TheDJ

Hello all, I realize this thread is lod but I thought it was a good idea to reply just in case someone else still has the same no start issue, while attempting to diagnose the issue myself, this was one of the sites google took me to and experiencing this issue myself, I thought I would post my situation in hopes of helping someone in the bear future. My problem started after work, I had my car sitting on my driveway for 5 days without moving at all, I turned it on after the 5 days and everything worked fine, got to work and when it was time to go home it would not start, I just got 1 click when trying to start it with the button (it is a button start not a key) and a bunch of clicks when trying to start with the remote start. I had it towed to auto zone, I was thinking it may be the battery or the starter, autozone tested the alternator and the battery, nothing there, battery did end up being replaced under warranty though because it was leaking, even with a new battery no start. I had journey towed to a shop for a warranty repair (purchased carmax extended warranty when I purchased journey, more on that later). Got a call from the shop saying "we replaced the starter but it's still not starting", they were possitive it was an issue with the trannsmission (tranny had been rebuilt about 4 months prior to this issue). They could not find the issue and had to call someone in from another shop I am guessing and the following day I got the call I had been waiting for... It was the grounding issue for me, they hooked up a battery cable from the ground terminal of the battery down to the bracket that holds the starter, they hooked that end to the ground screw that goes into the bracket and into the starter. Has been starting like a dream ever since. The really crazy part is that I had ran across a few threads on the internet and even a video on youtube telling me that was a commin issue with the journey but I refused to beleive that being a newer model journey then the ones on this thread, I refused to beleive it was STILL an issue all these years later, how could dodge still not recall them for this, I will be searching for someone to contact in regards to this, someone who has oversight over them because this is unnaceptable. There are many people on many forums having this same exact issue, from what I have seen, there are tons of people saying they have reported the issue to dodge but "they don't have enough reports of it to issue a recall", come one people, dodge is the last entity you contact to report this as an issue that needs to be recalled. They lose millions any time a recall is issued, of coyrse they are going to avoid doing so and they will always make it seem like it's not a big issue and not a lot of people are experiencing it, I think NTHSA or something like that is where you report this to. Anywho, it was repaired for free for me because I purchased the extended warranty when purchasing the vehicle from carmax, many people seem to have bad experiences but I am curious as to how many others are having a good experience, most people will only ever take the time to share their experience when it is a negative one but won't ever do it when it's a possitive one. I for one have had 3 repairs done and all have been great, the door blender actuator went out, they repaured it with no issues, the transmission went out and needed to be rebuilt, they paid approx $5,000 to repair it and provided a rental for 7 days while my car was in the shop for that... now this, it was just over $700 in repairs and they covered all of it. I have no idea how I would have paid for any of the 2 repairs, I could have done the air actuator myself but the tranny and the starter would have put my car on ice for an extended period of time, especially the tranny. I paid about $1,400 for the warranty but they have covered about $6,000 so far plus 7 day rentals any time my car is in for a few days. You always hope you never need them if you do not buy them but when you do buy it is when you just want to kiss your brain for making such a good choice. Just my 2 cents.