New to the Journey, NOT to Dodge/Chry

[5rebel9]

Well the Journey is doing well and relationship with my son is improving. He even paid most of the current 6 month insurance premium for the Journey AND for oil and filter and the cost of the tire sensor! Liking the Journey better now, as MPG's seem to be around the 24 mark and only a couple less than the G6.

   I've stressed on him about letting me know about any odd noises/ clunks and such when driving any of our cars so they can be "checked out", his latest report is that the rear heat control seems to be acting up and showing it's odd behavior on the "infotainment screen". Which ANNOYS him greatly. Seems ours has developed the same rear control panel problem that I've read about here so much. Has anyone confirmed the rear panel to be the actual cause?

[2late4u]

guess ive havent seen anything of the rear heat control actually showing on the info screen?what is it showing?also my daughter never says anything about noises and problems with her  patriot it almost comes to a breakdown or i notice it...KIDS   LOL

[5rebel9]

I guess that the rear heat panel has only done this a couple of times, I drove it for a 50 mile round trip on Sunday and saw no "glitches". He said that the rear activates and it "unsynchs." the front setting he uses. When he is not working and at home, I may just pull both controls(front and rear) and check and add dielectric grease to the plug in connectors for a start and see what happens from there.

    

Edited July 28, 2021 by 5rebel9

[5rebel9]

9/13/21 UPDATE

   Been a while since updating this thread SOOO .... No more glitches from the heat zone synch since unplugging and using some dielectric grease to the connector of the temp control module (not just the main panel). Cruise control working fine after switch replacement. Replaced the coolant temp sensor(193k miles) and temp reading of the EVIC has averaged a few degrees lower than before and very acceptable now knowing the T-Stat STARTS to open at 203*f. Have replaced 3 of 4 O2 sensors, the downstream bank 1 is a PAIN. I needed some specific length 1/2 drive extensions and shorter handle breaker bar to do that one, which I've now got on hand when I can get the car cold again. For what it's worth the headings of the NTK replacement location for the NTK23161 sensor is incorrect on rockauto and a few other sites. It is used as the downstream bank 1 and the NTK23162 is used for the other 3. The long and short term fuel trims of live data readings with my scanner are now equal to each other and after 1100 miles of use NO P0340. YES my son has been driving A LOT the last 3 weeks! Car doing and looking FINE for it's age and miles. Just glad I've been able to do the labor, as parts costs have been very reasonable but if paid a shop...son and I would be cringing! 

NEXT UP is Snow tires and possibly extra rims for them, THEN come spring he'll need new summer treads. Tires are getting thin but wearing evenly with no abnormal wear patterns.

 

[John/Horace]

Glad you got it sorted out. I fix my adult kids cars often as well; NACAR pit stop repairs not always fun. They don’t live at home.

I prefer puttering along without dead lines or pressure. Then it’s kinda fun.

 

O2 sensor fit seems to a problem on lots of cars, very frustrating. I’ve even had dealer supplied O2 not fit. But I have had great results from NTK sensors performance over all.

For O2 sensors I have a three piece socket kit that fits a lot of weird applications.  Harbour Freight  type China kit that real mechanics cringe at. But with a bit if MAP gas in a pinch,  always does the job without damaging the insert fitting weld or threads.

Rust belt northern cars are always more of a challenge, no matter what kind of mechanic you are. Cheers, you are in the home stretch. 

[5rebel9]

2 hours ago, Locosiete said:

Glad to hear she still truckin along. As far as milage it's only a little more then 50 per day. It adds up quick. 

 

 

And doing quite nicely! Although I must admit that I do prefer the ride quality of MY Lucerne over the Journey and my past T&C (not that either of them rode poorly) 

  Yeah, I hear you about the insurance "gimmicks"   

[5rebel9]

1 hour ago, John/Horace said:

Glad you got it sorted out. I fix my adult kids cars often as well; NACAR pit stop repairs not always fun. They don’t live at home.

I prefer puttering along without dead lines or pressure. Then it’s kinda fun.

 

 

  The B1S2 is kind of buried with the AWD model. For the first attempt, at least I found out what will work to change it out when the car is home and COLD again(maybe this coming Sat. morning?)

