Jump to content

NavalLacrosse

Journey Member
  • Posts

    273
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    25

Posts posted by NavalLacrosse

  1. weird for it to happen at 100kpm, 60mph+ but not at low speed with similar REVs

    I'd assume the belt, or pulley is going bad. coolant on the belt can cause a squeal.

    Harold, Please record a video of the dashboard, allowing us to hear the noise and see the Tachometer. 
    Also, see if the noise happens when you 'Rev' while in park.

  2. A few thoughts:

    Short answer: I think it's a pretty good deal for a car. I think the AC issue will appear again. That AC is going to be a must with a black car in the heat of summer.

    Reasons to buy:

    1) 280 hp is pretty good in the mountains. I love driving the journey on the highway, and it will do great passing trucks and fuscas on the mountains. 

    2) amazing long-distance car. I love road trips in the Journey as it's a very comfortable car, Especially when compared to many of it's competitors. I think if you do lots of long distance drives, you'll love this car. 

    3) The Dodge is the 'cool' freemont. If you find someone who cares, you'll have the cool version.

    4) Three rows, if you've got small children. there are very few options in Brazil with 3 rows seats.

    5) AWD / '4wd' - Although not a Jeep, or Troller, this car will do great on those pesky state highways where there is no pavement, and well in urban environments when the slope is too steep and the pavement is a little wet.

    Reasons against:
    The AC issue will come back. I think the cost to repair the AC will be the decision maker in this purchase. The AC will be absolutely needed in the summer with a black car. Other than this, I think the car is fine. My second concern is if the car has a salvage title, it's probably not going to have a good resale. I don't know how salvage titles effects insurance coverage in brazil. if it's a salvage title, then the price to get a clean title might offset the price of a broken AC line.

    My personal reasons against: (this is my opinion, you're welcome to ignore these thoughts if you've already rationalized daily life with the Journey):

    1) Size: I drive in Curitiba, and the tight turns and parking situations in the urban city/apartment parking lots would do well with the dodge journey. I personally would not have this car because my apartment's parking cannot accommodate this car's length, and inability to turn extremely sharp in forwards or reverse. additionally, street parking the journey is going to be annoying as you'll need to fine 2x 'Chevy Corsa' sized spots to maneuver the Journey. If you're in the rural areas, this isn't a problem.

    2) Fuel: it's an american car, with an american engine- this means mediocre fuel efficiency, and regular car. 'Alcool' Brazilian ethanol will not work well with this car. with regular gasoline, fuel efficiency on the highway at 120kph will be 27mpg (11.1 Km/L) in the 'city' you're looking at 16mpg, (6.8 km/L) at best. This is a matter of opinion, but I'd not want to pay that much. 

    3) Repairs. The Dodge isn't a super common car in Brazil, like it is the US. I think if you have an issue, and need an alternator replaced. or otherwise simple part you'll be paying 'import' repair costs for an 'domestic' quality car. (Obviously, it's an import for you, but I call it domestic feeling because it's not a BMW in quality)

    All in all, if you want it: take it to a mechanic to test the AC system, and give an estimate on repair.  IF you want the car, buy it!

  3. The 2011 brakes were undersized for the car - (Not that it was an issue, just that it caused excessive wear to the pads and rotors, resulting in rotor and brake pads need replaced at ~30k miles)
    The 2012 brakes are the same, to my knowledge. 
    There is upgrades available, but it means a swap of rotor, pads, Capiper, and caliper mounts: In my opinion, not worth it unless you're planning on hauling 2499lb worth of trailers down-hill both ways every single day.

    I always just got the premium rotors and pads from Autozone. just went there, told them the year, make, model, and then got the most expensive one they had- usually was like 160 per rotor,

    Just make sure you grease the slide-pins every time you have the brakes out... mine seized and cost a bundle to replace the caliper mounts

  4. I had my rear calipers seize because I didn't grease the slide-bolts. (The ones covered by the small rubber boot).
     I assumed the grease from the previous install was adequate. I was super wrong. when I replaced the part I put adequate amounts of Lithium grease on every part. No issues all the way to the end.

  5. The Dodge Journey is a good car that gets a lot of flak.

    Pros:
    Cheap,

    old-ish school tech and maintnence,

    quiet,

    great seats,

    and wonderfull highway cruiser.

    3.6v6 brings 280hp to the playing field (really good number in this day and age of turbo 4-bangers bringing in 240+). This engine is rock solid, and still used in EVERY FCA.Stellantis product (excluding a few dumb outliers)

    Cons:

    the 'Internet' and 'car people' hate it, and it has a bad reputation for being old and uninspired. It's an 14 year old exterior style, and a 11 year old interior style.
    the 'internet' and 'car people'  (rightfully) hate it because it is the only car still sold NEW with a 4sp auto trans (only on the 4cyl model).

