that he might save some time if he wished by tucking the wires under the panel edges - but I was quite clear in explaining that I did not do it that way, that I was careful because I did not want to break any of the retaining tabs and such. I did the full installation, right down to the ridiculous power connection to the front side cigarette lighter - the camera power ought to have been taken from the backup lights or the rear power outlet, either of which involves a lot less wire and each is more accessible than the one in the dash. And no, it does NOT plug in to the USB connections (what you thought is Ethernet - there are two of them). They are both used in the vehicle; One is used for the Bluetooth module and the other goes to the USB socket in the console. The cable in the camera kit has 5 wires that run from rear to front. There is no connector on the front end of the cable. Three of those wires have pins crimpled on them. Two for the video and one for the shield - those are inserted in to three of the pins on one of the large connectors at the rear of the radio. The other 2 wires are unterminated and power the camera. They are spliced into the wires that go to the up front cigarette lighter. Having done it myself, and not having had ay experience in dealing with DJ (or any automotive) body panels it took me all of 3 hours from start to finish, following the installation instructions. And that is why I suggested that the person who installed yours was less than competent - he should have been trained in removing the panels and such - he would have had the specified trim tools and should have had expertise in using them. He had the same instructions I did - and still be took at a very minimum 33% more time than I did (likely 3 or 4 times as much, given that the work he did was done over 3 working days as you explained (Thursday, Friday and Tuesday). Self satisfaction? No. I simply followed the instructions and was careful not to mess up. And I know that nothing was stressed and that the vehicle was not abused. Now that I know how it all fits together, should the need arise I can probably get things apart and re-assembled that much more quickly.

Without being able to see the vehicle, I suspect that you have an electrical problem, possibly due to corrosion in a connector. A good mechanic is going to have to check the vehicle.

Whatever . . . . all I know is that I am not a mechanic and that it took me 3 hours to do the install in a non-optimum environment with the exception of connecting the 3 wires to the connector at the back of the radio, because the pins were occupied; since I had to pay for an hour to flash the BCM to enable the camera I let them pull out the extra wiring from the connector and insert the pins from the camera so that all connections to the vehicle were made by the dealer.

Hint: It isn't Sirius.

You can't reasonably state that the installation took 4 days - clearly he took somewhat more than two working days but you really can't count the time he wasn't there. But with respect, the fact that the tech took more than 4 hours to do the job is a pretty serious indictment of his skill set. That your dealer gave you a rental is only decent business practice - you can't be expected to suffer for his inaccurate estimate and decision not to have another tech finish the job (he could well have assigned another, since the entire project is very straightforward - it isn't as if this was an engine teardown after all, interior panels are removed, a wire is run and the panels are re-installed, then the connections are made at either end, and with the exception of the power lead, it all plugs in). If I'd had any experience with dealing with the various body panels on the vehicle - and if I'd had reasonable lighting (I did it in a relatively dark garage) it wouldn't have taken me the 3 hours that it did, but I was feeling my way around, and being extraordinarily careful - I didn't want to break any fasteners since I had no access to spares and I had no idea where the clips and retainers were located on the various panels. And, I'd have been done a bit sooner, but I wasted almost 20 minutes fiddling before I figured out that there was a nut and screw holding in the stupid panel that gets holds the camera, latch and license plate bulbs in the back in place in addition to the snaps.

Having given the matter a bit of thought, what I'd like is simply to have the camera stay on for a bit if shifting from reverse to neutral . . it can go off immediately when I shift to drive as far as I'm concerned.

You could get 19" wheels as factory standard on a 2010. But the bigtsr is correct. In mid 2012 they switched to larger calipers and disks . . . it was a tight fit before, and now there is no way to use 16" rims at all. 17's work.

Different reason - that recall was because if you had too many keys, dice and rabbit's feet hanging from the transponder it could rotate to the off position . . . . . for some reason FCA had to increase the spring pressure, because people couldn't figure out that 2 pounds of crap shouldn't be hanging off your key ring. GM went through the same craziness.

I put anti-seize on the face of the hub - that seems to do the trick for me.

