John/Horace

There are five or six brands of aftermarket vacuum pumps for the V6s. Must be demand there. Even the 4 has one aftermarket version, and it's out of stock. Pic is V6. Also a few check valves and sensors on power brake set up. If you aren't topping up fluid then probably vacuum issue some where. Not an obd11 scan able code, bi directional can bus high end scanner.

Daughter in laws 2012 with 2.4 that I have worked on for 6 yrs and have done brake work on has never had this issue. Just swapped a rear caliper last week that was dragging, prefill first, gravity bleed, then pedal pressure through short clear hose piece. Never any pedal issues on this vehicle. Wife's 3.6 on the other hand had this issue @100k miles. Both rear calipers were partly seizing after parking brake use, right after an early rotor/pad change. Previous owner used anti seize on all brake rubber, starting brake issues. Could free up for a month, but pedal sinking etc. Finally two reman calipers fixed pedal issue, although one caliper needed a stronger spring added for normal parking brake function. New calipers are better than reman ! Not always easy to notice a partly messed up caliper. They can trap air, and high temp makes sticking worse. Older starting to seize rear calipers are really tough to retract with spinning. New ones can almost retract with bare hand no tool. Cleaning off all dirt and adding very thin film of sylglide on extended caliper pistons before retracting extends caliper life imo. But no body has the time.

Most likely wire harness issue. Was it an aftermarket new pump and solenoid. Pinout diagrams and electrical trouble shooting skills needed.

Wow that’s going down the rabbit hole on a car repair. The kind of thing that takes vehicles older off the road some times. Unibody car design created some of these nightmare captured nut problems. Lighter weight and easier to mass assemble…but repair skills needed can be on a whole other level. Nice work!

And early year Journeys lhad HOAT glycol, which when mixed with OAT used since I think 2013 can create gel in system. People like to go to regular propylene glycol conversion. My 2015 Ram owners manual clearly states to not do this, stay with OAT fluid. Just dumped mine after 10 yrs, no scale or issues. New OAT fluid only has a 5 yr rating now. I imagine Journey is similar rules.

Caliper pins top to bottom are often different, so remove one at a time. Wipe away old contaminated sylglide brake grease, then a very thin film of new grease on entire pin. Try not to trap air when pin is slid in place. Too much grease can have hydraulic affect, make pins not seat properly. Should float slightly from bottom position when pressed with finger. Purple is a full synthetic grease, so fine, no oil based anti seize compound's on rubber. Makes them swell, break down. New stainless clips have to contour to shape of bracket holder. First pad install trial can be very tight. Try it few times to help new clips shape themselves. File or grind a bit as needed after trial install. No tool or major force should be needed to fit pads after tweaking. As they wear they need to be able to creep inwards along clip holder bracket evenly.

Should be fine. As long as pad is sitting square and not riding on the stainless guide clips. I have broken off wear squealer tap and swapped pads back to front on a Journey with no issues. Pads were wearing unevenly from a stuck guide pin. Didn’t have new set of pads on hand and swapping around helped even things out slightly. Drove another 20k miles before installing better new pads. Squeal clip could have stayed in place, broke it off out of caution. Important detail on installing new pads is making sure it’s an easy slide in fit on holder bracket. Often a file or grinder is needed to remove 20-30 thou of metal off the ends. Too tight accelerates wear a bit. Dabs of sylglide brake grease on the now exposed metal ends also helpful.

Yeah, thanks for the best wishes. Lots of turkey and pumpkin pie, grand maniacs stayed over for the weekend. I’m not much of a football fan, nfl or cfl. There is normally a cfl double header on the weekend. Playoff Grey Cup is Nov 25 this year. Snow blowing the field is a common thing. Probably more nfl fans in Canada then cfl. Better quality product using the big revenue. Last few super bowls have been great games. Tons of long time Bills fans on this side of the border.

There is a separate manifold on side of engine that has its own thermostat for the cabin heat. On the 2.4 most leaks are from one of the seals on this assembly. I don’t work for these guys, best jpeg pics. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,2017,journey,2.4l+l4,3434427,cooling+system,thermostat+housing+/+water+outlet,10337

That's a 5yr old link, member long gone. If you can get access to a smoke machine they are great for finding intake leaks. Swap all the seals first, then smoke test if codes come up.

Could add a separate manual on/off switch in the side of the plastic console. There is probably already key switched power there beside the inverter. Radio Display using can bus energizes a relay in the main fuse panel. Wiring diagram would show where relay is located. Best way would be to manually switch the existing relay; so it takes the surge. And if manual switch is left on, turning off car drops power.

Flushing is needed for sure if there are flakes of scale in the main dump of glycol. The only issue with flushing is the 1-2 quarts of old trapped glycol is displaced by distilled water now. So if you use 50\50 premix it's harder to get a good freeze point. But your not worried about that being in the south. I just dumped 10 yr old original glycol in my ram hemi with around 90k miles. It was clean without visible scale, used low compressed air and pushed out an extra quart. No flush, just new glycol afterwards; removed reservoir and really cleaned it well. You dump it because the corrosion additives wear out and the mix becomes acidic with low pH, less than 7, attacks aluminum. I stick with the same factory OAT glycol, so flushing not essential. If changing type of glycol then you have to do distilled water flush, not optional.

