2011 dodge journey r/t on/off dash lights while driving

[wearzy]

Hey

2011 DJ R/T...have the gremlins I think, while driving or idling abs, parking brake, traction service awd, dash lights turning off/on every 3 seconds. Battery light stays on, Loss of radio/speedo and air comes on/off all at the same

time, Alternator and front brakes/rotors changed 3 days before this happened. Put obd reader and pulled p0572/P0573 bad Brake switch hi/lo voltage. Tested battery off 11.8v on 13.8v, not sure where to start any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dusty256]

It's new battery time .. 11.8 volts with the car off is a dead battery .. Will cause all kinds of problems

[dhh3]

The electronics will not tolerate low voltage.

[jkeaton]

Replace your battery.

[wearzy]

So you guys don't think it's the tipm? I'm going to try the battery and will let you know

Thanks

[wearzy]

tested old battery while car is on and getting voltages from 19v to 14v to 0v and the voltage is jumping up and down.

[Dusty256]

You need to load test the battery with the car off . Reading voltage will give a close idea of the battery state of charge but load testing will tell you if its good or not . Any local auto parts stores will be happy to load test the battery .

19v is way way to high . Are you sure of that readimg

[dhh3]

You may have a bad cell in your battery. Sometimes the battery will read correctly when tested even though there is a bad cell. The volts should not be jumping all over the place like that; may harm the alternator.

Your DJ is 4 years old. Start with a new battery. If the lights on the dash keep flashing, then it is time to consider that the TIPM is failing, or does not have proper grounding.

Edited August 30, 2015 by dhh3

[Lobitz68]

I would agree that the battery is a likely culprit. It is a bit concerning that your voltage is jumping around so much. Have you double checked all of the alternator connections?

[bfurth]

A good battery should read around 12.5V with the vehicle off and under no load. It should read approximately 14.5V with the vehicle running in idle and all electrical devices (lights, radio, etc.) off. To load test the alternator/battery, have someone else turn the headlights on while the engine is running AND the battery is around 14.5V. It should drop 1-2V, then immediately come back up as the engine picks up a little speed to let the alternator account for the extra load.

If any of the above are not close to those numbers (+/- .5V), then something is wrong with the battery or the alternator, depending on where the issue presented itself.

Given your starting voltage of 11.8V off and 13.8V running with no load, I'd start with the battery. It's 4 years old, and you live in the Great White North. Cold is death to batteries.

[wearzy]

Ok thanks guys I'm at dealership now they said something is wrong with the charging system they pulled all lo/hi volts to sensors when they hooked it up to the computer. Just waiting to see what they found the culprit is.

[Javigom]

Hello Wearzy I had the same problem. I already changed the battery but the problem persists. All lights in the dash and the radio become crazy. Turned on all lights. What can i do to fix it?

[jkeaton]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 11:44 AM, Javigom said:

Hello Wearzy I had the same problem. I already changed the battery but the problem persists. All lights in the dash and the radio become crazy. Turned on all lights. What can i do to fix it?

 

Have your charging system properly checked.

[Ghost]

Just had a similar issue.  Super cold weather and came back from a vacation leaving it for a week.  Started fine but then Heated seats won't stay on, no heat or won't blow/eratic blowing then abs, airbag & traction control lights come on and then tranny drops down gear so revs go way up (was on the highway doing 55 mph). Shifted it into neutral and once speed cam down shifted back into gear and lights went out and back to normal.  Did it again about 15 min later and Battery light came on and it went into "battery saving mode" so shut off any power consuming itrems (heat, fog lights etc. and limped it home (about 25 min) with the same lights and revs coming on every 15 min or so.

 

Locked the Journey and all seemed OK but there is a red light blinking on the dash now when locked.  I've have it on a trickle charger for 24 hours now to see if it will charge back up but I'm assuming it needs a new battery so will get one tomorrow anyways.  I hear it's a really crappy job to replace it behind the front drivers wheel......

 

Will post the outcome if it's more than just the battery.

[OhareFred]

Its not that hard.  Yes, its behind the left front wheel.  When I did mine I took the tire off, popped the inner panel off, disconnected the  battery ( a little tight but not horrific) and putit all back together in about 30 mins.  FYI most auto parts stores wont do it

[Dusty256]

if you can change a tire you can replace the  .. battery it's a little tight in there but not bad

[Hankster]

Make sure you take the time to clean up the 3 ground connections on the firewall as well as the positive connection under the red cover.  I found mine on my 2013 already corroded.

Hank

[Ghost]

So to update I put in a new battery and fully charged it (old battery didn't look bad but looked to be the original chrylser battery which would be 6 years (156,000KM old now anyways).   PS only issue changing battery was that I snapped off the hold down rod because the bold was so rusted on.

 

After new battery Journey starts & runs and functions normally for about 3 min. and then the battery Icon illuminates on the dash and low power mode comes on.  No issues with any other dash lights and now the heated seats stay on,  not sure if heated seats should go on in low battery mode?

 

I'm assuming since the battery is still charged up and new I am not having the 'gremilin' misc. dash lights or other issues yet but as the battery drains and doesn't charge up properly those problems will come back.  Guess I'll have to take it in to get the charging system checked out unles anyone has a suggestion I should check?

[jkeaton]

That's would be my next move. Put a meter on it and check the alternator output voltage. Should be around 14 volts with the engine running. 

[Ghost]

Took it to a local shop that specializes in electrical.

They told me they are pretty sure that its a problem with the computer as they are not getting any voltage to the alternator.  They are telling me to take it to the dealer to change the PCM and get re-programmed.....

