No Heat on Passenger Side and/or No Heat from Vents and Defrost

[klingoff]

Good Morning,

 

We purchased our 2016 Journey back in Nov 2016  and during that first Winter the heat worked fine.  The air would start to get cool after a very long drive (1.5+ hrs) but that was expected since it has auto climate control and was simply regulating the temp.  Putting the temp up a couple degrees would make everything more comfortable.

 

Since the beginning of this current Winter (2017/2018) we've had many many issues with the heat.  I have been working with the dealership and it has been in for service about 6 times so far this Winter and here is a brief description of the problem.

 

The problem started with after the car warmed up and begun to regulate the temp we would get cold air out the vents and/or defrost but heat on the floor.  Sometimes this would also include little to no heat on the passenger side (I know confusing).  We took it in for service and during the first round of testing they said they could see that there was a lot of heat coming from the floor (100C+) when on full heat but much less out the vents and defrost.  As a point of note one of the reasons I brought it in is because during a major rain storm I had the defrost on and the window fogged up because the air was so cold.

 

So I took it home after this service and the problem happened almost immediately except now it also included the vent doors would malfunction and we would get little to no air out the vents.  I took it back in a week later and they tried something else which didn't work.  Now it was too close to Christmas and I didn't want go back.  The shop Foreman put a note on my file that he believed this was a computer malfunction and wanted to replace the Head Unit in the dash.

 

Over Christmas the issue continued to happen with no heat out the vents or defrost but heat on the floor.  I took it back in early January and mentioned what the Foreman had told me, but unfortunately there is a new Foreman so they did some further diagnosis and determine the heater core was malfunctioning.  They ordered a new heater core and I came back in a week later.

 

Once the heater core was replaced, voila we now get heat out of the vents, defrost and floor, but there were times when now I would get heat on my side but once the car was up to temp the passenger side slowly got colder.  Also mixed into all this I have head lights that flicker and the radio touch screen had been malfunctioning (slow to respond, randomly adjust volume, etc.).  They did some more diagnosis and found there was a software update for the Head Unit. 

 

After that the temps got cold and for a while it seemed the issues had been resolved, but as the temps have started to rise we are back to the passenger side getting cold.  The strange part is that when the car is warming up the temp is fine, it only starts to have issues with regulating the temps.  At which time the passenger side slowly gets to the point it just blows cold air.  My side is fine, but the passenger side is simply stone cold.  If we up the temp up say 3-4 degrees we might get a little more warm air but it is still cold.  Now if we shut the car off and restart or open a door and let cold air in, warm air starts coming out the passenger side.

 

After explaining this to the new shop Foreman on Wednesday this week (March 7th) he talked to the Service Manager and now they are going to try replacing the Heat Unit I think they called it the "Gateway", anyway it's the main unit for Infotainment system that houses the CD player and SD card reader.

 

I am hoping that after replacing this part the heating issues will be resolved because while our last Journey treated us well this one hasn't been so kind to us.  We had the ABS module fail back in the Summer which left us stranded on the side of the road because it's failure shutdown all network communication between the various modules in the vehicle, plus the headlight flicker (which I now hope they can fix with that TSB), issues with a very creaky front suspension (which they have mostly fixed) and these malfunctions with the heating and Infotainment system.

 

I regret not getting an extended warranty with this vehicle at the time of purchase because I am concerned about what is going to happen post warranty and it would have been nice to be able to get a rental when the ABS module failure left me stranded for three days due to the dealership I took it to (which wasn't the dealership I purchased the car from) would help me even though they were good to me with our previous Journey and Patriot.

 

Anyway I just needed to vent a little, my apologies for the long post.  When I have an update on the passenger side heat I will update this post.

 

Have a great day!

[2late4u]

so i guess you are still in warranty tho lack of mileage info. if so you probably can still buy a warranty  it will cost you extra sice you didnt buy it right away.check out chryslerfactoryplans.com that is where i bought mine in 2014 on my crossroad i got the max mopar plan pricey but i plan on keeping it forever..... good luck

[klingoff]

6 minutes ago, 2late4u said:

so i guess you are still in warranty tho lack of mileage info. if so you probably can still buy a warranty  it will cost you extra sice you didnt buy it right away.check out chryslerfactoryplans.com that is where i bought mine in 2014 on my crossroad i got the max mopar plan pricey but i plan on keeping it forever..... good luck

 

Thanks!

