Leaking AWD Transaxle (PTO)

[Team 44]

My wife and I just purchased our new AWD SXT Journey a little over a week ago, and decided to take it for a day trip the other day. We had just logged over 1000 km when we started smelling a burning oil smell. We pulled into the closest parking lot, popped the hood, and had a look under the vehicle. We were devastated to find copious amounts of hypoid gear oil dripping onto the pavement, and I estimated that most if not all had leaked out. The smell was from the gear oil leaking onto the hot exhaust manifold. Road side assistance towed our vehicle to the closest dealer, and our family of 4 was left standing alone in a parking lot, after hours, over 200 km from home. We asked roadside assistance if we could/should try to rent a car on our own in order to get home, or try to rent a hotel room for the night, and what would be covered, but they said we'd have to make those arrangements through the dealership. Unfortunately, the dealership was closed, and being the Sunday before a holiday Monday, it wouldn't be open for another 36 hours (2 nights). We went ahead, with lack of any direction from Chrysler Roadside assistance, and found a hotel room for the night, took a cab there, and then rented a car the next day to get us home. The dealer had a look at our Journey on Tuesday morning, and determined that a bad seal in the AWD PTO unit caused the leak, that the seal itself was not available, but rather the entire PTO unit has to be replaced. These PTO units are severely back ordered, and we could be out of our Journey for 2-3 weeks. This dealership alone has 2 other Journey's in with the same problem, and one owner has been in a rental for over 6 weeks waiting for a new PTO to arrive and be installed. One of these Journeys actually caught on fire from the oil leaking onto the hot exhaust system.

How many other Journey owners out there have had this same problem, and how long did you have to wait, or are still waiting, for your Journey to be repaired?

If this is a potential fire hazard, should a safety recall not be mandated?

[LBD-CT]

My wife and I just purchased our new AWD SXT Journey a little over a week ago, and decided to take it for a day trip the other day. We had just logged over 1000 km when we started smelling a burning oil smell. We pulled into the closest parking lot, popped the hood, and had a look under the vehicle. We were devastated to find copious amounts of hypoid gear oil dripping onto the pavement, and I estimated that most if not all had leaked out. The smell was from the gear oil leaking onto the hot exhaust manifold. Road side assistance towed our vehicle to the closest dealer, and our family of 4 was left standing alone in a parking lot, after hours, over 200 km from home. We asked roadside assistance if we could/should try to rent a car on our own in order to get home, or try to rent a hotel room for the night, and what would be covered, but they said we'd have to make those arrangements through the dealership. Unfortunately, the dealership was closed, and being the Sunday before a holiday Monday, it wouldn't be open for another 36 hours (2 nights). We went ahead, with lack of any direction from Chrysler Roadside assistance, and found a hotel room for the night, took a cab there, and then rented a car the next day to get us home. The dealer had a look at our Journey on Tuesday morning, and determined that a bad seal in the AWD PTO unit caused the leak, that the seal itself was not available, but rather the entire PTO unit has to be replaced. These PTO units are severely back ordered, and we could be out of our Journey for 2-3 weeks. This dealership alone has 2 other Journey's in with the same problem, and one owner has been in a rental for over 6 weeks waiting for a new PTO to arrive and be installed. One of these Journeys actually caught on fire from the oil leaking onto the hot exhaust system.

How many other Journey owners out there have had this same problem, and how long did you have to wait, or are still waiting, for your Journey to be repaired?

If this is a potential fire hazard, should a safety recall not be mandated?

We noticed the gear oil smell on the ride home from a long weekend. After going highway speed we could smell the oil through the vent as we came to a top. A quick look under the car it was clear enough to see the PTO rear seal was leaking. It did spray on the exhaust and down the frame rails. Stopped at the dealership and have been given an appt for Monday morning. Here's to hoping all goes well. We do have the Chrysler super duper extended warranty, so hopefully they cover all costs and a rental if needed.

