Scheduled maintenance questions (transmission, plugs, etc)

[rob_ess]

I bought my 2014 2.4L SE new with 2 miles on the odometer. Now at over 138k. Never had problems.

today I discovered the maintenance schedule recommends transmission fluid change at 120k. Not happening.

Also spark bugs every 30k. Have never changed them. 

Switched to full synthetic oil at 5k. 

have only ran into wheel bearing problems. Will be changing the plugs later today. 

Is there anything else I should pay attention to? 

[2late4u]

why, would it matter........

[rob_ess]

2 hours ago, 2late4u said:

why, would it matter........

why would what matter? Why reply to a post if you don't have an actual answer? 

[2late4u]

because you answered it in your first post, by not doing the maintenance when you know its due.....

[Summer Solstice]

4 hours ago, rob_ess said:

Is there anything else I should pay attention to? 

Your Owner's Manual

 

If you  don't trust the documentation and the recommendations of the manufacturer who built and sold the product, and the engineers who designed and tested it, no one here will be able to steer you down a better path to trouble-free and affordable ownership.

[rob_ess]

not at all why I joined the forum. And this post is in the wrong area. Didn't realize I did that... also didn't realize i posted twice. 

I joined the forum for information. but if it's just going to be douche bags who like to be jerk-offs on the internet then f#%^ off. 

[2late4u]

lol kind of touchy arn"t you, you are the one being a twit, you come on here saying how you dont want to do any maintenance that the manufacture recommends on your vehicle and then ask for advice on what needs to be done? you are not making any friends here but you will find a lot of great advise if you ask in the right way. sorry if you took what i was typing wrong but reread what you posted and i believe you have to admit it sounded like you are a know it all or just not sure how it sounded to us on the forum, either way good luck with your journey and hope it continues to give you great service... 

Edited April 14, 2018 by 2late4u

[rob_ess]

Ok... so I used the car for Uber for around 50k miles. I'm a fool and die maker but wanted my wife to be able to stay home with the kids so I put a lot of harsh miles on it in Chicago and milwaukee with Uber. changing the transmission fluid was not recommended by the stealership  I asked the mechanic who does vehicle inspections here in New Hampshire and he also said with livery miles, he would not change the fluid. The Dodge service rep said they don't even do fluid changes. So that's the only reason for not having the fluid changed.

As far as the spark plugs, I'd never owned a car that recommended plugs every 30k. I didn't expect that. I do regular maintenance as far as oil, filter, air, injector service and had the radiator flushed. Always have the tires rotated every 6k, etc.

This post is just dumb. I apologize for pretty much the whole thing. Haha. it isn't even in the right section and also somehow ended up posting twice. 

But seriously, sorry for being an asshole and your response to that says a lot about your character. I feel like an idiot but seriously I joined this forum because I want to start doing my own work (maintenance, repairs, modifications, etc) and other forums have been great. 

Again thanks for keeping your composure when I threw a fit. 

[larryl]

Changing the transmission fluid with MOPAR  OEM oil and filter is a very cheap way to extend the life of the tranny...the old saying pay me now or pay me later your choice.

I dont know any dealer who at 120000 miles would tell you not to change the fluid at least around here anyway

Good luck with the Journey

[2late4u]

24 minutes ago, rob_ess said:

Ok... so I used the car for Uber for around 50k miles. I'm a fool and die maker but wanted my wife to be able to stay home with the kids so I put a lot of harsh miles on it in Chicago and milwaukee with Uber. changing the transmission fluid was not recommended by the stealership  I asked the mechanic who does vehicle inspections here in New Hampshire and he also said with livery miles, he would not change the fluid. The Dodge service rep said they don't even do fluid changes. So that's the only reason for not having the fluid changed.

As far as the spark plugs, I'd never owned a car that recommended plugs every 30k. I didn't expect that. I do regular maintenance as far as oil, filter, air, injector service and had the radiator flushed. Always have the tires rotated every 6k, etc.

This post is just dumb. I apologize for pretty much the whole thing. Haha. it isn't even in the right section and also somehow ended up posting twice. 