  And I agree about repairs away from home. Daughter is 60 miles away and 2 years ago I did front struts (broken coil spring) on her then Kia Spectra in their GARAGE(it was very cold out). Took me longer than anticipated due to NY RUST and NO PENETRATING OIL or "heat" to use there ... BUT did "git er done" all the same. 

[5rebel9]

I "borrowed" the Journey from my son Mon.(before he left for work) on a 60*f morning to get a 55gal barrel of diesel fuel filled up. Car ran FINE with coolant temp at a steady reading EVIC of 212* on the 13 mile run to the fuel station. On the return trip with a full 55gal of diesel in the back(fit very nicely and better than how I did the same with my old T&C), I monitored the EVIC temp AND reset average fuel mileage. Still read 212* and by the time I got home(13miles) the EVIC was showing 29.2 mpg average. Granted the route was fairly flat with no big hills to traverse(sorry GM pun), but this is the same type road conditions my son drives for 2x the distance 1 way five days a week. The only difference I can find to his "gripe" of fuel mileage is I did NOT have A/C engaged and drove my normal "feather footed" style. He runs A/C all the time and uses temp control for comfort and is heavier footed to get to speed.

   I guess he wants the car to run as he wants it and not operate it as needed for best results. 

[5rebel9]

7 minutes ago, Locosiete said:

Ya keeping your foot out of it is the hard part. The show Top Gear did an episode where they track raced a prius vs a v12 Jaguar. Obviously it wasn't for the Prius to outrun the Jaguar but to see which would get better fuel economy. The prius at full throttle got worse fuel economy then the V12 Jaguar that only had to keep up, which wasn't hard lol. 

My point is how fuel efficient your vehicle is isn't always as important as the way you drive it.

YUP! Now when I do get to drive the wife's G6gt.....well the fun factor of heavy footing it(but keeping within speed limits) and road handling(we have lots of curvy roads) is "off the charts"!   Just wish it was easier for me to get in and out of it with my bad back!

[5rebel9]

10/23/21 UPDATE:

   Journey has been running fine with no "glitches" happening at all. STILL trying for time and weather conditions for B1S2 O2 sensor change and to do the heater core.

   Since we now have a full year having the DJ, and son now full time employed, I've wrangled a pair of 1 season old studded 225/65R17 General Altimax Arctic-12 Snow tires for $50 and got a matching new pair for $280. YES my son has paid me for them. When significant winter weather comes close , my friend will mount/balance them @ $20 ea. on the DJ's standard alloy rims and stay there. Come Spring, he's working on a set of 4 matching  black more open spoke upscale OE 17" rims (has a pair already). And will put all new TPMS sensors  on them and we'll get new summer treads for those rims. Unless inflation hits harder, I figure about $850/900 for the "summer wheel" package... Stay tuned!

[John/Horace]

You must have seen this posting about heater core issues. Heater core is same on all journeys I think. Maybe take another run at air removal. As you know swapping core awkward and nasty. 
 

Going with 17” rims is good idea, 19” kinda pricy tires.
 

 

 

[5rebel9]

24 minutes ago, John/Horace said:

You must have seen this posting about heater core issues. Heater core is same on all journeys I think. Maybe take another run at air removal. As you know swapping core awkward and nasty. 
 

Going with 17” rims is good idea, 19” kinda pricy tires.
 

 

 

Yes, I did read that thread, but pretty sure by the amount of crud that I got removed from the overall system including what was is the res. tank by multiple flushing's that the core is plugged. I'm not good about posting pics or taking time to take pics of work being done. But let's just say that the drain and refill it got before us getting the car in no way had helped the situation. It was BAD with crud(about the worst I've seen of all my long years of auto working.

   YUP those "big rims" may be nice for good roads, but certainly not here in my "neck of the woods" or anywhere in NY. And my son was just a bit in "awe" of the price of the new snows, as he's still thinking in terms of the old Neon's prices of things... LOL 

[5rebel9]

7 minutes ago, Locosiete said:

Ya it's odd how from one size wheel to next prices can jump dramatically. When i was looking for my wheels found the 20" wheels were less then the 19. Worked out perfectly cause j wanted 20" anyway. Anything larger then that would not leave enough sidewall for our roads here in NE Washington. 