Dealers are complete idiots - or they are conniving thieves. I've seen both types. If you have an RE2 (8.4 inch radio with satellite) all you do is follow the instructions in the backup camera installation manual as far as getting out the radio and disconnecting the cables (the first few steps). You then plug those same cables into the new radio, slide it back into the slot and do up the 4 torx screws that hold in the radio, plug the lower bezel back in and do up the 2 screws that hold THAT in and press the trim back in place. Don't bother disconnecting the battery for either the radio swap OR the camera installation, by the way. Ten minutes. That's all it requires. And that's if you are slow and very careful. Depending on the version of the radio you get (you are getting a GREAT deal at $400, by the way), you might need an unlock code. In mid 2012 there was a hardware change and along with that they implemented the code requirement. We have a member here who can generate one for you . . he will need the serial number of the new radio and the VIN of your vehicle. Before you plunk down your money make absolutely certain it is a nav radio - I assume you found it at a scrap yard and those guys are also clueless, which is why you are saving as much as you are - verify the part number - and there are LOTS of them. If the radio is from the right model year range and comes from a Chrysler 300, a Dodge Charger or a Journey then you are good to go. IF IT COMES OUT OF A DART IT WILL NOT WORK even though it is the same hardware. If it comes out of a Journey from 2009 or 2010 forget it, it is a different unit altogether - the same applies to radios from the other possible donor vehicles. Sometimes these guys think they have nav radios when they don't. There is no way to distinguish between the RE2 and RB5 except through the part number, they look identical. PM me the part number (or do your own research) to be certain what you are getting. You will need to know your Sirius account number (assuming your radio is active) and/or your OLD radio ID in addition to the new one to activate the new one on the existing account - you find that on satellite channel zero. As I wrote before, if you want traffic, you'll need to fudge an account from SiriusXM in the US. Good luck.

Your dealer's tech was clearly incompetent. It took me 3 hours from start to finish with the exception of plugging the video wires into the back connector of the radio - and I am not a mechanic and it was certainly my first time working with any of the interior parts on the vehicle. As to 'they had to get you a rental? I suppose that depends on what your arrangement was. I'll bet that if you decide to do that again on your next vehicle they won't be charging you the same amount of money and/or assigning the same tech to the project.

Backup Camera What you posted was a photo of the rear lock/unlock button that you've pulled out. If you have an '11 or later and an 8.4" display you can add a backup camera - if does not matter what version of the radio you have. I've included a link to the installation instructions, along with a couple of other threads on the topic at the end of this post below if you want to read up on it before making your final decision. No, the wiring is not in place, but it isn't hard to run. I added the OEM camera to my Crossroad - takes a few hours if you do it the way the kit suggests as I did, but it could take less if you get lazy and simply tuck the wiring under the panel edges and such, or as suggested you might go wireless, though I personally chose and recommend wired connections where the choice is available. No matter how you do it (wired or wireless) there is a sales code that must be flashed into the BCM by the dealer to enable the video display. The OEM camera kit replaces the entire panel that has that switch, the license plate bulbs, the manual release lever and the camera itself, which is located in the center of that panel. The panel itself, complete with the camera can be purchased for about $95 . . . the entire kit, with the cable harness is about $265. If you decide to install it yourself note that the simplest thing is to NOT take the power from up front, but to connect it to the rear 'cigarette lighter' socket located in the left side trim panel - it is a LOT easier to make the connection there than to extract the one in the instrument panel. The cost to flash the vehicle depends on the dealer, but they usually charge an hour or a half hour for the service. Since they were already charging me for an hour of labor I decided to use up that hour and had mine make the connection to the back of the radio because the pins to which the wires in question are supposed to go were occupied (which, if you think about it ought to have been for wires to a camera, since it IS the video input to the radio, but I tried to trace them before starting to run the wire and they do not seem to do to the rear of the vehicle). It works as expected. Navigation Adding nav is as simple as replacing the radio module with one that has the nav components inside - it takes all of 10 minutes to do and then you need to switch your Sirius subscription from the old radio to the new if you have the satellite service enabled. You need a subscription if you want traffic data, and for some reason Sirius Canada does not provide it, but the US division DOES. So you would cancel your Canadian service and sign up with the US - you would need a US reference address to get them to accept your order. Go figure. From a hardware perspective, since you have SiriusXM and an 8.4" display your vehicle has all the rest of the hardware required to install a nav radio - I did it on mine and so far have no complaints, though there are a few people out there with units that have had multiple issues (I have some thoughts on the subject as to why this might be) and there is no warranty when you do it yourself. Cost for the radio used varies from about US$600 to as much as $1400 (check out online sources) and $2,000 or more if you want to buy a new one. If you happen to be in the 514/438 area code you are local to me. Links Here are a few links about the backup camera installation for you to review . . . . . don't be intimidated by the photos in the second one and realise that he was also moving from a 4.3 to the 8.4" diaplay, it really isn't as bad as it looks - take it from someone who has done it himself: http://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/6847-i-want-to-purchase-the-factory-navigation-system/?hl=%2Bbackup+%2Bcamera+%2Binstallation#entry48010 http://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/6259-43s-to-84-uconnect-and-backup-camera-installed/?hl=%2Bbackup+%2Bcamera+%2Binstallation#entry42496 http://starparts.chrysler.com/info/default/K6861161.pdf

