garmo Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Bought new, now has 65K on it. Mirror pocket broke 2 weeks after we bought it. 2 months to replace. Brakes, horrible change pads every 20K, rotors at 40K. Tires also at 40K. They squeal and grind. Oil the calipers and that helps for a while. Dodge only gave me $57 after their deductables for their brake recall problems. Gave them a stern letter but didn't do any good. (Do all my own maintenance.) Running lights and Tail lights burn out once a year. Voltage ok. Side motor mount shredded at 60K. Of course it has to be the most expensive one $140 list for the part (Get to know your parts guy...paid $86). Transmission sometimes goes into spasms. Jerky, then fine for months. No start conditions a few times. Wait 2 minutes then it starts. Can't wait to change the timing belt....Can it even be done without pulling the motor? Have an 07 Charger, same motor, 100k on it. Still on original brake pads. 50K on tires. Just did the Timing belt,water pump, spark plugs, antifreeze. 7 hours to do taking my time. Runs like a champ. No other problems on the car, nothing.... I know Dodge can make a good product. They just didn't do it on the Journey.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddbutton1 Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Suggestion: when you need to do brakes again, use Wagner Ceramic pads. I bought a used Journey that needed brakes on the rear (84,000mi). It appeared that the pads had been changed on the front, probably similar to your issue, but they hadn't replaced the rotors and they were below minimum thickness. I first replaced the rear pads and rotors using Wagner ceramic (cost more than the typical OEM equiv), and using Wearever (Advance Auto) rotors. I have almost 6,000 miles on these and can still detect machining marks on the rotors. Obviously the rear should not wear as quickly. I was so pleased with these that about 2,000 miles ago I did the same for the front and they still show the machining marks. Both front and rear are original calipers, pins, boots; lubed with special brake grease. Pad guides are new, included with pads, and they were greased as well. I have not driven it long enough to determine if they will exceed the 20K/40K that you relate, but the way these are after the use they are getting (mostly city miles), I am hopeful they will greatly exceed your experience. About the timing belt replacement - your experience on the Charger provides me with a glimmer of hope. I do almost all of my own mechanical work, but I am concerned about changing the belt on the Journey because the engine is transverse, where in your Charger it faces forward. The timing belt cover on the Journey 3.5L is up against the right strut tower and the engine mount is in the center of of the "loop". So far I can't find any repair/installation directions for the Journey. (Mopar has a service manual, but it only works on Windows 7 and earlier with Internet Explorer - I am 100% Apple) If anybody reads this and has instructions, service manual for the 3.5L engine in the Journey - I'm up for making a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted June 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 Well, time for an update... 78K, rotors are warped and scarred, pads seem ok but are half done (ceramic), went ahead and bought slotted/cross drilled rotors and put them on. I will keep the old "heavy duty" rotors....(not) that I bought at 40K and have them turned if they can be. I have a set of pads that came with the new rotors but will save them for now.... Seemed like a good deal, Power Stop rotors w/ ceramic pads kit, $147 shipped from AutoSheperd.com and coupon code found on internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted November 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2012 New update. Well now we are up to 85K. Slotted rotors seem to do the trick on brakes. Got plenty of pad left still. Have not put on new pads that came with the slotted rotors. Had the no start issue come up. Stranded the wife at work. After doing some research and not seeing a clear fix, I looked at how the shifter works and there is no sensors in the shifter. So there is an adjustment at the tranny and that fixed it. It is the shifter cable that hooks to the tranny. The shifter is not pushing the arm at the tranny far enough to engage the switch inside it. Now my next broken item is the coolant reservoir. It is basically falling apart and turning to dust. It is all discolored yellow and now leaking. $65 to replace the part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvictre Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 Are you sure you dont have my 2009 sxt? lol I had to replace my reservior also. Cracked and leaked like crazy. That was followed by changing the water pump. So be prepared. The water pump is a 7 hour job and the car needs to be retimed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 Hope they put a new timing belt and tensioner on while they were in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted March 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) The fun continues..... At 93K, Tires shot again. Got 30K on 65K tires. Tire warranty reduced the price of the new tires but still.... Now the heater hose is leaking at a plastic tee. Can't get just the tee (molded to the hoses) , got to buy the whole assembly. http://www.factorychryslerparts.