But seriously, sorry for being an asshole and your response to that says a lot about your character. I feel like an idiot but seriously I joined this forum because I want to start doing my own work (maintenance, repairs, modifications, etc) and other forums have been great. 

Again thanks for keeping your composure when I threw a fit. 

as i said welcome to the group as far as the trans fluid it is hard to believe the dealership would tell you that i have already had the dealership change my transmission fluid and filter once at about 65 k,the manual calls to change it at 100 k but it only makes sense as that fluid is under more stress and heat than your engine oil. and since you are using it in the city that is a lot more stop and go than normal.you might want to change out the power steering fluid and brake fluid as well take care and keep it between the ditches.

[rob_ess]

yeah the dealership said they don't even have trans dipsticks in the newer cars. all changing to "maintenance free". mine has the dipstick.

I checked my fluid myself and it is still pink. not fresh pink but pretty close. After a Google search it appears the service tech and mechanic is right about not changing it but only under the circumstance that it's old brown fluid and the clutch plates rely on the garbage in the fluid to grip. i also learned there is a difference between flush and change. i will be changing my fluid tomorrow.

thanks for the tip on brake and steering fluid. no longer city driving but still wouldn't hurt. My manual says a trans fluid change at 120k. Have never done it before though. Seems as easy as changing oil though

[jkeaton]

I want to see what copper core spark plugs look like after 120k miles.....Must have about a 1/2" gap by now....lol

[JDennis]

I just did valve cover gaskets on our '09. Went ahead and did spark plugs while I had the rear bank uncovered. Mileage was at 126k I believe?

 

Plugs that came out looked good, I didn't bother to Gap them, but I can at some later time (at work now, but I tossed them in a drawer in my box). 

 

The original valve cover gaskets were brittle and cracking. Came out in pieces. They were leaking a little oil onto the rear manifold which would then burn off and stink everything up. On the front bank, center plug well, the steel tube that presses into the head had also backed out about 1/4" and a small amount of oil was at the base of the plug. Just used an aluminum seal driver and tapped it back down flush with the others.

 

Maybe a product of age/mileage or both, but It doesn't take long to pop the upper plenum off and at least inspect for yourself.

[jkeaton]

2 hours ago, JDennis said:

I just did valve cover gaskets on our '09. Went ahead and did spark plugs while I had the rear bank uncovered. Mileage was at 126k I believe?

 

Plugs that came out looked good, I didn't bother to Gap them, but I can at some later time (at work now, but I tossed them in a drawer in my box). 

 

The original valve cover gaskets were brittle and cracking. Came out in pieces. They were leaking a little oil onto the rear manifold which would then burn off and stink everything up. On the front bank, center plug well, the steel tube that presses into the head had also backed out about 1/4" and a small amount of oil was at the base of the plug. Just used an aluminum seal driver and tapped it back down flush with the others.

 

Maybe a product of age/mileage or both, but It doesn't take long to pop the upper plenum off and at least inspect for yourself.

 

V6's dont require spark plug changes until @100k, IIRC. Different plug from the 2.4L. 

[JDennis]

must have glossed over the 2.4l part. was at work and bouncing around the internet to pass time between calls.

[bfurth]

The OEM spark plugs are copper and have a 30,000 mile life. After that, the electrode has worn to a point that fuel economy starts to trail off and you risk incomplete combustion in the chamber (which will then start dumping unburnt fuel into your exhaust, and that will wreak havoc on your catalytic converter).  Don't replace them with anything but copper, and replace them when the engine is cold (do it in the morning on a weekend after it sits overnight) due to the metal header (hot metal is more malleable).  The plugs are about $2-$3 each.  Don't overtorque them (book calls for I think 25 ft-lbs, give or take), and make sure the rubber insert of your spark plug socket comes back out after you're done (that was a fun story... change plugs on a friend's car, then she had intermittent misfires for a year and a half).

 

The transmission fluid should have been changed at 60,000 miles for your use (effectively, it was a "fleet or taxi" vehicle), and then AGAIN at 120,000.