Otherwise got a set of stock 17" wheels I'll sell you lol. Although with shipping doubt it would be worth your time. Unless your son can do free shipping with his work lol

Actually, I'd have preferred dropping to 16" rims for winter use. But the used pair at that price was hard to not go for them. The style 17' rims for summer are either from rt or crew or possible from caravan. the pair he has have the Dodge Ram's head center caps with a nice looking spoke design(not that the OE plain 17's look bad). The pair of used snows was on this pair of rims. going to dismount them and have time to "acquire 2 more rims that match. We're figuring $50 /rim and $50/tpms(4) and whatever price on summer tires plus mount/bal. May go with Hankooks like it has now.

    Yeah, I hear that a lot on another Avenger forum about the 19" rims. Kind of an odd size and high tire cost. But as I posted, bigger is not practical around here for a daily driver for our road conditions.

 He works on a "short line" railroad, I doubt they get any "trade courtesies" for transport.    LOL

[5rebel9]

11/8/21:

  So after what seems an eternity, Finally had the car home on Sunday. After getting home from worship and hearing of my "BILLS" doing poorly against the "JAGS" I decided to try one last flush of the front heater core with CLR and let it work overnight. Getting the inlet and outlet hoses off was the most challenge to do. I used lengths of 5/8" ID clear hose to both tubes and did numerous water hose flushes back and forth and then used air to blow out what water I could. Next came using a 50/50 mix of CLR/water till a good foot of liquid showed in each clear hose. With light air pressure, I worked that back and forth for an hour before leaving it set overnight(had a 4pm dinner to attend). Was a bit cool this morning yet, but went out and "worked the cleaner fluid back and forth some more and was happy to see numerous chunks of "crud" floating in the hoses. Letting it work some more at this time and around noon (when it warms up more) will start doing more "working" and then flush out with water and refill and put things back together. Son is taking "mom's car" to work at noon(I have to "chauffer" the wife home from work at 5pm(hopefully with the Journey with HEAT working on both sides!

 

STAY TUNED!

[5rebel9]

Well, get the engine up near the 185* mark and the left side will ROAST you. The right center vent has noticeable improvement in heat, the far right vent lukewarm when driving (keep the rpm's up and is ok). IT IS A PLUGGED UP HEATER CORE.

Weather conditions and schedules are going to make it difficult to even do a "cut the tubes" replacement. 99% of driving/passengers is just my son in the car, so hopefully we can get thru the winter "as is".

[5rebel9]

11/26/21 UPDATE. 

   Studded Snows are now mounted on the original rims,  and son reports road noise is very livable on the bare pavement we've had(no real snow yet).

  We took it on the 60 mile drive to our daughter's home for Thanksgiving yesterday and I as passenger got to make some real good observations on just how the car is doing.

First of all is the heater core does need replacement. BUT after 15 minutes into the drive my son cut the heat level back to just below the midpoint of the red/blue scale with all zones synched together for the duration of the trip (outside temp of 42*f)

Trip home was colder and rainy and once again repeated temp settings  but switched to foot/windshield. A cool but not unpleasant ride home for me. But son said that's how he likes it!

 Next thing noted was ride quality was for an almost 200k mile car ....VERY NICE and road noise of snows was barely heard.  A pleasant feeling for my thoughts about a rather shorter WB, AWD, higher ground clearance vehicle than any other car I've had before!

   Last thing to update, son reports that since I unplugged the harness connector to the heat control module(behind the center "infotainment screen") and applied dielectric grease to it, that there has been NO FURTHER "UNSYCHING" instances. This little trick I did stems from a recall/ TSB I found about electrical issues for our PontiacG6. I guess it can "do the trick" for other cars as well!

 Son loves his ride and I'm happy with it and even though I don't look forward to the heater core job, it is a very good car for our uses!

    Hope all here had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving yesterday! 

[John/Horace]

Haaapppy thanks giving to the neighbour’s. Turkey feasts are great with family. You need to hold close the important stuff in these weird times.
 