[Team 44]

All the best. It's amazing how similar our stories are. We're in Canada, and after reading some of the Journey quality horror stories on this forum and from other sites, we opted to purchase the extended service contract with our Journey, and less than 2 weeks later we're unfortunately already reaping the benefits. We've been told that Chrysler will cover the cost of the rental car for the length of time it takes to get the new PTO installed, with the exception of the first day which is considered a "diagnostic" day. They'll also cover other expenses incurred, like hotel, cab or food, if receipts are submitted, up to $100 per day for 3 days.

We have yet to submit, as they don't even have us on file yet, because our Journey broke down quicker than Chrysler could process our purchase paperwork.

I'm very curious to hear how long it takes for your dealership to get your new PTO installed, and what expenses they cover.

[LBD-CT]

All the best. It's amazing how similar our stories are. We're in Canada, and after reading some of the Journey quality horror stories on this forum and from other sites, we opted to purchase the extended service contract with our Journey, and less than 2 weeks later we're unfortunately already reaping the benefits. We've been told that Chrysler will cover the cost of the rental car for the length of time it takes to get the new PTO installed, with the exception of the first day which is considered a "diagnostic" day. They'll also cover other expenses incurred, like hotel, cab or food, if receipts are submitted, up to $100 per day for 3 days.

We have yet to submit, as they don't even have us on file yet, because our Journey broke down quicker than Chrysler could process our purchase paperwork.

I'm very curious to hear how long it takes for your dealership to get your new PTO installed, and what expenses they cover.

Got a call from the dealer today. They are not replacing the PTO. They are replacing all of the seals on the PTO. That's fine, I guess because we should get the car back tomorrow and if the PTO goes bad, we've still got the warranty...

Time will tell, but I'm not completely optimistic that this issue will be over with the replacement of the seals.

[Team 44]

Thanks for the update. We were told that the PTO seals were the problem with our Journey oil leak as well, but unlike what you were told, we were told that the seals themselves were not available, and therefore a new PTO unit would have to be installed. This was fine by us, as our fear was that if they only replace one seal, a week later we could have one of the other seals fail, especially if the vehicle's PTO was operating low on oil, causing possible lack of lubrication or overheating. I'd expect if they replace all your PTO seals you should be in good shape, and like you say, you have the warranty.

Good news - got the call today that our Journey was fixed and ready for pickup.

Bad news - I got the call at 11 am, and was told that Chrysler would stop paying for our rental at 5:30 pm, and we had a 3 hr trip one way to get to this dealer in the town our Journey broke down in. We didn't get any warning, like perhaps a call yesterday to tell us that the part was in earlier than expected, and that they'd have the repair completed today. We've scrambled to get the day off work tomorrow to drive there, and I can't fathom they'd have the gaul to request we pay for another day's rental (already made us pay for the first "diagnostic" day). But than again......

I'll post to let you know if we have any further issues, and please do the same if you don't mind.

[LBD-CT]

Thanks for the update. We were told that the PTO seals were the problem with our Journey oil leak as well, but unlike what you were told, we were told that the seals themselves were not available, and therefore a new PTO unit would have to be installed. This was fine by us, as our fear was that if they only replace one seal, a week later we could have one of the other seals fail, especially if the vehicle's PTO was operating low on oil, causing possible lack of lubrication or overheating. I'd expect if they replace all your PTO seals you should be in good shape, and like you say, you have the warranty.

Good news - got the call today that our Journey was fixed and ready for pickup.

Bad news - I got the call at 11 am, and was told that Chrysler would stop paying for our rental at 5:30 pm, and we had a 3 hr trip one way to get to this dealer in the town our Journey broke down in. We didn't get any warning, like perhaps a call yesterday to tell us that the part was in earlier than expected, and that they'd have the repair completed today. We've scrambled to get the day off work tomorrow to drive there, and I can't fathom they'd have the gaul to request we pay for another day's rental (already made us pay for the first "diagnostic" day). But than again......

I'll post to let you know if we have any further issues, and please do the same if you don't mind.

The car spent an extra night in the shop because a bolt was "over torqued" and had to be replaced. But we have the car now & so far everything looks good. Will update in a few days once the car has been driven for a bit

[Snow_Runner]

Same story, August 15th we were driving home from town on a very hot day, (20km) and just as we were getting close we could smell the oil. At first I thought the oil filter wasn't tight as it was just in for service and it was very hot out. I called my dealer Monday morning and told them what happened and had a tow bus pick it up.

