Dodgeboyz24 Posted May 29, 2013 Report Share Posted May 29, 2013 My journey started smoking last week. I pulled out to pass a car and poof white smoke,got home smelled a little coolant other than that ran fine. So called the dealership took it in they had it for a over a week. First they said it was a head gasket , then they said it wasn't and they didn't know what it was. It held pressure for over 24 hours. but , it has rust in the cylinders. So after 8 days finally a diagnose, Chrysler's "star" mechanics said this is a problem with the pentastar engine and is common to have excess water vapor. So nothing can be done so it smokes everytime in passing gear. So this is normal. Yea right. So I traded the journey in on a new vehicle. We loved our journey ,we bought brand new and have always had something wrong with it (brakes, electrical,and tranny). Has any body else had this problem or heard of it? sorry for bad grammer . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webslave Posted May 30, 2013 Report Share Posted May 30, 2013 My Pentastar only has ~5800 miles on it right now, but, I have had zero issues with the engine. I was expecting the "Change Oil" to come on at 5K miles for the first change, but, it hasn't lit up yet, so I guess it will go the normal interval before alerting me. The new engines (made in the last decade or so) are so well engineered and manufactured that old guys like me have a hard time getting used to the longer change intervals and the lack of a break-in period. But I digress, to answer your question, no, mine doesn't smoke on heavy accelartion or in using passing gear...surprised me that it hardly "smokes" in the winter at startup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1276 Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 My Pentastar only has ~5800 miles on it right now, but, I have had zero issues with the engine. I was expecting the "Change Oil" to come on at 5K miles for the first change, but, it hasn't lit up yet, so I guess it will go the normal interval before alerting me. The new engines (made in the last decade or so) are so well engineered and manufactured that old guys like me have a hard time getting used to the longer change intervals and the lack of a break-in period. But I digress, to answer your question, no, mine doesn't smoke on heavy accelartion or in using passing gear...surprised me that it hardly "smokes" in the winter at startup. Sorry if im a stupid... :-) but what do mean "in using passing gear"??? Is there any extra gear that activate when you accelarates to pass!! Because i just notice when im driving, the engine is so quiet at 110 km/h but the engine growl when i pass at 145km/h. Is it due to high revs or is there another thing happening in the engine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeboyz24 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Update: Called the parts department at dealer to order new stuff for my new truck that I traded the journey in for, I asked if they sold the journey yet, they said "no it has a confirmed cracked head".So I feel better that I was right about something being wrong with it.I knew if the head gasket was ok then something was cracked. Their should not be any rust in the cylinders of a new running engine. thanks to NAPA machine shop for giving me some good advice. somebody else's problem now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to Dodge Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Did you drive the Journey a little too hard? I haven't seen a Pentastar smoke at all. I am not assuming you drove to hard but just curious as to what went wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senah Posted June 2, 2013 Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 Did you drive the Journey a little too hard? I haven't seen a Pentastar smoke at all. I am not assuming you drove to hard but just curious as to what went wrong. He just said it had a cracked head. Prolly just a manufacturing defect or bad casting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramfrank Posted June 2, 2013 Report Share Posted June 2, 2013 There should not be rust in the cylinders of ANY running engine, not just 'new' ones since the top end oil and rings will keep the cylinder walls clean and rust allows lots of blow-by. I have a Y2K LHS that is in almost showroom condition (less than 100K miles and everything works, too) with the 3.5 that has been repaired for head gasket issues twice and now has a cracked head. At least it only leaks exhaust into the coolant, so it is runnable, but overheats, so it is useful only for local use - and that's what my daughter uses it for - I will be getting rid of it at the end of the summer when she leaves for university. You might want to initiate a complaint and claim with the manufacturer and the dealer and ask them to compensate you for the loss you incurred as the result of their misdiagnosis and for insisting that this fault was considered normal performance. You made the decision to trade the vehicle on the basis of that faulty diagnosis that they stuck with in spite of your position to the contrary - that cost YOU money where the repair would have been free. I've BTDT with Chrysler and some it's dealers - they always claim that problems are either your fault, or if it is under warranty, that whatever it is, is normal - I've had to sue more than once to get them to pay for their errors - now I have a good dealer who has mechanics with brains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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