[klingoff]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that 1 month after the ABS module failed and left us stranded we were heading away on a day trip and the ABS light came on again.  The vehicle remained running and I didn't dare shut it off in case it wouldn't restart.  So we took it to a dealership in the area (one I have never been to and we were 100KM from home at that point) and they took a look and said the passenger side ABS sensor was dirty.  So they cleaned the sensor and the light went away.  We got back on the road and 10 min later the ABS light came back on.  Called that dealership and they said the  sensor must be faulty and that the vehicle was safe to drive. so we continued on our trip though I quickly learned that when the ABS light is on cruise control is disabled.

 

So I took it back to the dealership that hadn't done much to help me when we were left stranded only because they had worked on that previous issue and when I got the Journey back they told me the passenger side wheel bearing was failing and had enough play that the ABS sensor got crushed and had to be replaced.  Now the other dealership told me the vehicle was safe to drive and we put 600KM on that bad wheel bearing which didn't make me feel good.

 

I've had wheel bearings failed on previous vehicles including the last Journey and they always make a distinct noise.  This time there was no noise so I had no idea that a wheel bearing was failing otherwise we wouldn't have continued with that trip and most likely I would have asked that other dealership to replace the bad bearing.

 

I have been wondering if perhaps this vehicle had some kind of collision before I purchased it (it had only 75KM on it when I took it for the first test drive) where that passenger side wheel bearing failed and when working on the creaking front end they noticed that the passenger side strut was ever so slightly bent.  Bent just enough to make a lot of noise once the temps started to drop this past Nov.

 

Sorry for another long rant.  I have been just getting so frustrated with this vehicle due to the issues we have been having.  Like I said the 2013 Journey treated us so well, but this one makes me regret going to the dealership that day and even looking.  We got such a good deal that sometimes I wonder if was one of those "too good to be true" situations where they simply wanted to unload this vehicle.  That's probably not the case but sometimes it's how I feel.

 

Just to be clear though the service dept at the dealership I am currently taking the Journey to and purchased it from have been treating me well.  In fact the Service Manager was the SM at the other dealership I used to take my other Journey and Patriot too.  He treated me well with those two vehicles as well.

 

Thanks for reading.  Have a great day!

[2late4u]

well not to say this happened to your journey but vehicles do get damaged at the factory before they are shipped out, as i worked at the caravan plant in St. Louis mo for 2 yrs before i was able to retire. man some things happen it is hard to say WTF happened as they push the workers so hard. that said no telling what is going on with your journey and i hope you get it fixed and enjoy driving it.......

[lmoore1436]

Did you look at the carfax report? If it was damaged then you should have been made aware of that, or else the dealer would be held responsible for not disclosing that information. Otherwise I would say that if the wheel bearing was just a tad bit misaligned it could have caused the damage, and even still been silent. Wheel bearings tend to only make noise when they are worn down, not necessarily misaligned because that will cause trouble for everything but the wheel bearing

Edited March 10, 2018 by lmoore1436

[lmoore1436]

Also for the headlight flicker there is a TSB that your service department can perform and has worked for 2016 and 2017 models:

 

TSB NUMBER: 08-097-17

GROUP: 08 - Electrical

DATE: September 28, 2017

 

SUBJECT: Flash: BCM Diagnostic and System Improvements

 

MODELS: 2016 - 2017 (JC) Dodge Journey

 

NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles within the following markets/countries: NAFTA and EMEA.

NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles built on or before August 28, 2017 (MDH 0828XX).

 

SYMPTOM/CONDITION: The customer may describe the headlamps flicker while operating at night. This condition may be more prevalent after the bulb(s) have been replaced with an aftermarket bulb.

 

Just tell the shop or dealer to perform this TSB and it shouldn't be an issue anymore. Also, if you call into the mopar warranty center they will give you 2 years of payments with no interest. I signed up that way and luckily I haven't had to use it yet but it's always nice to have the peace of mind. 