They wiped the oil off of the under carriage and had a quick look, but were short staffed to dig into it. I took a loaner car for the time being. In the meantime I checked this forum and what do you know!!! Same problem. I actually knew the problem well before the dealer did. I called them back on August 20th and they had figured out the problem, but same story, couldn't get the seals, had to order new unit. First one to fail in the area.

Called back today, (21st) and they told me that they found one in Toronto and had it shipped up and were installing it. GOOD NEWS!!

The bad news is that he said there are 2 part numbers for the GerTrac PTO unit. The "new" part number is not even in production yet, (Sounds like a future recall) so I ended up with the same unit installed. Who knows how long it will last???

Hopefully they identified this as a problem, and the "new" German GerTrac drivetrain is a solution to this obvious problem.

RP

[JKJavelin]

I had my PTO unit replace this week too. It was leaking last month and took it in (I posted it on another thread on the forum) and nobody in the area had one in stock. At 1st they were going to replace the seal, then decided to replace the whole unit. While they were at it they did a few recalls, including the 'honk on left turn' power steering reservoir.

JK

[Snow_Runner]

The bad news is that he said there are 2 part numbers for the GerTrac PTO unit. The "new" part number is not even in production yet, (Sounds like a future recall) so I ended up with the same unit installed. Who knows how long it will last???

Sorry about the info, after picking up the Journey and talking to the service manager in person, the problem was that he was unable to order the original part number from the existing PTO, and after talking to the engineers at Chrysler he found that there was a new number issued to that part. Therefore I actually had the "new" PTO installed as the old part number is no longer available.

I did get to look at the old unit on the bench, and I really don't see how this could have happened except that it was a hot day, and maybe the pressure built up too much???? Maybe there is a venting issue??

BTW, mine had 23000 km when it happened.

[ckl]

Can anyone take a picture of what this PTO unit looks like and what to look for because it seems like it's not an isolated incident?

Thanks.

[miller7428]

I had noticed every time i would come to a stop after about a 30 minute drive i would come to a stop and get a bunch of smoke coming out from under the hood and the fender wells that smelled like burning oil or some other fluid so i took it into the dealership and they said nothing was leaking or couldnt find anything wrong.

Did any of you experience the same issue before they figured out what it was? It is really frustrating me that i have had this many issues already on a brand new vehicle with only 5500 miles on it.

Any TSB's out on this yet?

[ckl]

Can anyone take a picture of what this PTO unit looks like and what to look for because it seems like it's not an isolated incident?

Thanks.

Did I forget to say Please? Please post a picture somebody...

[radrob]

so has this just happened to the o9 and 08 ,and did they fix the problem? i just bought a 2010 awd rt and wandering if i should be watching out for this?

[Tommy P]

I had noticed every time i would come to a stop after about a 30 minute drive i would come to a stop and get a bunch of smoke coming out from under the hood and the fender wells that smelled like burning oil or some other fluid so i took it into the dealership and they said nothing was leaking or couldnt find anything wrong.

Did any of you experience the same issue before they figured out what it was? It is really frustrating me that i have had this many issues already on a brand new vehicle with only 5500 miles on it.

Any TSB's out on this yet?

This is my first post but it looks like I'm not the first to experience what you've described. Nothing was revealed at the dealership and since that day I do not see any pooling of oil, gear or otherwise. Having said that, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the engine warning light and rough idling that popped up yesterday. My 09' R/T is in the dealership as I write.

[Black_Pearl]

2009 AWD R/T in for a leaking trasfer as we speak.. Also some dripping from the front radiator area!!! .. Was in 2 weeks ago for a lower radiator unit hose was cracked! put less than 250 miles on it in 2 weeks and it's back there AGAIN 3,000 miles on it now

<_<

[Speedy77]

Hey guys, alright here is my story. I looked around for 2 months to try to find the perfect car for my family. After spending alot of time on this forum. I decide the Journey was worth taking a chance on. So on Jan 2nd we bought A Steel gray 09 AWD SXT with 29000 miles on it. I really love the set up and the way this thing rides. That was the good.