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_product=4364219&ukey_assembly=657524 $145 for the part. I will have to pay to have someone put it in. Dealer wants $500 installed. (Heater hose people) Why make it so hard? 2.8 hours install time.... Of course it is all crammed between the motor and firewall. Timing belt coming up real quick. At least the kit (belt, water pump, tensioner) has come down in price. $100 at RockAuto. Oh yea, now the rest of the motor mounts are bad. I'm not changing them. It is a known problem. Too much torque from the engine. Had the Tranny fluid changed at 90K. (Book says 120K but for extreme conditions its 60K) I split it down the middle. Everything seemed to be OK. Pan was clean. It still shifts funny every now and then. And every once in a while we still get the no start condition. Move the shifter in and out of park and it will start again. Its the switch inside the tranny. Not having that fixed either. I wish I was in a position to get rid of it but I can't. Edited March 20, 2013 by garmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to Dodge Posted March 20, 2013 Report Share Posted March 20, 2013 I hate to hear all the problems. But 09 was the 1st year of the Journey and as I have experienced before, a new model always has bugs to work out. I for one love our Journey and have had lots of luck with Dodge products. I hope you are able to get past your issues as I feel your pain when having lots of issues with a car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted July 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 Well next update.... 102K. Time for the timing belt. Had a guy setup that worked at a chevy dealership and was going to charge $400 to do timing belt, water pump, tensioner. 2 nights before it was to be done he canceled. So today I took the plunge and did it. 7 hours and all's well. It isn't too bad, you just have to pulle the passenger side motor mount and remove the 2 bolts that hold the front underside crossmember and then you can jack the engine up and down to get at everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted January 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 (edited) Well, 130K and rear brakes are done along with rotors. Can't turn them either. Now I understand why the brakes suck. Pads and rotors from RockAuto were $86 shipped. Bought the Centric ceramic. They still grind and squeal every now and then. Looking at pricing for calipers I see they are super cheap too. Starting at $32. Brakes just suck period... No start condition getting worse. Have to jam the shifter up do get it to engage. I've adjusted as far as I can go... Edited January 4, 2014 by garmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 (edited) Wow....our 09 SE had front and rear pads/rotors replaced by me early on (less than 20k) and lasted until we traded it in at 80k. Only 2 sets of tires (OEM and the set we replaced them with), had the door wiring recall done, AC compressor, alternator and inlet runner valve solenoid replaced (all under extended warranty). That was it. Pretty reliable and nothing out of the ordinary IMO. I expected worse for the first year of the vehicle, but we were so pleased with the reliability we bought another. Edited January 4, 2014 by jkeaton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmo Posted April 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) Today was a glorious day.....The Journey is no more. Still had to replace the front pads so they would stop squeaking long enough to trade it in...... Never again will I buy a first year model change.... I still love my 07 Charger... and still on the factory brake pads at 137K!!!! I know Dodge can make a good product. Just not with the Journey...... It looks like it took them 3 years to sort out most of the bugs.... That's too long.... And what took it's place? Scion XB...just love those toasters....We had one before the Journey but it was a stick and the wife had lots of foot problems then. Now we bought a new automatic and she's happy...... Edited April 22, 2014 by garmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) I can honestly say that my 2011 Journey so far has been a real workhorse and for the 3 year ownership Dodge has definitely exceeded my expectations with the quality and performance this vehicle offers. Dodge does make good vehicles and the Journey is definitely included in that list! Enjoy your Scion. Edited April 22, 2014 by Journey_SeXT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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