Hello from the Big D

[Silk]

We are the owners of a 2011 Dodge Journey crew all wheel drive 3.6 l and from the day that we have gotten this vehicle we have had nothing but trouble. I like what one person said Dodge did it right name in this vehicle the journey because trying to figure out anything that's wrong with it is like taking a long long journey and you find out you never get there.  So glad there is a site like this speak with people like ourselves who have major issues with this vehicle.

[redtomatoman]

Yawn. . .    I agree, Dodge did it right name.  I no have issue in my vehicle.  

 

I think you forgot to mentions any of your issues.  People on this forum are here to help.   What are your issues, exactly?

 

Peace.

[Silk]

We are having an issue where our starter spins but the car is not starting.  We know the starter, silinoid and battery are all good.  They were replaced and then tested but when you start it, the starter spins but the car itself will not start.  There is no clunking or banging.  Its just a smooth spin. The whole thing started when I was driving down the road and the car jumped from Drive to neutral and when I pulled over and turned off the car and went to turn it back on it would not turn back on.

[2late4u]

well you say the solenoid  is good, but if the starter is spinning but the car inst starting then the solenoid is not doing its job to pop out the gear to engage the flywheel, i would be checking the that out again and or any other electrical part that would involve the solenoid. i had a truck yrs ago doing the same thing ( it would start one day or couple of days then wouldn't start)the dealership replaced the starter and said it was fixed  couple days later it happened again took it back they changed out the starter and solenoid again and kept it for a few days saying they were checking it out at different times during the day and was working fine told me come get it, I went to start it and it wouldn't start ended up being a small black box on top of the eng (have no idea what it was) charged me another $10. and i never had another problem with the truck starting....

[Armando G]

This might be the same issue you are having. Friend of mine had the issue with his 2010...

 

 

[Silk]

We actually tried starting it in neutral and it did not work.  And when we try and start ours it's a push button start we don't have a key and the starter spins and what makes a whining noise that's really loud. Ours doesn't just click and there's no sound you can hear the starter spinning but it's not doing what it needs to start the car.  But even though the starter is spinning and it sounds like a whining there's no banging or clanking it sounds like a smooth spin from the starter like the starter is spinning trying to start the car but something is missing to make the car start

[Silk]

I actually have a video of what the car sounds like when we try to start it but it's too large to upload to this site.

 

[mechanical-idiot]

You need to take this to a technician that knows about electronics and electrical issues.  You are likely not going to be able to repair it yourself.  At least, get it diagnosed by somebody.

 

Don't tow it yourself, or you could create more issues!

 

Get it towed by a flatbed truck that hauls the vehicle onto the truck and take it in.  It will be worth it in the end.

 

I understand your pain.  We have had a ton of problems to repair in the last 3 months since we bought our Journey.  I still love driving that vehicle though.  I just wish that we had a money tree in the back yard.  Hang in there, bad luck can't last forever.

 

mechanical-idiot

[mechanical-idiot]

You could talk to the people who initially repaired this item.  They may come to you to check it out, so you won''t have to move it.  They might even put another one on the vehicle for you.

 

I have a neighbor who is very mechanical.  He says that 2late4u is correct in his evaluation of your starter.  

 

You could replace it yourself.  Check on youtube.  It is easy to do.  Almost all vehicles are the same and the starter is in the same position.  Just a few bolts and wires.

 

You probably get a core refund for the old starter, so ask when you purchase one.  If you buy one at the dealer, chances are it is brand new and thus the expensive purchase price.  If you purchase one at a parts store, chances are it is refurbished.  That is why they take your old one back and give you a refund.  They send them off to be refurbished.  That is why they sometimes crap out after you get one put on.  It should have a 90 day warranty or something like that.  I hope you saved your old receipts!

 

Anywho......... DO NOT TOW THE VEHICLE YOURSELF!  You can screw up the rear end on an AWD by towing it.   Then you will be paying a couple of thousand bucks to get it fixed.

 

Good luck, and please let us know how you get along.

 

mechanical-idiot

 

[Silk]

Thank you so for your concern about our issue you are very kind. I think I need to give some background on the issue. My husband has changed the starter himself because we don't take her car to a mechanic because here in Dallas pretty much every mechanic will mess up your car worse than what you already have and we have experienced that quite well so we do the work ourselves. A while back we were driving and the car started making a growling noise and so we got home turned the car off and then turned it back on again because we heard that from people in our church who also have Journeys who have experienced the same growling that sometimes you can turn it off and then turn it back on and the growling stops when we went to turn it back on it was dead you could not turn it back on so we started asking if you people and they said best place to look first is your battery connections and then your starter so we looked up the battery and the starter and the starter seems easier than the battery so my husband took off the plate that covers the starter and look at the starter and the starter housing had broke off and so he took off the old starter he bought a new one put it on everything was okay for about 2 days and then we started having the same issue again so he got under and looked and they that starter housing has broke also. So being that the starters were covered under warranty he took it back they gave him a new one he put it on and everything was fine for about a month and a half to 6 weeks and one day he went out got about 5 minutes down the road the car jumped out of drive into neutral he pulled the car over in the middle of the road put it in park turned off the car when he went to turn the car back on the car was completely dead except for making that really loud whining noise that you hear in the video. We had it towed to our place and this is where we're at today we have since put on two different other starters because of the fact that we thought maybe there was something wrong in the solenoid of the starter so we have replaced it twice since we had it towed to the house. Also we have replaced the battery because we had replaced the battery because our battery was not charging took it to AutoZone it would not charge above 73% they said it was a bad battery so we went and bought a new battery put it on the car and every time that my husband would go down to try and start the car when he would do something with the car he would have to jump the car so he again took off the battery took it to AutoZone they said that that battery was brand new was also shot so went to Walmart replaced it then took it to AutoZone to make sure it was a good battery before we put it on the car and that is where we are at right now. We are wondering if it's possibly a torque converter issue or flexplate issue we don't know if you should be able to turn the flexplate by hand because my husband can turn it by hand. We have purchased a new relay for the Run start ignition in the fuse box to see if that might do something.

[2late4u]

well i think you need to find a good mechanic as i know there has to be one around you somewhere. other than that the starters you are using that keep getting broken ,where are you getting them from? most after market parts are not always up to snuff. they will cost you more, but dodge dealership parts are built to a better standard than aftermarket parts,good luck on what ever you decide but give the thought of finding a mech you can trust as you are just spinning your wheels right know and i know its frustrating but cars are a lot more complicated these days then they use to be yrs ago. hell i dont even want to change my own plugs  anymore.

[larryl]

Why do people buy Journey's?

It sounds like the starter is turning but the "bendix" spring is not engaging the starter gear to the flywheel

[mechanical-idiot]

I have said it before and I will say it again:

 

This 2late4u guy knows what he is talking about.

 

It is time to find a good mechanic.  It is worth the money in the long run.

 

mechanical=idiot