NiceTrip

On my 2009 Journey, I have a longstanding issue causing the left front brake to drag. At first I didn't notice it while driving, I just had uneven brake wear. The first time I saw this, I checked the obvious things like caliper pins, and didn't find a cause, so I replaced the caliper and flex hose, and figured it was fixed. A few thousand miles later, the left front pads were worn out again. This time I replaced the ABS hydraulic control module. Now it's bad enough that 10 miles at highway speed heats things up enough that I get a vibration when I brake, and when I stop the left front wheel is noticeably hotter than the right. So I went ahead and did the 2014 front brake upgrade, replacing both front calipers, rotors, and pads with the upgraded dual cylinder calipers and 330 mm rotors. Still the left front gets hot at highway speeds. I don't see any kinks in the hard brake line, though I haven't replaced that yet. I'm pretty sure this is a pressure retention issue, because if I jack up the car and spin the wheel I can feel resistance, but if I crack open the line or bleeder, it releases. Also I would expect replacing the caliper and mounting bracket would fix any mechanical sticking. Could this be a master cylinder problem? Does the journey use a front/rear split for primary/secondary, or is it diagonal? I'll try and check the rear for uneven wear to check for this problem, but what else can I check. I'm tired of throwing money at this problem, and don't feel safe driving the car for long distances as it is.

Was this ever resolved? If so, what was the solution?

I see this is from September, so you may have solved it by now, but it sounds like you have a sticky caliper causing some brake drag. I'm dealing with the same issue right now. You don't notice it at slow speeds or short distances, but if you travel at freeway speeds for 10 or 15 miles, the brake will heat up enough from the drag to begin to warp the disc, causing the vibration. Once the disc is warped, the vibration will be very noticeable when you apply the brake. Usually the issue subsides when the rotor cools, but if it gets hot enough the rotor can warp permanently and the only solution is to replace it. To check for this, next time the vibration happens, stop the car, and check the temperature of both front wheels. If one wheel is noticeably hotter than the other you definitely have a brake drag. Use caution, as a dragging brake can make a wheel hot enough to cause burns. Other symptoms of this issue include faster brake wear on the side that's dragging. You may notice more brake dust on that wheel, an if you remove the wheel, you'll see the pads more worn on the dragging side. To further test and diagnose the issue, with the car parked, engine running, rear wheels blocked, parking brake set and transmission in neutral, stomp the brake pedal a couple of times as hard as you can. Turn the engine off but leave the car in neutral. Jack up the front of the vehicle on both sides, then rotate each wheel one at a time and compare how easy it is. The one that's sticking should be noticeably harder to rotate. Now remove the wheel on the sticky side, and trace the rubber brake hose back to where it connects to the steel brake line, and crack that connection loose with a wrench. If the wheel rotates freely now, the problem is upstream of the brake hose/brake line connection. Trace the steel line back to the ABS Hydraulic module. If you don't find any kinks in the brake line, suspect the ABS module. If on the other hand the wheel/hub does not rotate significantly easier, the blockage is downstream of the point you opened the line. Tighten that one back up and then loosen the bleed screw on the caliper. If that frees it up, the brake hose is the likely culprit. If it's still stuck, the caliper is at fault. Check the caliper slides to see if that's where it's sticking, and if not, replace the caliper. When done testing you are going to want to bleed that wheel just in case you introduced any air into the system when you opened the line. In my case, I've changed the caliper and the hose without solving the problem. (I didn't take the time to diagnose, thinking it was much more likely to be a caliper). This weekend I'm changing the ABS module.

For clunking in the front suspension, check the tie rod ends. To test, jack up one side of the front, support it on a jack stand, and grasp the front tire at 3 and 9 o'clock and give it a couple of sharp tugs as if you were trying to turn the car quickly right and left several times. If there is any play, you should be able to feel it and hear it. To determine if the wear is on the inner or outer tie rod end, remove the wheel, grab the tie rod itself, pull it toward you then push it away several times. If the tie rod moves at all you have a worn inner. If you can wiggle the hub back and forth, but the tie rod doesn't move, its the outer. It's not unusual to have play at both ends and have to replace both inner and outer. Repeat the test on the other side of the car. I have 12000 miles on my Journey, and so far I've replaced both outer tie rod ends once and replaced the inners twice, and I think I'm starting to hear the noise again.

steond, The condition you are describing sounds like bad tie rod ends. I have a 2009 Journey with 60000 miles and have already replaced three of the four, and it feels like the fourth one is starting to go now. The feeling that something is not tight in the steering is correct. As these wear they allow left-to-right free play in the steering, so even small bumps can cause the "shocks" that you describe, Worn tie rod ends can also cause the steering wheel to vibrate. Even the slightest out-of-balance wheel condition, which you might not even notice if you had tight steering, will be magnifed to a very noticeable vibration because of the play that the worn tie rod ends allow. If not addressed, this will gradually get worse and could eventually lead to complete failure and possible accdent.

