Josh Lambert Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 I have had a Journey for about a year now that I bought used from a dealership. I've had no issues with it until today when I tried to start it up and the key fob "was not detected" upon pushing the button. I tried a backup key fob and got the same response from the vehicle. After switching the battery out on the key fob, I tried once again and the outcome did not change. My girlfriend tried pushing the remote start from outside the vehicle and got no response whatsoever. Then, she returned inside the vehicle and tried to start again via the push button, which gave repeat results. While inside the vehicle, she tried the remote start button on the fob and it resulted in a clicking sound underneath the hood. She mentioned that it said "vehicle was not in park" when it started the clicking noise. I didn't see this personally but seen others had mentioned this as a brake pedal issue. The clicking noise would not stop so I decided to disconnect the power. The battery is buried so I unfastened a nut (red wires/+ terminal) near a fuse box located above the battery and removed the wires which stopped the clicking. I waited awhile (a few times increasing length) before re-installing the wires but the clicking does not go away. I can't get the vehicle into "run mode" to shift into neutral because the display is flashing on and off with the clicking sound and it didn't recognize the fob initially until that one time trying remote start. I'm not sure where to start as from what I can put together it can be a solenoid, brake pedal sensor, bad battery, or maybe a faulty push button switch. Furthermore, I hate throwing money at things when it doesn't fix the problem. Susan Guest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmoore1436 Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Sorry to hear about this... Have you tried jump starting it? The clicking is usually associated with a bad/dead battery. Also, I'm not sure how long you left the battery unplugged, but resetting the computer usually takes about 30 minutes before the system resets itself. Hopefully it is one of these issues, since they are the easiest to fix, if not it might be the starter or a different mechanical or electrical problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Lambert Posted January 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 I had an errand to run, but got the positive battery terminal unhooked now (rather than the jumper on fuse box), waiting for a half hour to pass, then I'll try to reconnect the terminal and see if the clicking stops. If so, I'll try to start the vehicle again in normal fashion and if it does not cooperate, I'll have the battery checked out. I figured removing a fuse box power wire would reset it, but ?maybe? the memory for the starter relay didn't power through that fuse box and it never reset by removing the wires I previously removed??? Not sure on the path it travels from where the clicking is coming from but hopefully dropping the battery for a half hour stops the clicking. As for jump starting the vehicle, I was hesitant to try jumping the vehicle with the continuous clicking. I don't want to cause damage to either vehicle if there is some kind of wiring issues. Out of my comfort zone, but I figured I'd at least give it a try before taking it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armando G Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 I'm with lmoore1436, clicking usually means not enough juice coming from the battery. I would personally try connecting jumper cables and see if that makes a difference and/or getting the battery checked. Otherwise it would seem like a loose connection somewhere that would be hard to guess at without more investigating. OhareFred and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Harshbarger Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 Sounds to me you have a bad battery. You won't hurt anything trying to jump start the vehicle. Dodge vehicle seem to have issue with low battery. It causes all kinds of random issues when the cars battery isn't good. jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Lambert Posted January 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 brought the battery to the local mechanic to get it checked out while I was at work and he said it was dead. He had to charge it before he could test it. Once I was off work, I went to shop and he tested it. He said the battery was fine. He offered the suggestion (which Armando said) that there was a "draw" somewhere draining the battery likely from a bad connection or something. He mentioned taking a light tester and disconnecting the negative wire then trying to connect (wire/battery terminal) via tester. If light activates, then I have draw somewhere and I could try pulling fuses one by one to see if the issue went away to isolate the problem. I'm guessing the battery terminal connections wasn't the problem as they were tight and I didn't notice a corrosion build up when I removed the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armando G Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 If you are going to test it yourself, start with any aftermarket items installed on the vehicle (if any). Sometimes radios, amps, radar detectors, backup cameras or other added items are connected wrong, or are just a big draw for the battery. Don't forget to check the relays as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 Replace the battery. Regardless of what the test results were, it's at least four years old and is at the end of its useful life anyway. I would be very surprised if you had an electrical drain on the car unless there was some sort of modifications made. 2late4u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 i agree i have already replaced my battery in mu 2014 and since you already have it out that is half the battle, unless he did a load test on your old battery it might not hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Guest Posted June 5, 2020 Report Share Posted June 5, 2020 On 1/28/2018 at 1:37 PM, Josh Lambert said: I have had a Journey for about a year now that I bought used from a dealership. I've had no issues with it until today when I tried to start it up and the key fob "was not detected" upon pushing the button. I tried a backup key fob and got the same response from the vehicle. After switching the battery out on the key fob, I tried once again and the outcome did not change. My girlfriend tried pushing the remote start from outside the vehicle and got no response whatsoever. Then, she returned inside the vehicle and tried to start again via the push button, which gave repeat results. While inside the vehicle, she tried the remote start button on the fob and it resulted in a clicking sound underneath the hood. She mentioned that it said "vehicle was not in park" when it started the clicking noise. I didn't see this personally but seen others had mentioned this as a brake pedal issue. The clicking noise would not stop so I decided to disconnect the power. The battery is buried so I unfastened a nut (red wires/+ terminal) near a fuse box located above the battery and removed the wires which stopped the clicking. I waited awhile (a few times increasing length) before re-installing the wires but the clicking does not go away. I can't get the vehicle into "run mode" to shift into neutral because the display is flashing on and off with the clicking sound and it didn't recognize the fob initially until that one time trying remote start. I'm not sure where to start as from what I can put together it can be a solenoid, brake pedal sensor, bad battery, or maybe a faulty push button switch. Furthermore, I hate throwing money at things when it doesn't fix the problem. This saved me!! My daughter left the radio on after cleaning the car and hours later the battery was dead. When we tried starting, it wouldn't start. However, a clicking noise began and would not quit. The above post about disconnecting the red battery cable worked and the clicking noise stopped. I just didn't want the car to burn down overnight since the clicking wouldn't stop. I have a V6 2014 Journey that I bought new in 2014. I've not had any major problems with it, until now. It has over 100,000 miles and I paid it off the end of last year. jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 5, 2020 Report Share Posted June 5, 2020 If you can get teenagers working, my hats off to you. Cut her some slack for the radio, we have all made that mistake at one time or another. Glad you like your journey. OhareFred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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