Heater doesn’t heat while driving

[Maz]

Hello, am new to the forums and require some help.. I have a 2015 Dodge Journey SXT 3.6 engine, my heater only heat while the car is idle but when I’m driving, it blows cold air, any idea what could be causing this to happen?

And sometimes it shows this electric symbol on my dash - see picture below , not sure if that’s related.

 

thanks 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Maz

[larryl]

Low on coolant ?

Thermostat stuck open?

The symbol is throttle body related I think

[Maz]

You think low coolant can cause this, it is actually low.. I will top it and test.

 

if that doesn’t fix, I guess I will replace the thermostat.

 

thanks 

[2late4u]

32 minutes ago, Maz said:

You think low coolant can cause this, it is actually low.. I will top it and test.

 

if that doesn’t fix, I guess I will replace the thermostat.

 

thanks 

dont waste your $$ and time topping it off unless the overflow tank is empty and in that case it probably means you have a leak somewhere,when you are driving down the road is the engine  temp needle showing straight up and down in the middle between C and H,also go to the digital info gages and check your eng temp there it should read 199-203   changing out the thermostat is so easy on the 3.6 watch a few youtube videos...part is less than $20 in the U.S. 2 little bolts ( 10 mm and the bottom bolt is kind of hard to get to under the housing if you have big hands, use a open end wrench) and a gallon on antifreeze and about 25 minutes if you are slow and then BLEED the system takes about 10 minutes watching the journey heat up while running and oping the bleed screw every so often

 

[John/Horace]

Make sure to use correct orange fluid, not regular ethylene glycol green stuff.  Can’t mix them. There are aftermarket FCA Stellantis versions available, even crappy tire has one for $20 ish,  although dealer is sometimes same price.

 

Speedo  shows 406000 kilometres, just broken in now. I answered other post on lightning symbol.

Edited January 15, 2022 by John/Horace

[Maz]

Thank you guys, from what I googled and watched few YouTube videos.. the symptoms I currently have I think it’s related to bad thermostat.. I think it’s stuck open.

 

I have ordered thermostat from Amazon, seems it’s an easy job I will give it a try.

 

thanks again!

[2late4u]

as john said make sure you get the correct mopar antifreeze fluid as they will tell you at the part stores that what they sell is compatible with mopar and the bottles will say that it is compatible with all antifreeze no matter what color you have vs their green stuff,,,,,,, i am not a mechanic and cant say if thats true of=r not but why take a chance to save a few bucks