Now for the Bad. With in a week a I started to smell the brunning oil smell. <_< From being on the forum I assumed correctly that I was dealing with a bad seal on the PTU. Currently the parts are on back order. In the mean time I had an idot light come on and the dealer replaced what they though was a bad oxygen censor. Next day light came on again. :angry: They replaced the same oxygen censor to find out that it is the CPU that is bad and need to be replaced. Now I await that part.

So here are my questions.

Did I make a mistake buying this thing? I still have 2 weeks to return it and pick something else off the lot. Only problem with that is there is not alot of choices out the for third row seats and AWD at this price point.

Have any of you guys had any trouble with the MTU leak sense the dealer fixed it the first time? Are they put in a better designed part to stop this flaw or are they changing a faulty part with one that will be faulty someday.

Did you guys all purchase extended warrenties for your Journey? I have a little over 6000 miles left on the factory warrenty and with the trroubles I have had in the first 2 weeks of ownership I am wondering how I can do without it.

[denwendairy]

Hey guys, alright here is my story. I looked around for 2 months to try to find the perfect car for my family. After spending alot of time on this forum. I decide the Journey was worth taking a chance on. So on Jan 2nd we bought A Steel gray 09 AWD SXT with 29000 miles on it. I really love the set up and the way this thing rides. That was the good.

Now for the Bad. With in a week a I started to smell the brunning oil smell. <_< From being on the forum I assumed correctly that I was dealing with a bad seal on the PTU. Currently the parts are on back order. In the mean time I had an idot light come on and the dealer replaced what they though was a bad oxygen censor. Next day light came on again. :angry: They replaced the same oxygen censor to find out that it is the CPU that is bad and need to be replaced. Now I await that part.

So here are my questions.

Did I make a mistake buying this thing? I still have 2 weeks to return it and pick something else off the lot. Only problem with that is there is not alot of choices out the for third row seats and AWD at this price point.

Have any of you guys had any trouble with the MTU leak sense the dealer fixed it the first time? Are they put in a better designed part to stop this flaw or are they changing a faulty part with one that will be faulty someday.

Did you guys all purchase extended warrenties for your Journey? I have a little over 6000 miles left on the factory warrenty and with the trroubles I have had in the first 2 weeks of ownership I am wondering how I can do without it.

We share a similar story- we spent alot of time and effort shopping for the right vehicle at the right price. Unfortunately, our R/T has given us nothing but grief (purchased with 13000km). In the 9 months we have owned it, it's been in the shop for almost 6 weeks! We had to have 2 cylinders replaced (along with the waterpump and various other potentially expensive bits) and we recently had a leaky transfer case, complete with burning oil smell. Also had a burst line in the power steering but we blamed that on our insanely cold weather.

We did purchase the extended warranty and am grateful that we decided to do so. We will keep the car until it is close to running out as it is comfortable with great features. On a positive note, we figure that by that time we'll have almost entirely new parts!

Dodge has been great through it all- lots of car rentals and I've not been asked to pay for anything. Not sure that I'll ever buy another one though...

Good Luck

[JKJavelin]

Speedy77: I haven't had anymore leaks since the PTU was replaced in August. The only thing I've done since was have the brake rotors refaced. I did buy an extended warranty - supposedly get the cost refunded if I don't use it (ha). I really like this car (do you call it a car? truck?) a lot. I plan on keeping it a long time

JK

[Speedy77]

A little update. After waiting a coupple weeks for the parts to come in I had my Journey in the local shop on Moday the 25th to have the pcm and the transfer case replaced. First off I will say the transfer case problem seems to be solved, no more burn oil smell . But I made is about 5 miles from the dealership when the good old warning light came back on . I got home and called the dealership where I bought it from, about 1 hour away, and was ready to tell them to stick this thing where the sun dont shine. The guy I bought the Journey from talked me down a little and had me explain to him the again all the things that have went wrong in the 1 month we have owned it.

Long story short. I drove the jorney back the hour to the dealer ship that I bought it from to give them 1 chance to get this thing to stop giving me problems. If they cant do it they are going to allow me to pick something else off the lot and just step away from the Journey. :speedie: I will be sad to lose the third row seat as we will probably move into a Ford edge, but losing the head aches is well worth it. So I hopefull will know within the next 2 days what the out come will be.