If your rear wheels are making more dust than the fronts, something is definitely wrong. Most likely the brakes aren't relasing fully and are slightly dragging. When I did my rear brakes - at less than 36k miles - the left rear pads were worn completely away while the rights still had plenty of lining. Upon disassembly, I found the left caliper pins had no lubrication and a thin coating of rust. I cleaned an lubricated them thoroughly, and immediately took it to the dealer to complain about the defect. They replaced both rear calipers under warranty, but the funny thing is - the pins aren't in the calipers, but in the brackets. And I'm pretty sure they didn't change the brackets. Oh well, I think my lube job on the pins is doing the trick because I haven't had any more problems.

Try grabbing the front wheel on the side the noise is coming from and aggressively try shaking it from left to right as if the car was making a turn. If there is any noise or free play when doing this, it's probably a tie rod end. Both of my inners are shot. Parts currently on order.

I just had my third brake job in 64000 miles. Having done the first two myself, I took it to the dealer this time so I could complain about the excessive brake wear. They informed me there was a TSB out, with redesigned pads and rotors that is supposed to cure the problem of rapid brake wear. We'll see. I'm a bit skeptical because when I was rotating the tires and had the front wheels off the ground, I noticed that they were quite difficult to spin. This makes me think that the brakes are not releasing fully and are dragging slightly. This would actually explain a lot - overheated/warped rotors, excessive dusting caused by rapid pad wear, etc. The dealer said the new pads and rotors would fix all of this - but how can the pads help the brakes release? Anyway, I have to replace both inner tie rod ends soon, and when I raise the front end, I will check for dragging brakes again. Has anyone else, mechanic or DIYer, noticed any signs of slight brake drag on the front wheels?

There is a separate evaporator/heat exchanger for the rear air, which has its own drain. Water drippage in that area is perfectly normal if the rear air is on.

I surmise that both are correct. If you assume the web site gives worst case (i.e. full passenger/cargo load), then there is no discrepency. The website numbers correspond exactly with the numbers in the manual for a load of 5 to 7 passengers.

Update: Dealer replaced both rear calipers under warranty at no charge - said there was a TSB stating that if you change one caliper due to binding/sticking you must replace both. I'm also pressing for reimbursement of the ~$55 that I paid for new pads because of the premature wear . Told the service writer that I replaced the pads myself because I knew they are a normal wear item and excluded from the warranty. However when I found the stuck caliper, it went from being a wear item to a defect. Service writer seems to think it won't be a problem. I'll let you know how that comes out. The strange thing (at least to me) is that it was the caliper PIN that stuck in the BRACKET, and neither of those were replaced. I lubed everything up with brake lube, so it's not sticking now, but I'm concerned that it may stick again, since there seemed to be some rust/corrosion on the pin and inside the hole in the caliper bracket where the pin goes. Bottom line, whether you do your own brakes or have them done, make SURE the caliper pins are removed, cleaned and lubricated. The way these brakes are designed, it's entirely possible to remove the caliper, change the pads, and replace the caliper without ever pulling the pins or noticiing that they are stuck. Thereby setting yourself up for yet another premature replacement.

Here is a clear plastic one that I'm thinking about. Anyone have experience with this stuff? Is it easy for the DIY'er? Invisiblemask for Dodge Journey

At 27,000 miles, the wear indicator on my right rear was screaming (literally) for a rear brake job. So I bought some ceramic pads from my friendly neighborhood parts store and went to work. Put the car up on jack stands and took the wheels off. First thing I noticed on the right side was that I couldn't easily rotate the wheel, the brake seemed to be dragging. Then once I got the caliper off, I found the reason for the premature wear. The lower caliper pin was completely frozen in its hole. I could turn it with a wrench, but could not pull it out. After a bit of head scratching, I reassembled the caliper, less the outer pad, used a large c-clamp to prevent the top pin from sliding out too far, and had a helper press the brakes to force the pin out. Took a bit of doing but finally got it out of there. The pin was dry - no lubricant - and covered in rust. I cleaned of the rust with a bit of fine sandpaper and gave it a good coating of brake lube and put everything back together, so it's working for now. Tomorrow I'll be taking it in to the dealer, and I expect a new caliper pin, and caliper bracket at the least. They should also replace the caliper, as the old seals are probably heat damaged. I'll also be asking for reimbursement for the brake pads I had to buy prematurely as a result of Dodge's shoddy quality control. If I'd just taken it straight to the dealer instead of doing it myself, I'm sure they'd have simply cleaned it up and put it back together, while charging me ~$200-$300 for their "5-star service". I've been generally happy with my Journey, but it has had more issues than any new car I've bought. Perhaps to be expected with a first-year model?

Just talked to the parts guy at my dealer. He says there are 687 of the illumintated sun visors currently on back-order. Not sure if this includes both sides or just the passenger side. The good news is the supplier just committed today to ship 1000 of these. He said by the time Dodge gets them and ships them out to the dealerships, they should be available by first week of November or so.

I would think it would be difficult if not impossible to get the 3m film to conform to all the ridges in the bumper cover, and even the smallest void would collect dust and dirt and look horrible after a few weeks. I would think you could take it to one of those spray-on bedliner dealers and have them mask off that portion of the bumper cover and spray and a nice non-skip step area. If anyone tries either of these methods, please post and let us know how it works out.