NavalLacrosse

I did the alternator myself. Went with a rebuilt one from autozone. Probably should have done as you said, and gotten the Denso Remanufactured unit. Took about 30 minutes to get the belt off, the bolts off, the hose disconnected, and wiring harness off... then 1 hr to ''birth' the alternator out of the engine from the top. and 3 hours to reinstall. Wow slippery tools are the worst. the belt alone (replaced at the same time) was about an hour's worth of massaging the larger idler pully, and another hour was wasted with the engine-side radiator hose clamp- my vice grip was a hair too small to open it wide enough to get it over the plastic nipple.

You'll need to get an extractor program to convert .rar to useable files. Are you familiar with a .zip folder? .rar is very similar to .zip .rar is a file-compression protocol designed by a russian programmer (don't let that scare you, it's legit, and safe). [.rar] is a bit more complex an encryption than .zip, and takes more effort to decompress than .zip, which also makes it's contents unsearchable. is often the preferred encryption method for sending... let's just say... proprietary, 'but without permission', data over the internet. usually, textbooks for university students, bootleg software which people don't want to pay for, or in this case a firmware for a car that should be only available at the dealership. You can download a trustworthy .rar converter from cnet, then use it to extract the contents of the .rar

Sell it to the next person, and when they ask about the spiderwebs.... tell them "It's a feature"

I did not charge the old battery- but I did check the alternator after the new battery was installed, and it appears to be an alternator issues. I don't think the old battery survived the discharge onslaught I put it through (drove 40 minutes home from camping without the alternator, among other things) testing the old battery after i removed it shows a 0.4v charge. dead as a doorknob. The car did not run without the lithium jump pack attached.

(posted earlier to the wrong thread!) I ultimamently did not use my original setup due to safety concerns. The extended next effectively doubled (2.5x) the tongue weight of the camper, and not only did it cause stability issues but reduced steering substantially. I removed the dual adapter and extender and moved the bike rack to the camper's tongue via a sideways mounted 2" receiver bolt on for an RV rear bumper. This solved every issue. I did not even feel the trailer unless I was stopping (in which case the distance was Notably longer) Final recommendation, don't use a neck extension at all on the dodge journey for Towing at speed. It might not have been a real issue, but I didn't want one small swerve on the highway flip the dodge due to my idiotic stubbornness to use the hitch I bought. Thanks

Just realized I posted on someone elses thread! opps!

A good read. Thanks !

Spiders. Enough said. I'm getting many spiders all over the car while it parked for a couple days (usually a week at a time). my current strategy is wait till just after dusk, when the spiders come out, use a broom to knock them to the ground, then step on them. Let's just say it's a strategy which no spider can avoid, and even a scaredy-cat like me can stomach. It seems i'm able to keep them at bay (originally there was 12 'false widows', now there is only one (or less)) Jokes aside: Does anyone know of any products or repellent to rid the car of spiders? I've heard using pesticide is the WORST as it dissolves clearcoat. There are chlorine bombs. Has anyone used one? There are also home remedies, like citrus water to spray into trouble areas (like the mirror, and wheel wells). This seams more like a pseudo-solution, just to make 'arachnophobic car owners' seem like there are less spiders. Anyone tried it? TL;DR- Has anyone had any success with anti-spider products and their DJ?

So- I changed the battery (the current one is at 0.1 volts. Oof!) And- I get 14+ volts for the first 10 seconds after ignition, but then the car enters battery saver mode, and the volts go to 11.4v 89% sure the alternator is kaput. side note; FCA! Why did you literally make the alternator the easiest thing in the world to change (3x13mm bolts) but then stick the darn thing under the radiator hose!!!

I ultimamently did not use the pictured above setup due to safety concerns. The extended next effectively doubled (2.5x) the tounge weight of the camper, and not only did it cause stability issues but reduced steering substantially. I removed the dual adapter and extendor and moved the bike rack to the camper's tounge via a sideways mounted 2" receiver bolt on for an RV rear bumper. This solved every issue. I did not even feel the trailer unless I was stopping (in which case the distance was Notibly longer) Final recommendation, don't use a neck extension at all on the dodge journey for Towing at speed. It might not have been a real issue, but I didn't want one small swerve on the highway flip the dodge due to my idiotic stubborness to use the hitch I bought. Thanks

The difference between this and the last few times it happened is: The first time the issue surprises me when it's -30f and i'm at the Detroit Airport parking lot. The second time happened 3 months later when the Walmart Battery I bought took a sh*t. this third time the battery has been down for 1yr 11months. The first two times, both of the other times the car was running, then the next day it was dead. The shops' said the alternator was fine, but the battery crapped out. This time, I'm thinking it might be alternator- As i actually saw the car go from alive to dead over the period of 40 minutes. I'm at 89kmiles, so I might be due for an alternator. And because I let it run all the way down, the battery is shot regardless of it was the cause or not. As far as the trailer wiring being at fault... MAYBE... Although there is fuses to prevent shorts. I've driven 1 hr around town with the trailer in tow. then, I dove 1 hr to get to the campsite, and the last 30 minutes of the return was when the problems happened... Not sure if the wires got melted on something in the meanwhile, but the brake lights still work on the camper. We'll see if the issue persists.

