AstralRT Posted May 1, 2019 Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 On 2/16/2018 at 5:20 PM, mechanical-idiot said: Hello everyone. I hope you are all well. So, yesterday a weird noise started when we were returning from a trip to another Canadian province. A weird REAR CLUNKING sound started in the back when we were starting off from stops. It does it on left or right turns. I don't know if it does it on straight starts, but I think it does, but not always. I can feel the clunk, if that makes sense. It's as if someone is hitting the bottom of the floor near the back tires with a hammer. It is a thud. 2012 Journey RT AWD Any ideas? I am really worried about it. Thanks mechanical-idiot My 2012 has been doing this for the last 50K KMs or so. The dealer couldn't find the issue and blamed it on uneven tire wear affecting the AWD, so I put on new tires from Costco. Same problem. I had my local mechanic check everything out and the checked out the differential and said the internals were good and did a fluid flush. Same problem continued. I was due for a transmission flush and was hopeful that would help, it didn't. With the engine troubles I've been having with mine this issue kind of taken a back burner but I would like to get it fixed. Thank you for sharing your experience and I'll definitely be taking a look at that next. One thing I noticed because I've been driving it this way so long is that it seems to get worse in warmer weather and better in colder weather. I rarely experience in the winter months and also leaving it parked for a while (weeks-months) seems to reduce the occurrence rate for the first little while after driving again. Hopefully changing the part you mentioned will finally allow me to fix this for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanical-idiot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 Our Viscous unit worked like a top when it was cold. As soon as it started warming up, the clunking started. Anywho...... I hope you have warranty because this is not a cheap fix. I think it cost us about 1600 bucks Canadian to finally get it all debugged and fixed. They have to replace some seals in addition to the unit and the labour was about 3 hours to replace the unit, I think. Good luck. Please let us know how you get along. mechanical-idiot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralRT Posted May 1, 2019 Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 Just now, mechanical-idiot said: Our Viscous unit worked like a top when it was cold. As soon as it started warming up, the clunking started. Anywho...... I hope you have warranty because this is not a cheap fix. I think it cost us about 1600 bucks Canadian to finally get it all debugged and fixed. They have to replace some seals in addition to the unit and the labour was about 3 hours to replace the unit, I think. Good luck. Please let us know how you get along. mechanical-idiot Warranty is long gone, currently sitting at around 200K km. I'll have my local guy do the work, it'll be cheaper than the dealership. Looks like the part is going to run me around $500+ CAD plus labour to install Not sure I want to take a chance on ebay or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanical-idiot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 Check junkyards. Only problem is that you could get a unit that is just as bad, or worse than what you have. Get it in writing that they will take it back if it is bad and return your money to you for the unit. They might even put it in for you. I bought it from the dealer to have the warranty on parts and labour. mechanical-idiot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanical-idiot Posted May 1, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 What is wrong with your engine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralRT Posted May 1, 2019 Report Share Posted May 1, 2019 8 minutes ago, mechanical-idiot said: What is wrong with your engine? P0306 misfire code last fall along with knocking. Replaced cam shaft, 6 lifters and plugs. Misfire resolved but knocking persisted. This week P0305 misfire code, I'm worried I might need another big repair. Combine that with a P06DD code that triggers when oil temp is below 70 degrees celsius, told I need a new oil pump because the sensor is built in, I'm not sure I even want to keep my R/T Rallye any longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralRT Posted October 29, 2019 Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 Looks like since I posted in May the price of this unit has just about doubled and I have yet to do the repair, I've just been driving my other car What would cause such a price hike? Did demand go up? If demand is up does that mean these are faulty and there will be a recall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralRT Posted October 29, 2019 Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 On another note, I'll be trying to do this part swap myself. Does anyone have any diagrams/instructions I can review before I get started? Would it be best to drop the entire differential and then remove the viscous unit? I'll be pulling one off in the scrap yard (assuming I can find one there) I'd hate to be part way through doing the job and run into a situation where I need a special tool or removal of other parts to access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zabrina Posted September 7, 2023 Report Share Posted September 7, 2023 I’m having this same issue. I have a 2013 Dodge Journey SXT 3.6L AWD. It started off as barely clunking when I made a left or right hand turn. I had figured out that if I don’t go over 10 miles per hour, it wouldn’t do it. Now, it does it every time I turn not matter how slow or fast I drive. It has also started doing it when I drive straight. I also noticed that if I’m on ANY kind of incline at all, it will not move when I press the gas and it will rev up and then it’ll kick in and the car will clunk/jerk forward HARD. I did have a bad axel seal on the back drivers side and no oil in my Rear Differential. So I got it fixed, and got oil in it, and it made it WORSE. I now, can not press the gas and turn AT ALL without it doing a very hard loud clunk & jerk