 

The 6-speed (62te) gearbox does not have a transmission fluid dip stick. The 4 speed does.

 

As far as the service tech and the internet go - I'd put a LOT more faith in the owner's manual for the service schedule.  There's a lot of good information out there, but there is also 10x more bad information as well.

 

One last point about transmission fluid changes - the first time I had it done on my van (2010 Chrysler T&T, same 6-speed as the Journey), it came out to about $135.  The cost of materials (I think it was 6-8 quarts of ATF+4, filter, and the bottle of RTV for the new gasket) was about $100 of that.  It's a lot of work for a low profit margin job.  And it's in the dealerships best interest for your vehicle to have a failing transmission after your powertrain warranty has expired (because then you either have to pay for a new gearbox, or - even better for them - buy a new vehicle).

 

As for FCA, yes, the same does apply to them, but to a lesser extent.  Fleet use vehicles have a 60k mile service interval for the transmission, which is still inside the powertrain warranty (or at least was when your vehicle was built).  Recommending that change at 60k is suggesting it is necessary to maintain proper function of the transmission for the life of the vehicle. But what do the engineers who designed these things know? Surely not as much as the dealership technicians (who are NOT FCA employees).

Edited April 18, 2018 by bfurth

[jkeaton]

You could learn a lot from this guy.....   ^^

[rob_ess]

On 4/16/2018 at 8:19 AM, jkeaton said:

I want to see what copper core spark plugs look like after 120k miles.....Must have about a 1/2" gap by now....lol

 

On 4/16/2018 at 1:19 PM, Armando G said:

Welcome. Nice to hear from someone who is happy with their DJ...still loving mine. Do you have a long commute, or just take a lot of trips? 

There you go. Haha. I have never seen this. I know there is worse but this is bad. The new one is gapped at .044. The old one... at least .120. The 'V' is just a nub. The car was getting jerky under load in 4th. I thought the it was the trans slipping or the torque converter trying to lock. It was the spark plugs not firing hot enough. I was missing bad. 

Changed the trans fluid and filter myself. Changed the brakes, fluid and bled new fluid into the lines. Dodge actually used great brakes on this car. 140k and still have meat.

My trans fluid was still in very good shape but changed it anyway. But... have a question I will be posting in another thread.

Anyway... all of the routine maintenance is caught up. Only thing that made a noticeable difference was the plugs. I will never miss that again. 

[bfurth]

16 hours ago, rob_ess said:

 

There you go. Haha. I have never seen this. I know there is worse but this is bad. The new one is gapped at .044. The old one... at least .120. The 'V' is just a nub. The car was getting jerky under load in 4th. I thought the it was the trans slipping or the torque converter trying to lock. It was the spark plugs not firing hot enough. I was missing bad. 

Changed the trans fluid and filter myself. Changed the brakes, fluid and bled new fluid into the lines. Dodge actually used great brakes on this car. 140k and still have meat.

My trans fluid was still in very good shape but changed it anyway. But... have a question I will be posting in another thread.

Anyway... all of the routine maintenance is caught up. Only thing that made a noticeable difference was the plugs. I will never miss that again. 

 

That is pretty bad.

 

For your brake bleed - I'm hoping you bled them in the correct order (left rear, right front, right rear, left front).  Yes - it does make a difference (see: my first attempt at bleeding brakes on my T&C, which shares many of the same brake components as the DJ).  If there is any spongy feeling in your pedal, go back and do it again in that order.

 

Per specification, the gap should have been 0.043" - though, I hardly think the .001" would make any difference (and really, who can gap them consistently to 1 ten thousandth of an inch?) considering the gap it's coming from! Mainly, that's FYI for anyone else coming up on spark plug changes.

[rob_ess]

I gapped .043. Didn't mean .044. And yes, brakes were bled in the right order. I'm not a mechanic but have had my fair share of roadside purchases. haha. I almost always do my own work. Haynes is working for now but will be ordering an actual shop manual. This is the first car we have owned past the warranty. We had always traded in before the warranty was up. 

I will be here quite an bit with questions on things i am not familiar with. 

Thanks for the tips