    Electrical gremlins are annoying, but are usually solved by changing the battery.

    Cons that are also Pros:
    'Internet and car people' think it drives like a minivan. - that's the point- it's smooth, it wallows, it cruises on the highway amazing, seats 7, gets goodish fuel economy. Not everyone wants a 'tiny' import crossover that drives like a Subaru BRZ lifted.... some people want the solf wallowy minivan drive where you can comfortably cruise at 85mph with only minor corrections on the tiller to keep in the lane. Body-roll? That's part of the experience.

    This is one of the reasons my wife's Journey replacement was a Buick, because Buick seems to have the closest to a relaxed, quiet ride, not-a-sportscar feel that makes the journey a comfy car to drive. { jeep? too bouncy. Hyundai? too cheap+tiny. Toyota? too stiff and tight. ]
     

  6. On 2/14/2022 at 12:42 PM, John/Horace said:

    re: VOLT

    Approx how many miles when leak happened?  There will be a hybrid in my future so I’m trying to learn more about them.

    My leak happened at 120k miles. 
    I'd strongly recommend the VOLT (both gen-1 and gen-2), although for the sake of comfort, i'd recommend one well within  it's powertrain/Voltec coverage period. (8yr/100k miles.), and GEN 2 (2016-2019) for the modern amenities and refinements.

    PHEV makes a great gateway drug to full EV... and if not, at least its a fun car that costs next to nothing to operate.

  7. After an exhaustive search, I finally purchased my Dodge Journey replacement Vehicle.

    2019 CPO'd Buick Envision Essence, FWD, 2.5L n/a. Red ext. w/ beige leather int.; 49k Miles. $26,700 OTD

    One of the main requirements for my wife was that the Dodge Journey's replacement needed to have comfortable seats comparable or better than the DJ. This buick does the trick. 

    This comes just in time; My second car (Chevy Volt) is leaking coolant from it's Inverter/Charger coolant loop (one of 4 independent coolant loops) and needs it's radiator swapped. It's an involved swap, but at least it's the easiest of the 4 radiators to swap.

  8. Bonus notes:

    A special note to our south-american readers: The dodge journey and gasoline fiat freemont will not accept 'Brazil Blend' Alcool/ethanol blend. American cars are (usually) allergic to it.  

  9. On 10/9/2021 at 9:33 AM, jkeaton said:

    Ouch! Glad you are ok. No need to leave. I sold my Journey 5 years ago. Lol. 

    Haha well 'gm-Volt-forums' just isn't half as fun. I might just pop in every so often.

     

     

    On 10/9/2021 at 7:37 AM, Redtomatoman123 said:

    Replace it with something that can do the occasional burn out without worry of causing damage to the tranny.   Ha!

     

    Haha.... a boy can dream... but my wife wants a Buick Encore 2019, so I'll be lucky to break the tires loose, yet alone keep them spinning.

  10. Obituary:

     

    2011 Dodge Journey Crew, 3.6L V6 FWD. 
    Collision with Deer at 70mph; Outskirts of Lansing, Mich. (airbags did not need to deploy, windscreen intact) Even while steaming away the last off the coolant, and spraying oil from the shattered head, it still drove its last 1/2 mile to a gas station off the freeway.
    Insurance totaled it, after negotiation, their payout was $9500. 
    I bought my DJ used (but 'new') from a dealership. $11,900 out the door in 2017. 32,000 miles on it. I was it's only owner, as the dealer never drove it without a dealer plate.

    I drove it to 98,900 miles.

    Some highlights were:

    • Comfortable Seats. I enjoyed them, honestly the seats sold the car on day one. I took plenty of naps at lunch in that driver's seat.
    • The time i did the whole drive back from florida (24 hrs), and had a tire explode in the truck at 4am. 
    • Towed my tiny camper to two different camp sites. did well enough.
    • (recently) the time i did on small peel-out on woodward ave in front of a small crowd of day-drinkers during the largest car cruise in the world. It made their 10 seconds, but it made my day.
    • ...
    • that's about all that comes to mind.

     

    Major issues:

    • Electrical gremlin is at best an annoyance (30 minute disconnect, reconnect) and at worst a knuckle busting repair (3x batteries and a new alternator+belt)
    • Oil changes every time the computer told me. (7k miles). always consumed about 1/2 qrt between changes.
    • fog light bulb burned out.
    • bluetooth rarely synced correctly.

     

     

     

    I probably won't come back to the forum. But I'll remember you guys for your tips and tricks, and endless antics. 
    Tchau, for now!

    -Tim



     

    dodge this 1.jpg

    dodge this 2.jpg

  11. Random moment which made my week. 

    So, if you're not familiar, (I don't blame you if you're not), There is an event in Detroit called the Woodward Dream Cruise, which is basically a really long(15 miles of road) cruise/car show/expo of all things car. Every genre, every scene, every car- A celebration of cars in the motor city-
    One of the 'things' that happens is the spectators on the side will have megaphones and will yell at the drivers "REV IT UP!" "BURN OUT!" and the drivers will do a short burnout for a few feet and then keep driving.