Tire studs are amazing, I’m jealous. My part of state/province only allows them much farther North. Verboten in Niagara area. I had carbide track studs on a few snowmobiles I rode up North, it’s like driving on train tracks for handling.

 

Its always takes more patience and skill to keep used cars for a reasonable life span of miles. Some of us like the challenge.
Nice sunny day needed for that heater core change. My old neighbor was a licensed body mechanic. He watched me years ago, do a 1988 Aero-nostar dash removal. He said it’s better to do it yourself anyway.  Lots of Tec’s rush and end up with a spare handful of screws and you end up with forever dash rattles. But I’m sure you already know that. Cheers.

[5rebel9]

WELL, I CHEATED!

 Didn't mention that when we did the snow tires that a quick look at the brakes showed the front pads getting rather thin. Yesterday in 34* and breezy conditions, I "slapped in" new pads. Yes, I opened the bleeder and used a screwdriver between the rotor and inner pad to retract the piston and then closed the bleeder. Everything went fine, pins got some more "grease" and trial fit of pads revealed no need to clean the slide actions. Pads literally fell into place and moved freely in their holders. This was all done one side at a time and only took a little more than an hour to do. I was "chilled to the bone" working in my driveway by the time I got done all the same! The pads taken out would not have lasted thru to the new year with the miles my son drives, so it was a "have to" job before they went metal to metal. 

   On a sad note. The friend my son took on a drum set delivery trip to NYC area last year, suddenly passed away in his sleep on Monday. My son had just spent last Sunday evening doing drum stuff with him and was the last person to be with him besides his daughter on Monday morning. My son took the news very hard and we are now getting ready (as I type this) to go to his memorial service.   I did not know that he was only 55 years old and a good bit younger than me. He will be greatly missed, as he was like a second dad to my son and a stalwart member of our towns concert band (percussion section of course).

[5rebel9]

1/13/22 UPDATE

   The Journey is doing VERY WELL, even with the 0* night temps of winter that we're finally getting. Pass side heat has been "so - so" since flushing the heater core. But this past Monday I swapped rides with my son for the day, it was 14* daytime temp and snowy! I found a "trick" to help boost the heat to pass vents by just half closing the drivers side outer and middle vents. Heat was still more than plenty for driver and the wife said she was more than comfortable with heat on the pass. side. The studded Altimax Arctic 12 grip is phenomenal  for the conditions I encountered that day.  

   One thing that this "old school" fellow would WANT to do with this NON DRIVING LIGHT model DJ is to install some good AMBER FOG LIGHTS. The headlights are fine high and low beam in clear conditions, but in snowfall overpowering to the eyesight beaming into the falling snow. The AMBER would be so much better in snow or fog, and a distinctive "look" as around me they are not often seen on cars anymore.

 

 

 

[5rebel9]

In my VW driving days, I would mount both driving and FOG lights. The sealed beams of the era were horrible and since most of my driving was late at night (finally done working all day and living close to work) that they both were needed for the seasons we have around me. Driving lights atop the bumper and FOGS below. Quite a look on the old Beetles and early rabbits!

[Appalachian Journey]

.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Appalachian Journey
Ugh

[Appalachian Journey]

All car headlights should be yellow. And non LED, HID. 

Federal regulators have dropped the ball.

 

[John/Horace]

How about a cyclops light instead of amber lights. Mmmmm.

 

https://jalopnik.com/subaru-once-offered-the-best-factory-lighting-option-kn-1848387143

[5rebel9]

YUP, and a RIP OFF from the TUCKER TORPEDO 48 that the "BIG 3" KILLED OFF with the help of our FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (USA).   ')

 

I still like the Amber FOG lights for most of my needs. With the demise of real bumpers and going "plastic", it gets harder and harder to make EASY mounting of any "auxiliary" lighting.

[5rebel9]

I FINALLY got the studded snow/rim package taken off the Journey (a week late by NY) and put on summer tire/rim package Friday evening! Very HAPPY that it's staying light out later now to accomplish the task! This gives me the WHOLE day today to do the "honey you MUST do list TODAY!     LOL