This is the THIRD time in 4 years this has happened, so I'm considering it routine maintenance at this point. Driving home- while towing my little camper. Battery light: 5 minutes - Radio turns off- but everything is working. 5 minutes - Airbag light 5 minutes - All lights on, then all lights off. (BRAKE, TPMS, SEATBELT, ect) 5 minutes - Center radio goes black 1 minutes - BRAKE light pulses every ten seconds, when it does the Speedo drops to zero. 1 minute later - "-40" outside temp. transmission is now it safety mode. 2nd gear locked, Pull into the driveway and the engine is surging/dying I turn it off before it dies. will not start. no locks, 'low fob battery, wipers start going unprompted, all exterior lights flickering. Hypothesis: Dead/dying Battery need replacement. Proposed Solution: Remove LH wheel, Wheel Liner, battery 'strap' (15 zip ties), disconnect the thermal circuit, replace battery, and put it all back together. Will report back in a few days if simply changing the battery solves the issue. I'm a BIG advocate of telling all the new DJ owners out there, if you start having hella awful electrical gremlins, just change the battery. Time to put my money where my mouth is!

welcome! The non-nav to nav upgrade can be a pricey one. Typically the two routes are the plug and play route ($3k) or the salvage route (nearly impossible to pull off successfully <$500? + Infinite headaches) Enjoy your new car!

A blast from the past:

the V6 FWD was available in earlier models nearer to 2011. It shares the drivetrain of the 3.6 Caravan. AWD models was offered or standard on most GT and Mid-upper trim models. These trims are the most popular, and probably why you can't find FWD V6 nowadays as the AWD is the Defacto setup. In 2011 The DJ Mainstreet and CREW trims had options for FWD and AWD V6's. Most people took the AWD option, and the R/T and the LUX both came standard with V6 AWD. I don't know when (or if) they stopped selling the V6 FWD models, but I can see why. the AWD feels better to drive to drive on all surfaces, and doesn't torque steel as badly. It makes sense they are so popular.

Towing setup: Tractor: 2011 Dodge Journey 6V Crew - FWD Trailer: 2004 Aliner Alite 400 - Empty weight 475lb, max weight 1,000lbs, tongue weight 80 empty, - 200 lbs max. Bike Rack: Walmart Special: $69 (nice) dollars. Two bikes, totaling under 80lbs. Dual Hitch Adapter: Amazon $39 dual 2" Hitch Adapter. Wiring: Curt Wiring Adapter for Journey w/ LED tail lights. (bought on amazon, fullfilled by etrailer, made by CURT, cost less, and faster shipping) Comments: It works, It could be better, it could be safer. The Good: It all works, and this configuration keeps my fuel economy basically the same for high speed driving. Now is: 14 city, 23+ hwy Great visibility Journey can easily low 1000 lbs of junk without needing to much forethought into braking distance and longer acceleration times. The Bad: The tongue weight of the Dodge is rated to 400 lbs(?)... I like to consider that term as a interpretable value, as it does not account for hitch torsion: my tougue weight is less that 280lbs, but it's 10" greater distance with my extendor, meaning my hitch torsion is nearer to 400ft-lbs, which is the same as loaded to the max capacity with a standard hitch. Torsion bar would fix this, but really- I'm not going to do it for a 500lbs camper. The added hitch length makes a noticeable difference as far as handling is concerned. without the extender, the trailer loves to play nice. With the extender, it likes to sway. It's still stable at highway speed, but 1) you can tell the steering is lighter (because of the tongue weight) and 2) the added length of the hitch mucks with the harmonics(*) and stability; It settles on its own, but don't expect it to have a '1 overshoot correction', for my stability experts out there. It'll 'overshoot twice before correcting'. Fine, and safe, but a little weird when the steering is light. probably will be an issue in snow or slick roads. remind me to keep it slow, if it starts raining! The Ugly: The bike rack hangs between the trailer and the car. You can see in one image, my tightest able of turn leaves me only 2" before the camper's front wall. caution must be used while turning, especially in reverse. My setup necessitates removing the bike rack before coupling the trailer. This was something I tried to avoid when selecting parts, but it was unavoidable. Recommendations to others: Put the bikes on the trailer's neck. This will improve the trailer's sway considerably (especially if the bikes account for 10% of the camper's weight). This would eliminate the need for a wacky dual hitch adapter that I have, and would ultimately improve overall safety and handling. Put the bikes on the trailer's neck (again). This will allow you to couple and decouple without as much headache. CURT's Wiring Harness for Journey w/ LED tail lights is a must have.

If you're looking for performanc pointers, check out the Charger and Challanger fourums. Those crazy folks love to eek more power from their 3.6's

Glad you're liking it. You share my positive opinions. I feel your pain about it not storing as much as the minivan. (The load floor is too dang high, and the hatch surround is too darn low!) Hope your kid likes it.