    Anyway:
    I'm in my Dodge Journey, we're watching the cars while driving in the 'thru lanes' of the highway. I was trying to get off the main drag, so I'm 'in the cruiser lane trying to turn right' amongst the classics, the Hellcats, the rat rods, and the rest.... that's when I hear it on the loudspeaker: 

    "Dodge Journey.... Dodge Journey!! LIGHT IT UP DODGE JOURNEY..."

    and I did it: 

    • Neutral Gear:
    • REV to 4k
    • Dump it in Drive
    • Pedal E-Brake on 1/2 way. 

    I left about 4 ft of tire mark(s?) on the road, and got a massive cheer from the crowd. 10/10 will take my Journey to the Dream Cruise again XD. Probably took 6 months of life out of the fwd driveline...

    Anyway. moral of the story, I made about a dozen day-drinkers lose their minds for few seconds, and made my week. I'd not recommend doing that with your Journey.

  12. My 2011 has issues with the cruise control. 

    I'm certain it's to do with the switch. 

    I'm thinking it's caused by the vent blowing hot or cold air at the steering wheel. Regardless of how it's caused, my 'caveman' repair is to *BANG* the steering wheel with my palm at the 2-o-clock position. Usually one or two bangs fixes the issue for the entire drive.
    The switch gives issues once every 10-or-so drives. This is a FCA issue, not a Journey issue, a friend's '15 charger had the same issue when it was brand new. (changed his switch under warranty)

    A possible related thing might be the active recall on the wiring for the steering wheel (related to airbags). Maybe the wires got chaffed for the CC switch.


    One last bonus note is that if the tmps sensor is not detected in one of the tires, the cruise will de-activate over 55 mph. (such as the case of using a spare tire, rated to no more than 55mph)

  13. 39 minutes ago, 2late4u said:

    might seem to simple but how old is YOUR battery and have it checked,since you couldn't jump his truck...i would def.get the battery checked or replaced before laying out any more money on this problems journeys act crazy with a low charged battery...good luck and hope its just the battery

    Check it out, OP. 

    I'm like a broken record on this topic, but when the battery is anything less than 99% perfect, the gremlins come out. they are symptoms you describe with the wipers, radio, all lights on the cluster, gauges acting weird. Ignition not working. radio and hvac controls out-of-whack. These are common when the battery and the (less frequently) the alternator are bellow perfect operational health. 

     

    an easy way to test this is: If the car runs perfectly fine while connected to the jump pack, but then starts acting weird after a few minutes without the jump pack, it might be the battery is 'just' a little too old for the car's liking.

  14. That's a toughy - 

    As much as I like the Dodge journey, It's not the worlds most reliable car. - That being said;
    What it is, is probably the best value proposition car: You'll be hard pressed to find as large, comfy, *reliable, and *capable car for the price, even with the used car run-up post covid.

     

    *Reliable: It's not perfect, but for 1/2 the price of a RAV4, you'll get a car that's 85% as reliable. 
    *Capable: It's very roomy, but only can tow 2500lbs. If you don't tow, this won't be an issue

    A few recommendations;  
    seeing as pretty much nothing has changed at all on the dodge journey in 10 years, get one that its 4+ years old. This will make it much less expensive than CPO's from LaFontaine. 
    That's one of the best things about the dodge journey, as it's had such a long run you can pay as much or as little as you want on a used one.

     

    1) Get the v6. for the love of all things good in this world; do not get the 4cyl. the v6 pentastar is more powerful, and reliable, and only sacrifices 1mpg for a 100hp gain  over the 2.4 multi-air (and it's embarrassing 4sp auto trans)

    2) don't fret about awd vs fwd. both are fine, but fwd will give you less problems, but if you frequently get in heavy snow areas, go for awd.



    I've got a 2011 Front-wheel-drive with 98k miles-ish on it now.
    bought it with 32k miles on it for $13,500 in 2017
    v6 is a trooper. Still hauls ass on the freeway.
    Brake pads and rotors every 30k miles. (an issue resolved after 2012)
    needed new alternator last year.

    needed new fog light bulbs last year too.

    The battery needs to be replaced every 5ish years.
    Had the rear brake caliper bracket seize, but this is my fault for not greasing it. 
    I change the oil with Fram filters, and Quaker State full synth every 7,000 miles. 
    Does not burn/consume oil.


    TLDR:
    I'd recommend this car to anyone looking for a large CUV with low cost of entry, and fairly low/common maintenance issues. Save a few thousand just to prepare for mechanical issues, but odds are you'll not need to spend it.




     

×
×
  • Create New...