Dean H Posted June 16 Report Share Posted June 16 (edited) 2016 DJ 3.6 L 62te 130k miles On the Journey, Chrysler cut costs in the electrical system. This post is about the electrical system cables. There is plenty more to come. The starter, alternator and battery cables are all 4 gauge. Standard 2 gauge wire should have been used. See picture for wire gauge comparison. I feel that these small system cables and not enough engine to chassis grounds. Is the source of the Journey's electrical issues. The starter needs a good battery ground to the engine block. If you don't you will get no crank conditions. Read the last 3 post's on this thread. https://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/10578-2009-journey-sxt-awd-35-l-starting-issue/ The negative battery cable connects to a stud. Located on the driver's strut tower in the engine bay. On that stud, is a 4 gauge cable that connects to the the engine block. I added a 2 gauge cable from the engine block stud. To the engine ground stud located on the strut tower. You need a cable with 3\8" hole lugs. Located on the passenger side engine mount. Is the stock Dodge ground wire. It needs more than that. This wire runs to the ground studs located on the passenger strut tower. For this ground upgrade. I would go with a 4 or 6 gauge cable with 5\16" hole lugs. Run the cable from one of the studs on the engine mount. To the strut tower ground stud. See last picture. Doing these 2 ground cable upgrades. Is what you should do minimally. I did a complete system upgrade to 2 gauge cables. I added 3 engine to chassis grounds. The Journey has 12-14 electronic systems. The better grounded system you have. Will definitely save you some headaches down the road. I will keep the forum posted. Dean Edited June 16 by Dean H John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 19 Report Share Posted June 19 Great info. I need to add the big extra ground, have a few cables to choose from. It is surprising they used Denso alternator and starter (part of Toyota group) on our Journeys. There are some slightly early failures recorded on this site. But not that many, my wife’s alt went at just over 100k miles (slightly early imo). At least they didn’t cheap out there. Older Chrysler stuff often used Mistsubishi starter/alternators…because they owned around 5% on Mitz for years. Daimler/Chrysler years is another convoluted story. My spare cable stash, will one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean H Posted June 19 Author Report Share Posted June 19 (edited) 2016 3.6 L 62te 130k Hi John, I used every cable, I had for extra grounds. For the cost, extra grounds, is worth it and needed on the Journey. You can buy cables from eBay,with your specific length needed. Amazon has pre-made cables with different lug hole sizes. My system - Full 2 gauge, separate cables for Alt and starter. That is my alternator circuit breaker (yellow), on top of the PCM. Connected all strut tower studs. Cheap mending bars. Pass engine mount 6 gauge to strut grounds. 4 gauge to top of strut. Alt stud to frame 2 gauge. Engine block stud to interior, ran next to shifter cable. 4 gauge to junction. Ran to left and right kick panel grounds. From there to grounds under front seats.The door grounds are here. Talking about starters, here is a picture. You can see my 2 gauge cable. Big difference. Getting that starter nut off was a unpleasant experience. I thought I might have a heat problem. With the catalytic converter so close. I used extra heat shrink and plastic wire loom. Not a problem. No heat damage. With electrical connections. Always clean and use dielectric grease. Never guess. You might miss the problem. Know that the connection is clean and tight. Thanks . Dean Edited June 19 by Dean H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean H Posted June 24 Author Report Share Posted June 24 (edited) I'm going to show you where, the engine block ground stud is located. 3.6 L engine. The ground from the battery stud goes here. This is the ground that the starter needs. The one you should add a 2 gauge wire to. Stand at the driver's fender looking into the engine bay. The top of the picture is the air intake hose. Find the large wire harness loom that runs from the TIPM. The stud is hidden between the large wire loom and the engine vacuum pump. -Orange arrow- A close up shot with the air filter box and intake hose removed. Edited June 24 by Dean H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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