Shaking at highway speeds and hard shifts

[x_orange90_x]

I just bought my 2017 Dodge Journey GT AWD a few weeks ago and I'm having some issues I'm not able to pinpoint. It has 92K miles and it's a V6 AWD with all new brakes. For starters I'm having a very hard shift into Drive the first 1-2 times after a cold start. I will reverse out off my driveway or parking spot at work, put it into Drive, and bam! It shakes the whole car. After this it normally goes in and out of gear smoothly. Sometimes if I circulate between P,R,N,D after a cold start it will slam one, then again after I've actually backed up. It seems a little hesitant to shift sometimes at cruising speeds, but if I get on it there's no issue. 

 

Also, I was having a lot of vibrating and shaking yesterday on the expressway. I know more often than not shaking past 45+mph is usually tire balance so I just had all 4 balanced. On the way home I took the eway briefly and while it is better, I still feel a shutter/vibrate from the rear. 

 

I've never owned an AWD vehicle and I know they have a lot more components on the rear axle than FWD. Honestly this is even my first Dodge as I've only owned Chevy for the past 15 years. 

 

Could there be a relation between the hard shift into Drive and the rear end shutter? Bad wheel bearing? Something in the transfer case? Should I have trans and diff fluid changed out? According to the maintenance records I received, it hasn't had either changed ever. 

 

I bought an extended warranty but I'd like to gain some insight on the causes beforehand because we all know how extended warranties work ?

 

Thanks in advance!

[larryl]

If you haven't had it very long you should take it back and let them handle it

Could be the Tcase 

Tranny , Fuel delivery ,bad driveshaft etc. Wheel bearings are usually noisy when they start to go

Reads like somebody dumped a problem good luck

[x_orange90_x]

29 minutes ago, larryl said:

If you haven't had it very long you should take it back and let them handle it

Could be the Tcase 

Tranny , Fuel delivery ,bad driveshaft etc. Wheel bearings are usually noisy when they start to go

Reads like somebody dumped a problem good luck

Thanks for the reply! I did buy it from a local lot and not a private party. The shutter feeling seems to be coming from just the rear driver's side at this point. You say possibly the transfer case... Do you think the hard shift into Drive and the rear shutter are related? I've done some reading on trans and diff fluids and I read they can cause hard shifting, but I also know changing trans fluid can do more harm than good after a certain point.

[larryl]

You could try changing the fluids can't hurt I would use  only Mopar oil and change the tranny filter also I would stay away from Flushing it just- drain and refill after  R&R the filter

Transfer case has no filter in it

It could also be a bad rear axle driveshaft worn coupling etc..the list goes on

[2late4u]

3 hours ago, x_orange90_x said:

Thanks for the reply! I did buy it from a local lot and not a private party. The shutter feeling seems to be coming from just the rear driver's side at this point. You say possibly the transfer case... Do you think the hard shift into Drive and the rear shutter are related? I've done some reading on trans and diff fluids and I read they can cause hard shifting, but I also know changing trans fluid can do more harm than good after a certain point.

100 k is the service point on the transmission ( i had mine changed at 60k and then again at 100k ) as mentioned only use mopar fluid and it takes a certain amount depending on the temp as such ,more info on that can be found on youtube, also this trans does have a learning schedule on how you drive BUT most journey owners myself included have experienced this hard sift or clunk from time to time and shouldn't be any real concern for you,as far as the rear shutter i dont know about it as i only have fwd ,but as you mentioned there are a lot more parts related to awd the flex transfer towards the rear has been mentioned quite a bit on here for it going bad...good luck and use that warranty as soon as you can and save ALL your paperwork that you give them and what they give you ,please report back on what you find to be your problem as well

[x_orange90_x]

6 hours ago, 2late4u said:

100 k is the service point on the transmission ( i had mine changed at 60k and then again at 100k ) as mentioned only use mopar fluid and it takes a certain amount depending on the temp as such ,more info on that can be found on youtube, also this trans does have a learning schedule on how you drive BUT most journey owners myself included have experienced this hard sift or clunk from time to time and shouldn't be any real concern for you,as far as the rear shutter i dont know about it as i only have fwd ,but as you mentioned there are a lot more parts related to awd the flex transfer towards the rear has been mentioned quite a bit on here for it going bad...good luck and use that warranty as soon as you can and save ALL your paperwork that you give them and what they give you ,please report back on what you find to be your problem as well

Thanks for that info! I'll start getting quotes for changing the oil and filter then. Should I have the diff fluid changed as well? 

 

About how long should rear struts last on these vehicles? I was thinking perhaps it's a worn strut or mount causing the rear end shutter. I can feel it over bumps as well as when just cruising. 

[2late4u]

 

rear struts are hard/time consuming to change on journeys, that said it depends of how they have been driven whether the struts go bad,but we really havent heard to much about bad struts, of course all the fluids should be serviced at least by the owners manual time/mileage intervals but it is a good idea to be proactive on doing it sooner than later,,,you can download the owners manual off the internet for free just google it,, also youtube is great for info on how to do it.also the forum tab is a great place to get info on your journey spend some time cruising thur it....also is your extended warranty thur dodge/mopar or a third party company????

[x_orange90_x]

My warranty is third party through WYNN. I'm not too thrilled about that as I've heard some bad things about them, however I paid a little extra for the Plus plan that covers a lot more than their Powertrain warranty. But I have 3 years/36k miles.

 

I'm a little reluctant to change the fluid myself because of the importance of proper levels. ?

Edited March 17, 2023 by x_orange90_x

[2late4u]

2 hours ago, x_orange90_x said:

My warranty is third party through WYNN. I'm not too thrilled about that as I've heard some bad things about them, however I paid a little extra for the Plus plan that covers a lot more than their Powertrain warranty. But I have 3 years/36k miles.

 

I'm a little reluctant to change the fluid myself because of the importance of proper levels. ?

i also just paid the dodge dealership to do mine, as i bought the extended warranty and didnt want no reason for them to turn down an repair

[x_orange90_x]

33 minutes ago, 2late4u said:

i also just paid the dodge dealership to do mine, as i bought the extended warranty and didnt want no reason for them to turn down an repair

At this point I'm most concerned about the hard shift after a cold start (even though it's warmed up). It always slams into Drive at least the first time, after that I can immediately switch back into park or reverse and back into Drive and it will be fine. Bit when it slams it's hard enough to jar the whole vehicle and everyone feels it. After I've been driving it goes in and out of drive smooth as silk. I'm starting to suspect it's the transfer case because obviously SOMETHING is warming up/lubricating and changing the behavior. I'm convinced the shudder/vibration is directly related to the hard shift issue.

[Sigint3238]

I literally had the same issue. I had hard shifts and shaking for a few days and the car sounded louder than normal. One day I tried to put it in drive and it did nothing. Apparently my transmission blew up and it cost me $4200 to rebuild it. I just got it back yesterday.