Maps not loading will not be affected by resetting the nav. FCA's solution is a radio replacement. I have some ideas, but need to test them out before commenting - for that I need access to someone's vehicle that has the problem, is still under warranty and is local to me.

2late4u - current incentives, per the Dodge web site are $1500 on the AVP which the OP was looking at - and the reality is that the OP isn't ex-Chrysler. Agree, however that you do not pay for etching, paint protection and so on - though if you live in the snow belt rustproofing can be beneficial, though not from the dealer. Can't look at his regional incentives, since the OP claims to be in the Northeast, but has his location as 'WA'.

It isn't all that different here either. But they knew better than to try anything with me when I negotiated the Crossroad. When I picked mine up I did meet with the F&I manager, but he knew me from a dealership he'd worked at previously where I'd negotiated a group buy on extended warranties, so he knew better than to push me

I have a friend who has a cross compiler that will take your suitably written app and compile it for ALL the major platforms - same core code; same UI; less support. PM me and I can put you in touch with him if you wish.

I am in Canada, and therefor not in a position to directly comment on pricing for US models, but every time I log in to the board I am presented with the geobased ad that I've included, below. The SE is a model above the AVP (in Canada the AVP is known as the CVP) and the specific equipment differs between the countries. So in Canada the SE includes LED tail lights, tinted windows, leather steering wheel and shift knob, floor mats, upgraded alloy wheels, the roof rack and more. And by law in Ontario (which is where the advertising dealer is located) pricing must include transport and prep, so the only adder to the displayed price is tax. Now, for the record, $18,000 Canadian is about the equivalent of $14,700 in US funds at today's exchange rate. Also, if you go to the Dodge web site you will discover that MSRP for the AVP is $21,290 including destination charge, this for zip code 12919, where I have a presence. What are you getting for the extra $400? Also, there is a $1500 cash credit (for buyers, not leased vehicles) that applies. Also, be certain they aren't doing a B&S on you - the vehicle has to be new and never pre-registered - dealers sometimes like to declare units as 'loaners' and in doing so get a significant credit from FCA and then you can wind up with a unit that is 'used' and has six months (or more) of warranty missing, even though the vehicle has never been driven. Take from my comments what you will.

If anyone in the Montreal area has a vehicle that is under warranty and has the 'can't unlock maps' error and doesn't mind wasting an hour or two, PM me and perhaps we can get together and try something before you take the car to the dealer. At least whatever we do won't invalidate your warranty since the unit is already dead and they can't do any diagnostics in any case (any time you play with flash code there is a risk of bricking the unit . . . .).

I added factory nav to my vehicle using a radio I bought on line. So far it works great except that I can't access Travel-Link because (I believe) the vehicle is identified by it's BCM as Canadian. If mine dies at some point I will *try* to somehow get my dealer to pass it under warranty, but if not, then I will do some experimenting in trying to resuscitate it using some techniques I have in mind. Unfortunately, I am not aware of a source of donor units with the 'unable to unlock maps' issue to try out my concepts on, which is a real shame because it would have been nice to be able to make those failed units work again without having to take them in to the dealer, since all they can do is a swap.

You know, they made a whole lot of Journeys, Chargers 300s and Darts over the past 5 years. A not insignificant number of them had navigation and they all use the same hardware. You only hear about the ones with trouble . : . I suspect the failure percentage is quite small. We just hear about the failures because no one joins a board to tell people thar his hardware is working as advertised.

How many Journeys do you have?

Absolutely NOT. The front cigarette lighter socket is switched by the ignition. If the navigator is getting power when the ignition is off, there is an issue with the vehicle.