forward. When I press the gas with my steering wheel turned, it doesn’t move. And if it does, it’s a bunch of little spurts like I’m pressing and releasing the gas. I was in the drive through at a fast food chain, and it made the same squeal sound of someone doing a burnout. But it was almost impossible for me to even drive around the building due to it now not moving forward when I press the gas and turn the steering wheel. It also now clunks/jerks if I put the car in reverse. I don’t see why adding the missing oil, would make it worse. My mothers boyfriend is thinking I may need a new transmission due to him feeling the clunk when taking the car out of the garage after replacing the seal and filling the oil. At this point, im not sure if I would rather have it be the viscous unit or the transmission. But I do know that the dealership near me, doesn’t like me due to me questioning why I was charged $250.00 for an hour of service when they told me the rate was $129.00 for when I had my seatbelt replaced. They were rude to me on the phone call. They said they’d order the wiring harness for the steering wheel since I have a recall and they never called back after I asked why I was charged so much for the seatbelt. *note: if anyone sees this and responds, I’m a 20yo female with very little knowledge about cars so please don’t be mean?* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted September 8, 2023 Report Share Posted September 8, 2023 Reads like you have big issues and you need to find someone you trust to help you out It is not going to be a cheap fix by the sounds of it maybe more than the car is worth...good luck Also this is a 5 year old thread Zabrina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zabrina Posted September 8, 2023 Report Share Posted September 8, 2023 2 hours ago, larryl said: Reads like you have big issues and you need to find someone you trust to help you out It is not going to be a cheap fix by the sounds of it maybe more than the car is worth...good luck Also this is a 5 year old thread I realized that it was from 2018/2019 AFTER responding with my issue. But I had the transmission ruled out today. It’s definitely something in the rear end. I’m just wondering if it’s also the viscous unit. Last I checked on the value of this car, it was like $8,000 US for private parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Bo Posted December 19, 2023 Report Share Posted December 19, 2023 Has anyone tried to rebuild the Rear Axel Viscus Unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zabrina Posted December 19, 2023 Report Share Posted December 19, 2023 15 hours ago, Rick_Bo said: Has anyone tried to rebuild the Rear Axel Viscus Unit? I saw that was a possible issue with the car but I also read a couple articles saying how you could check if that’s bad. My family friends that work on cars, tested that out and they said it’s not the viscus unit that’s the issue. My stepdad said my best bet, is to redo the entire read end and not play the guessing game part by part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted December 19, 2023 Report Share Posted December 19, 2023 I believe that you can just remove the rear shaft going to the rear and then just have FWD,not the perfect solution but cheaper than junking a car or spending huge $$$.....my daughter had a jeep patriot which was making a huge racket and the mech disabled the rear shaft by unhooking it and then took it for a test drive but it still made the noise...thought it was the rear diff going bad ended up being a bad wheel bearing even tho the regular mechanic no the wheel bearings were good...OH well you never know, the dealership found the wheel bearing instead of the rear diff. Zabrina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted December 20, 2023 Report Share Posted December 20, 2023 Viscous coupling is not rebuildable. Rear end or differential is now toast. Running out of oil not like running out of gas. Side seals where c/v shaft ps go into rear diff are a common failure. Oil goes low and internals get wrecked. A used rear diff from auto wreckers is only cost effective option. Removing rear drive shaft temporarily should allow you to still use car until parts found. Continuing to drive car as is will probably destroy front transfer case as well.Adding thousands to get back awd ability. Wheel bearings are pretty good on Journeys. Only one of 4 has been changed on wife’s RT with over 150k miles. Zabrina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick_Bo Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 (edited) The car is second hand. with no record of the rear end ever being worked on. checked it and it had plenty of fluid. took the nose off and opened the Viscous coupler. did not see any damage to the parts. the unit was not leaking either nor was the rear end. but the fluid was black in the viscous unit. in the rear end looks like the previous owner kept up with the fluid changes to the rear diff. because the oil was not bad either. I believe in the coupler the fluid broke down. since the unit is from the factory if was meant to only last roughly 65k from what I found. I am gonna add new fluid see if it lasts a bit longer. if not gonna have to find one online at a decent price. The units are made by Borgwagner. so I may try and find if I can get one direct. Edited January 13 by Rick_Bo spelling Zabrina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted January 14 Report Share Posted January 14 (edited) People get stuck and get carried away, burn up the silicon/oil. Clutch plates get damaged and seals start leaking. Subaru forums say it’s usually 1,000,000 (cst) PolyDimethylSiloxane fluid in most vc diffs. Not much fluid 50-80 ml maybe, measure accurately what comes out if possible. Could be half black paste and not meaureable. Getting Mopar fluid would help odds of successful fix. Pic is of a Subaru vc . Fluid should last life of vehicle I think; if not abused. My 3 vc vehicles have never needed it changed. Although Jeep np249 transfer case was causing hopping at 200k miles. Needed it. Edited January 14 by John/Horace Zabrina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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