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2012 journey electrical problem FIXED


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Ok so I’ve been working on my step daughters journey, it started out that she took it to 2 shops, they replaced the battery, then the alternator. After several hundred dollars, the car still had the same issues, the car would act like a dead battery, hook up a jump pack it would start, only to die when the pack was disconnected. I got the car from her and reading several forums on line I found that this issue comes up a few times. So after doing a ton of testing with a multimeter, I found that it PASSED every test! So I started doing some old fashion wire tracing, and come to find out the cause of the whole problem was the power cable from the battery to the fuse block where the factory terminal connected to the cable was damaged inside the jacket! It wasn’t easy to spot because the factory connection has some sort of sealant on it (probably to prevent moisture from getting inside) so I replaced the cable with a new off the shelf universal one from Napa, and ta-da problem solved! 

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thanks for the info, it sure might come in helpful for posters who are having problems,,my daughter was having problems with her older caravan and the problem ended up being a wire shorting out in the connector making her coil short out and go bad,was a hard thing to trace down as well     congratulation on solving your problem

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  • 3 years later...

2012 Dodge Journey - New battery, new alternator after 12 years of no trouble. Then started having have charging problems. Eventually car died while driving. The Battery current sensor or IBS as Dodge calls it was faulty. It is attached to the negative battery terminal. The battery is located in the most stupid place for an owner to change themself (behind right front fender.) It is possible to damage this sensor when changing the battery. Due to this location it is also susceptible to corrosion. Consider changing this sensor when changing the battery for safety reasons. Since there is no voltage meter on this vehicle, no idea if being fully charged! If this post helps one person avoid these headaches it will make my day!

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You dont need a battery to drive a vehicle, you only need it to power the starter 

 

Once its running, the alternator provides all the power needed to run the engine...i would have my alternator tested 

 

(But the alternator does need the wiring to complete the loop, so check all your connections aswell)

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3 hours ago, diymirage said:

You dont need a battery to drive a vehicle, you only need it to power the starter 

 

Once its running, the alternator provides all the power needed to run the engine...i would have my alternator tested 

 

(But the alternator does need the wiring to complete the loop, so check all your connections aswell)

True but most cars won't run unless you have a battery connected even though the alternator is providing enough voltage 

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2 hours ago, Locosiete said:

True but most cars won't run unless you have a battery connected even though the alternator is providing enough voltage 

Hence the disclaimer about completing the loop 

 

I betcha you could connect the ground and hot from the battery together and run it without the battery (but i aint trying it on mine) 

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1 minute ago, diymirage said:

Hence the disclaimer about completing the loop 

 

I betcha you could connect the ground and hot from the battery together and run it without the battery (but i aint trying it on mine) 

I'm not an expert but pretty sure that would not end well for your electrical system if you tried that

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