WELCOME! I've got the 2011 Crew No issues on my, although i've only got some 90k miles. The 2011's are known to eat brake pads and rotors. about every 30-50k miles you'll want to get them checked. The PentaStar 3.6 from 2011 had the intake gasket issue, but with as high miles as yours it's probably a non-issue. If you start blowing smoke, it might be the LH intake gasket failure. if there are any electrical gremlins, it's probably the battery starting to fail. (ex: if the radio volume starts to not respond proper, the wipers turn on randomly, or the fob detector says "Low fob battery" even after you change it" it might be time to change the battery (it's in the wheel well)) Welcome to the cult.

I haven't, and am very unaware if anyone else who has... but no judging here; my previous car to this was an '04 caravan which I swapped the wing spoiler from an '01 caravan to make it more sporty. The Spoiler is pretty good look/function from the factory IMO, and if i recall it's molded into the plastic of the hatch as a single unit making removal and replacement very difficult. What mods did you have in mind? Thinking of going open- air wing? or make a slatted spoiler? Whatever you do, make sure you watch for when the hatch is open, the antena is Really close!

Sorry for the word soup from my previous post. I re-typed it to make at more 'sensible': I have a Journey, and bought the VOLT as the second car; ultimately the Journey is parked 90% of the time, and me and the wife prefer the VOLT. I'm going to start towing a trailer, so the Journey has just got its second-wind as a tractor for my 1,000lb camper. - AFTER the Journey, I'll replace it with either a 2021 TrailBlazer, or a 2020 Blazer (if I do keep towing). I"m also considering a pre-owned $16k BOLT as I can use the BOLT as my daily runabout and the VOLT as my touring car.

After the Dodge, I got a VOLT as my second car, and it quickly became my primary. EV is the way of the future, if your able to make it work I highly recommend it. I have a 7 mile commute to work, so the Volt's 40 mile EV city range gets me around town for a day's worth of driving using only my employer's chargers. the Range extender takes care of those long hauls With the volt as a second car, I think I'll replace it with a GM product (provided I'm still working with GM when I make that choice) Perhaps a TrailBlazer.. or a Blazer if I decide to tow. I've also considered a pre-owned BOLT as the journey replacement as I've already got a taste of EV and i'm drunk on it. Having the BOLT as my runabout, and the VOLT as my touring car is the ideal situation.

Chevy Volt Update: 6 months of ownership: The Volt has become me and my wife's primary car. The fuel savings are too tantalizing. When I charge at home it costs $1.40 usd for 40 miles of range- but my work provides free charging so I only charge it at home on the weekends 1 or two times a week. I've put 6k miles on by Volt in 6 months, and 1k miles on dodge Journey. What's good: (with at work charging) it's essentially free travel. The hybrid gas mode gives me 38mpg at 80mph and a 300 mile combined range with it's 8 gal fuel tank on premium gas. SMOOTH. in every mode, there are no shift points. Acceleration is glossy! fast by 2013 normal car standards between 10 and 45 mph. Rear hatch is nice. very roomy for a sedan. drop the seats flat and you've got loads of storage. for just shy of 100k miles, there is no degradation on battery. What's bad: blind spots. Mine doesn't have rear camera or side radar... resulting in me double checking my blind spots more frequently that the DJ. in winter, the heater consumes 25% of the EV range. There are tricks to get around this (run the Generator to get engine heat), but it means I can't do a full day's grocery getting on EV only while in the winter. rear seats are a bit cramped, but not an issue if you never have rear passengers. brakes are jerky. You get used to them, but the volt's miracle of engineering hybrid regenerative brakes/throttle/Electro-mech-brakes/abs controller/traction control can be a little weird in certain stopping conditions. What's Quirky: It CAN run on regular. but, don't bother. you'll get 25% less economy which when you mathematically back out the cost savings: You're paying the same dolar per mpg with regular and with premium. Might as well use premium to gain the benefits of longer lasting injectors and prevent the fuel from stagnating. at 70mph, while running gasoline mode, the clutch for the re-gen and the gas-gen will engage, creating a direct drive from the gasoline engine to the wheels. what this means is that at 69mph ( or thereabouts) you'll get 38mph... and at 71mph you'll get 45mpg. a sneaky and smart way GM eek-ed more efficiency out of the car- ultimately sacrificing the 'It's a pure EV with a range extender' by using the range extender to actually propel the car at high speeds, gaining 25% high speed fuel economy. For my wife, she puts it in 'D' and let's the car do all the power management. It does an amazing job without any intervention of seamlessly managing the gas generator, and electric propulsion... why I love it? When I drive I can toggle modes and pretend I'm controlling the generator turning things on an off with a lot of information I can fiddle with the power modes and try and eek 1 more mile. like an old manual transmission; this car gives me something to do while driving which improves the experience over a 'put it in drive and go' experience... (which is still an option, if you so choose)

Will do! (I'm bias because I'm a GM employee...) but I'll direct you here:

After getting a second car (Chevy Volt) and basically quitting the dodge journey cold turkey due to being able to rely entirely on 40 miles of electric range per day for two people..., by wife brought up the idea of getting a really small travel trailer (think 1,000lb a-frame popup). So, I'll be lookin to get the tow on with my '11. Good to have a reason to keep the DJ around.