[jkeaton]

Huh? I was always under the impression that an alternator produces voltage to charge the battery and power the electrical system when the vehicle is running. First I've heard of an alternator needing voltage from the computer to operate correctly.

[bramfrank]

You beat me to it . . .

[jkeaton]

Wonder what kind of electrical that local shop specializes in?

[Ghost]

I guess they must have meant that the alternator was not supplying power to the battery but here's the latest anyway.

 

On Late model Chry/Dodge/jeep vehicles it appears that the voltage regulator is now( integrated into the PCM (apparently the Journey PCM is also the main ECM computer) and that part (voltage Regulator) inside the PCM has failed on my Journey (the rest of the PCM is functioning properly).

Took to the Dealership and they quoted me $920 CND for the part and 1-2 hours of labour to install and re-program the new PCM - with 13% tax that's about $1200 CND or $900 USD.  Apparently there are no rebuilt ones available and they cannot use one from a salvage yard Journey as the VIN code has to be programmed into the new PCM to work with the other electronic boards and security systems and dealer says they cannot flash a PCM that already has a VIN embedded on it.  I suspect there is a way to do it (erase old VIN) but the dealers just won't do it and since there is not an independent shop I know of that will do that either, I'm told I'm pretty much stuck getting a new PCM and having dealer program it at a cost of about $1200 CND.

 

There is potentially good news though -  I have looked around online and it appears that this problem has been around for a long time and there is a potential work around by bypassing the voltage regulator in the PCM and installing an external Voltage Regulator.  There are even Kits (google ERCKFRM) that have ben made up with a component that will bypass the computer and turn off the dash light & "Battery saving mode" feature. http://store.alternatorparts.com/hd-external-voltage-regulator-conversion-field-replacement-kit.aspx

 

So for a potential savings of over $1000 I have decided to order the kit and install it and see if it works as a fix.  I'm also going to us a relay to have the connect the battery directly rather than running it through a 12V source in my fuse box so I can get a better connection with les voltage fluctuations.

I'll post a write up about it so that if it works it can potentially help others.

 

My Dodge Journey has 156000KM AKA 97000Miles 

 

 

 

 

[Ghost]

On 1/6/2017 at 11:50 AM, Ghost said:

I guess they must have meant that the alternator was not supplying power to the battery but here's the latest anyway.

 

On Late model Chry/Dodge/jeep vehicles it appears that the voltage regulator is now( integrated into the PCM (apparently the Journey PCM is also the main ECM computer) and that part (voltage Regulator) inside the PCM has failed on my Journey (the rest of the PCM is functioning properly).

Took to the Dealership and they quoted me $920 CND for the part and 1-2 hours of labour to install and re-program the new PCM - with 13% tax that's about $1200 CND or $900 USD.  Apparently there are no rebuilt ones available and they cannot use one from a salvage yard Journey as the VIN code has to be programmed into the new PCM to work with the other electronic boards and security systems and dealer says they cannot flash a PCM that already has a VIN embedded on it.  I suspect there is a way to do it (erase old VIN) but the dealers just won't do it and since there is not an independent shop I know of that will do that either, I'm told I'm pretty much stuck getting a new PCM and having dealer program it at a cost of about $1200 CND.

 

There is potentially good news though -  I have looked around online and it appears that this problem has been around for a long time and there is a potential work around by bypassing the voltage regulator in the PCM and installing an external Voltage Regulator.  There are even Kits (google ERCKFRM) that have ben made up with a component that will bypass the computer and turn off the dash light & "Battery saving mode" feature. http://store.alternatorparts.com/hd-external-voltage-regulator-conversion-field-replacement-kit.aspx

 

So for a potential savings of over $1000 I have decided to order the kit and install it and see if it works as a fix.  I'm also going to us a relay to have the connect the battery directly rather than running it through a 12V source in my fuse box so I can get a better connection with les voltage fluctuations.

I'll post a write up about it so that if it works it can potentially help others.

 

My Dodge Journey has 156000KM AKA 97000Miles 

 

 

 

 

So I have an update to what has transpired since my last post.

I contacted the company that sells the external voltage regulator conversion kit and they told me that my 2011 journey would need a Modified Terminal Block for my Alternator which they haven't yet designed or have available.  So I scrapped the idea of trying for an external voltage regulator.

Based on the $120 diagnostic fee I paid to the independent shop telling me I needed the new PCM I took it to the dealer and had them install and program the new PCM board with the built in voltage regulator.

The Dealer put in the new PCM and charged 2 hours of labour to reprogram, then they call me to tell me the battery light is still on the dash and problem is not fixed   The dealer then proceeds to charge me another diagnostic fee to discover that I need a new alternator which they quoted me another $700+ to install a new one and they are pretty sure that's what was required all along. 

So I took back the vehicle to the original shop that told me that I needed the PCM and asked them what's up - they diagnose again for free and tell me yep I need a new alternator and the PCM board was faulty as well as they are now geting power frome the red wire off the new pcm where there was no power from the old pcm.  So I'm left wondering if the shop is just covering their butt or if possibly some chain reaction occurred with one bad part causing the other to fail?  But what can I do now but spend more time and money to test the old PCM and see if it's really faulty or just grab a used alternator for $100 and pay the two hours labour to have installed (which is what I'm doing).

Either way I'm none too happy to have already spent over $1500 at this point and still need to spend more to get my Journey back on the road.  I could have almost replaced an entire engine for what I will end up spending.

Sorry it’s a bit of a rant but maybe this might help anyone else that experiences the same symptoms.  I’ll post again if the replacement alternator and new belt doesn’t finally fix the issue.