No. Not in my experience.

Arrrg under dash, work I get sore thinking about it. Haven’t messed with journey bluetooth modules yet, fingers crossed. I would first pair a phone on the off chance it has some effect. Same exact part number on module stickers? Power cycle with battery unhooked a bit, another random try thing. Should really just be a plug and play install. If known working module from rest of your fleet swaps in with no issue…wrecker unit defective I guess. Unless different model year bluetooth modules have firmware compatibility issues (Uncle SamAutos could answer that). Havent found a wrecker journey with a Bluetooth module still in place under steering column, has to be the first thing pulled. We don’t really have to wonder why.

Some of these sensors only have 6 volts controlling them. Any slightly green metal connections or plugs not seated well can drop voltage. I wonder what a bi directional scanner would turn up for sensors/wire harness. Something weird with the angle measurement. Dealer didn’t do much for their money, looking for easy way out. An hour and it acts up, after full heat cycle. Could be OCV like 5 rebel9 mentioned, there are fine screens inside that could sludge up (bi directional might show something). Another possibility is the crank position sensor, they can fail intermittently from heat/vibration and don’t always store code. A wear item by 100k ish. Works closely with cam sensors. Fairly cheap and easy to change, use NTK or dealer oem part. Its not parts cannon territory if a $35 wear item that can strand you. Mopar Canada Online beats dealer prices.

A better antenna might help radio signal. Those pretty shark fin things imo are a compromise. But routing new cable to back hatch would be hellish. Go old school with a front fender mount set up.

Year of vehicle, engine size, miles/kms, Any recent maintenance work. How old is battery.

Alternator if the internal diodes are bad. Multimeter will show it. Big lead from alt has a built in fusible link and runs to positive terminal of battery. Isolate alternator.

Hey dodgejourneygirl if you don't have blue tooth in vehicle, cve Canadian value edition did not, forget about looking at fuse for HFM module. Worry about clicking in dash if your defrost not working, otherwise ignore it. Outside vent is cycled by car for about two mins to dump moisture, normal. Possible alternator issue, like mentioned... is something to explore. Need 14 ish volts going to battery with lots of options turned on. Have someone test with multi meter etc. Bad grounds that need cleaning up another thing to look at, you are in the rust belt and age of car becomes a problem. Electrical specialist over mechanic if you can afford it.

When battery gets low from a parasitic draw over night, lots of strange symptoms turn up. After disabling glove box light, if battery still going flat. Check passenger side kick panel fuse panel for a hands free module HFM fuse, pull it out temporarily, 10 amp red I think. Most common parasitic draw on Journey is the blue tooth module not shutting off with the ignition. There are companies that rebuild them, or auto wrecker good source for used one.

Auto parts recyclers are often linked on LKQ web site. Good option for interior parts. Color match sometimes an issue. My only concern with cam sensor change is, did dealer properly diagnose problem. Was the 3.5 looked after with regular oil changes. If cam shaft metal lobes worn from dirty oil/high milage, the cam sensor is only reporting what it sees. Could be bigger problem. Hope Im wrong. When was timing belt changed, recently ?

Wow 53k on a 2015, probably a record for the site. Driving that little, I would always run premium high test fuel. The additives help fuel from going crappy and might help the power/roughness you see on occasion. Base regular fuel ages out really fast now. Lots of things affect car reliability beyond just pure milage numbers. In door storage on concrete, versus humidity direct sun. I would always do an oil change every 12 months, short driving is the hardest on engine oil quality. Lots of rubber items age more from uv light, time, temperature, vibration, than just odometer number. I like the idea of staying out ahead of maint on vehicle's, towing is expensive and break downs can be stressful. Glycol ages out after 10 yrs max, dump and fill would even work fine. Coolant gets corrosive when additives age out. CPS crank position sensors are a $25 dealer part that can cause stalling, no starts. On two wheel drive journey only 15 min install, heat and vibration take them out, I normally change by 100k on all cars. Transmission oil change with out flush is always a good investment, even at low miles, years matter too. The two upstream 02 sensors control fuel trim (big milage influence), if super not helping milage new NTK which make OEM unit are good. Payback poor for $s in. Factory platinum spark plugs are 100k milage range item, if getting bad, codes often turn up. Coils can fail before plugs. Should check car for codes even now, see what shows up, regardless of no dash light on. At your driving rate you might be the last person left on this forum...mmm.

Take it back to whomever did the head gasket a few months ago, see what they say. Might be some warranty. Is this the 2.4 or the 3.6 engine. Approx how many miles on vehicle. Not all leaks are external, some leak internally. Glycol coolant into engine oil. What does engine oil on dipstick look like. Post a pic if possible.

The end links can be removed at either end of bar. Sway bar only helps with weight transfer and slightly helps handling. So car can driven with end links removed. If noise gone then either bushings on bar brackets are gone or one or both end links are clunking. Ends links rust in a bit, penetrating oil and vice grips useful.

My guess will be a bad lower ball joint. People have had them fail as early as 50k miles. Labor cost is more than the part, but a cheaper fix than a pair of unneeded struts. I went through two passenger ball joints before ever doing the driver side, kinda odd.