As far as the question about do I call the Journey a caro or a truck, My other vechile is a Chevy silverado. After driving that there is no way you can call the journey a truck. It has to be a car, or maybe a vans b B) astard brother.

[ckl]

the Journey is a vehicle that is built on a car frame (as opposed to a truck frame). Our old Suzuki XL7 was built on a truck frame and was thus heavier and handled differently.

General rule of thumb is that truck frames are heavier (and thus consumes more gas).

The easiest way to tell if a vehicle is a truck or a car is to look under it. If it is a truck, it should have two parallel beams or rails (not sure what the proper terminology is) going from the front all the way to the back. Sometimes you can see it if you look in the wheel wells. The truck is built around these two rails. In a car, the frame is welded together to create a unibody that resembles the shape of a car (minus all the doors, wheels, engine, bumpers, etc). It is lighter but not as strong as a truck frame.

As far as I know, almost all light SUV's such as the RAV4, Highlander, Equinox, and Traverse are built on the car platform. Not sure about big SUV's like the Cadillac Escalade though.

Wikipedia has some nice pictures of what a truck frame looks like (just look up Truck on that site).

[cotonymopar]

We had a Jeep Liberty in the shop for about 3 months... waiting on a steering column...

so my wife had to have a vehicle to drive, so we bought an 09 Journey R/T. Bought it, drove it home, and that night (about a 45 min drive from my house) I noticed a puddle. so we called, and I had to pick up a few missing items (headphones for the rear entertainment, jack, etc. ) I got there, and they said they changed a seal... on the way home, got about 35 mins away, it was smoking badly.. Called the dealer, and they said to take it in to the local dealer (they did not have any 09 Journeys, or I would have bought one from them). Called them, got an appointment. They got it fixed, and told me they replaced the wrong seal, that the original one was leaking, and since then, no leaks... Good thing for the limited lifetime powertrain warrenty.

so we have about 5000 miles now, and still no leaks.. (wheres some wood, I need to knock on it)

[A12Rag]

Well, my 2010 has finally proven that they HAVE NOT gotten the PTO seal figured out . . . just did a 1800km trip, and in the middle of it noticed oil dripping . . . so went to the dealer, who was good having a look at it and checked the fluid, saying I could drive it, and it was just a transaxle seal. Get home to the dealership here and am told it is the PTO that is leaking and they are going to replace the whole unit . . . 7 day waiting til the PTO gets in . . .

[Speedy77]

********NEW UPDATE********

I just got off the phone with the dealer where my Journey is at. He said that they replace all the wiring between the pcm (brain box) to the oxygen censor. They have put 80 miles on the car and the light has not come back on. He wants to put somemore miles on it before I get it back.There was a little snow last night so he doent want to drive it today. But it looks like I may putting the Journey back into my garage. :fear:

[Speedy77]

UPDATE

The Journey is back home. Now I am just hopping the next few months go alot better than the 1st month went. :titanic:

[Mike621]

Question about the leaking PTO unit. I got my 2010 SXT AWD 4 weeks ago and have put 3700 miles on it. I have noticed when I get out after driving, that it smells "hot", but I have not had smoke and have not noticed any leaks/spills on the garage floor. Maybe its because its new?

The first thing I did after picking it up from the dealer was I drove it to Pep Boys and had them do an oil change and put Royal Purple in it I've driven the Journey alot and I am very impressed with it. It has a great comfortable ride and I like the creature comforts. I have leather (fleet vehicle) and the seats are very comfortable, but seem to pick up dust/dirt very easily. I haven't pushed it, but the V6 seems a bit under powered for the vehicle. Maybe its because I was used to my former car, a rocket Camry with 268HP V6 LOL All in all I am very satisfied. The UConnect drives me crazy at times because she won't recognize what I say, but every thing else is nice. A bit "trucky" looking inside with the dark plastic, but a nice looking vehicle outside (Silver Steel Metallic) Wondering if I should throw some Slick 50 in at 5000 mile oil change..

PS - I don't notice any brake dust either, but will keep an eye on rotors