alye

Am the (relatively) satisfied owner of a 3 yo Dodge Journey, bought new and have now reached 90000 km after those 3 years. Everyone has been asking me if I am going to change cars now that this one is 3 yo, but I have been saying no, this one's a "keeper". But now I'm not so sure any more. I have the 2.7 litre V6 Flex Fuel motor and run it almost exclusively on E85 - in the 90000 km I have driven I have filled it with 95 octane lead free petrol maybe 10 times, the rest of the time it has been E85. I was heading home on the freeway about a month ago and the engine started boiling, I stopped on the verge, turned off and then restarted the car and the temperature dropped back to normal. I drove on and stopped at the next rest stop (a couple of km down the road) and checked the water level - filled it with water and took the car in to the dealer the next day. The car had been in for it's latest service just a month earlier, so all the fluid levels should have been checked and topped up, and there was no evidence of any leaks (oil or water) on the driveway at home or at work. The dealer called back the same day, said the head gasket had blown and that was where the water was leaking from. They would have to replace it and lathe the head. They also had to replace 24 valve seals, the oil filter, the thermostat and all 6 spark plugs. Anyone else experience anything like this? Is this going to happen every 90000 km? What would cause this kind of damage? Can it be related to the use of E85? This time the insurance covered most of it, including a rental for me while the dealer had my car, but the insurance only covers engine failures up to 100000 km and I'm almost there now. Next time I will have to pay myself.

I had the same problem on my 2008 Dodge Journey, the dealer changed radios a couple of times without effect. However in the end (after about a year, software updates, new hardware, etc.) I got a radio without the problem. The volume on the radio is way down, I have to have it up to 10 when standing still and to about 18 on the highway to hear anything, but apart from that it works OK. And there was no way I was going to complain about the low volume and get the old problem back again... But I will talk to the dealer when the software fix comes in, and get my unit updated when that comes through!

I've got the R/T, but I imagine the connector is in the same spot. Almost directly under the steering wheel, right behind the dash and in line with the edge of the dash. Easy to access both from driver's seat and from outside the car on the driver's side.

Since I last answered I have had a lot of trouble with my Journey and the engine light. After having the car in for service, where they reset the engine light, I would drive a while and it came back on again (and I wait long enough before putting the car in gear). I went past the dealer again, they reset it, and I tried again. At the same time the engine was registering a lot of misfires. I did this a few times, changed from using E85 to petrol and tried it for a few more tanks (at the dealer's suggestion). In all cases the engine light comes on within 50-250 kilometers (30-150 miles) of the dealer resetting it, At the same time - the fuel consumption goes to hell, when the engine light comes on fuel consumption immediately worsens by 20%. And this applies both when running on E85 and when running on petrol, so it doesn't seem to be related to the fuel. This week the dealer is replacing the catalytic converter and lambda probe to see if that is where the problem is. About my wife's Ford Focus - when she was in to have the engine light reset the dealer asked what fuel she was using and she replied E85. The dealer then said the light could only be reset when running on petrol - what a mess! So she has had to run a couple of tanks of petrol, and will go back next week to reset the light. Thank god they don't have restrictions like that with my Dodge!

The dealer had a hard time understanding what the problem was - I had to take him through it step by step on the phone. Then when I picked up the car they said they had found a fix online for the problem (wouldn't say what it was). That would seem to indicate that it is a common problem. Lock seems to work now, will see if it lasts. No charge.

Have had a problem with my 15 mo, 40000k Dodge Journey. Noticed a few weeks ago that when I had locked it using the keyless remote, the button on the driver door didn't quite go down all the way. When I tried the handle, lo and behold the door opened. I tried locking and unlocking several times in a row, sometimes the button went almost all the way down and the door seemed locked, but when I jerked on the handle 3-4 times in succession the button travelled up and the door opened. Have had to resort to locking the driver door manually with the key, luckily it is the only door playing up (so far). I've got it at the dealer's now, hope they don't charge me. Would think that the door locks should last a little longer than 40000k and 15 months. Anyone else getting this?

The engine light coming on happens to me often, maybe once every few months. I have the 2.7L V6, and run it on E85. I've had the car 15 months and travelled 40000K so far. According to the manual the light comes on when there is a problem in the fuel quality (light steady, not flashing - which means something else). According to the dealer I should just keep driving, and after 10 or so trips it will reset itself. Which it always has so far. Here they change the mixture of petrol and ethanol in E85 wintertime (to make it easier to start the cars). It is actually only E75 wintertime (25% petrol). I have noticed that the light comes on when they change the ratios spring and autumn. And just last week the same light came on for the first time on my wife's 4½ year old Ford Focus Flexifuel, which we also run exclusively on E85. The Ford dealer said we should take the car in to have it reprogrammed. That doesn't sound terribly dangerous, so we're waiting the 10 trips to see if it also resets itself.