[klingoff]

On 10/03/2018 at 2:48 AM, lmoore1436 said:

Did you look at the carfax report? If it was damaged then you should have been made aware of that, or else the dealer would be held responsible for not disclosing that information. Otherwise I would say that if the wheel bearing was just a tad bit misaligned it could have caused the damage, and even still been silent. Wheel bearings tend to only make noise when they are worn down, not necessarily misaligned because that will cause trouble for everything but the wheel bearing

To be honest where it was new no I didn't check car fax.  I wasn't even planning on buying a new vehicle.  I went to the dealership for a Black Friday event and when they came back with what the payments would be I was floored and took advantage of what I thought was a good deal.

[lmoore1436]

5 hours ago, klingoff said:

To be honest where it was new no I didn't check car fax.  I wasn't even planning on buying a new vehicle.  I went to the dealership for a Black Friday event and when they came back with what the payments would be I was floored and took advantage of what I thought was a good deal.

Ooooooh it's new... I didn't even pay attention! Yeah it's all covered under warranty, and it's also not too late to get the extended mopar warranty (as long as you are still under the manufacturers warranty period). 

[bfurth]

Lack of proper temperature from vents sounds like a blend door/actuator failure. You should be able to hear the doors changing position if you switch between floor/mix/dashboard/defogger.  Put temperature control in manual (assuming you have automatic climate control), set the fan to the lowest speed, turn the radio off, and kick everyone else out of the vehicle (basically, make it as quiet inside as possible). Then switch the vents between the different output options and listen for the door actuator. If it's not coming out of the vents you are telling it to, that's more information for the dealership. Also, when doing this, make sure that the dashboard vents are fully open - you want to eliminate as many variables as possible.

 

Dealerships can only fix what you can explicitly prove is malfunctioning. If you can't prove it's broken, it's not broken. Going in with that mindset helps immensely.

 

Edit: Reading your initial problem report again sounds like a potential temperature sensor problem than a blend door issue (ignore everything I wrote earlier). Have they bothered checking the actual air temp inside the cabin and comparing that to what the sensors are reading?

Edited March 13, 2018 by bfurth

[klingoff]

Thanks, a friend of mine suggested looking at the temp sensor as well.  If it continues I will bring that forward.  

[Elmwoodie]

Be sure and keep us up to date!

My 2010 RT is blowing cold air on passenger floor vent too.

 

Dealer did an actuator calibration test - passed.

Dealer did a back flush of heater core and the passenger side began temporarily blowing warm air.  

Diagnosis was a plugged heater core.

 

( guess that means that passenger side has a different heater core as driver side and vents blow warm air?)

 

Dealer recommendation is a heater core with EVAC and recharge $1638.45 installed (Canadian).

 

 

[klingoff]

I had the Journey into the dealership this week and they fixed the creaking suspension (yay!) and hopefully that TSB for the head lights fixes that flicker (so far so good).

 

In regards to the heat on the passenger side it's still happening.  They replaced the HVAC Head Unit according the work order which is the component that has the HVAC knobs and buttons but yesterday once the car warmed up during a bad storm the passenger side was blowing cold air again.  I had to set the passenger side 6C warmer (at least) than the drivers side to get warm air. The air was so cold the windows were fogging up on the passenger side.

 

I will be making another appt and will report back.

[klingoff]

Good Day,

 

I can confirm the headlight flicker is gone... yay!  So that TSB for the headlights fixed that issue.  I was into the dealership today and they ordered an HVAC Control Module because according to the paper work I got back the blend doors and all sensors are testing good.  The HVAC Control Module apparently is what controls the blend doors and sensors (and from my research it also control the auto head light function???)  plus communicates on the CAN Bus Network.

 

I wonder if where it also controls the auto head light function if it was getting bad power or something from the Body Control Module and that caused it to go haywire.  I am saying that because the highlight flicker always reminded of a wiring short so who knows exactly what was going on there, and the Body Control Module from what I read is also a gateway between the various networks within the vehicle.

 

Anyway I have an appointment next week to replace that HVAC Control Module so we'll see what happens.

 

[klingoff]

Interesting I was doing a little more research on AllDataDIY and I discovered that there is only one Cabin Temp Sensor.  It is located under the steering wheel in front of your right leg (if you have auto climate control that is).  You will see a little vent hole in the panel and if you put your hand over it you can feel it drawing in air for the sensor.

[klingoff]

Good Day,

 

The dealership replaced the HVAC Control Module last week and unfortunately the issue is still happening.  If I have any further updates I will reply to this thread.