John/Horace

I have also posted here about NTK sensors working well with Journey. Along with a pic of the oem and NTK sensors side by side. They are identical right down to stamping marks on sheet metal housing, markings on plug. Hyundai also uses NTK as their oem o2 sensors, I had 200k miles on these sensors before. Journey also uses Denso alternators; another much above ave parts company IMO.

Great write up, terrific first posting here. Approx how many miles were on vehicle, just curious. Thanks.

Dorman makes a dip stick kit for measuring, has a chart and measurements, if you can’t find bolt that shows level. Let the atv dry overnight before before filling and driving. Torque wrench for inch pound tightening pan bolts, they don’t have to go very tight.

My elderly aunt was stuck in an unplowed parking lot and kept trying to spin her way out. She toasted transmission on her expensive in warranty Park Avenue, dealer said too bad so sad, same as insurance company. Her son in law decided to talk to ombudsmen of insurance company, she had multiple policies with this same company, very good customer. They decided they wanted to keep 25 yr customer with multiple policies. Car was covered...with arm twisting. It wasn’t cheap repair.

I wonder as a fire of sorts, if comprehensive coverage of insurance would cover this damage. Might be worth investigating if cost gets high enough. Unexplained fires should also be reported to NHTSA national Hiway traffic safety administration, feds keep track for recall campaigns etc.

Some times it’s nice to save money at Jimbo’s auto repair, and lots of small shops are excellant. But after all the musical parts you may need to pay for dealer trained guys to look at it. Tell them only doctors and lawyers are allowed to practise, mechanics have to know what they are doing. Firm diagnostic no more guessing. Lots of good suggestions from the OP’s. I’ll add crank position sensor as my first choice wag.

I’ve never had good luck with Canadian Tire batteries, not sure who makes them. Johnson Controls and Allied Signal are the big guys who make a lot of OEM and who make Costco Captain Kirk batteries and Wallymart Everstart. They are decent from my experience, and better priced.

Now is time to test alternator capacity to see if it’s is getting weak. Batteries last more than 12 months. I just changed my alternator at 160k kms this summer. With car running with most stuff turned off should be 13.3-14.1 at remote terminals under hood. Now turn on heated seats, radio, heater fan to full speed, might dip a little. Should still be over 13. Scratch the point of meter probes to get real good contact for readings; it does read about 0.3 volts lower at remote contacts under hood compared to right on battery terminals.

Thermostats are a wear item that constantly opens and closes mechanically. But 2017 is pretty new vehicle, it would have to have a lot of miles to be causing an issue I think.

Unfortunely you should probably go right back in there and make sure the plugs are torqued properly. Did you use a torque wrench to install them? I have seen the platinum tip fall off a new plug after a few days before; but it caused a cyclinder misfire code only. The tiny point was fired out the exhaust valve and never damaged any thing. A loose plug however will rattle and rapidly damage threads. You don’t want to have to install a heli coil to fix a damaged thread after driving a week. My 2 cents, free advice worth everything you pay for it.

We had a poster on here a few months ago with a awd 3.6 cps problem. He never really told us the final outcome. Ome of his last posts said he was told it is tucked in behind the RDU transfer case behind transmission. So drive shaft has to be dropped down and rdu unbolted and removed. So lots of labor to get at it, which sounds like what your dealer is quoting you. When they quoted repair wouldn’t they answer what the labor cost entailed ? If you find the answer please report back. Someone with a Mitchel Auto repair on line login would be able to look it up.

WAG power steering cooler. Here are oil cooler pics from rock. Oil filter adapter is incorporated with this. If steering reservoir is getting low you have your answer.

Timing cover for ground maybe not great. Engine mount isolates engine from body which is ground. The braided jumper is like an auxiliary ground. Maybe drill small hole on the beefy part of mount and put a stainless screw with dielectric grease on connections. Strut tower also good for grounds if paint ground down and grease used. Multiple miss fire is often air intake type leak. Could be gasket issue. Misfire wouldn’t cause dash light flicker. Usually thats bad connections, ground or power can do. If it would be alternator, meter would show voltage jumping around. My 2 cents.

Stressful times with a car off line, I’ve been there before. The seal leak stuff is suppose to rejuvenate the rubber seals to make them seal better, probably swell slightly. Can’t reduce oil flow or engine gets damaged. Replacing seals like you are doing is only real way to fix permanently. Maybe consider new timing belt if you have everything apart already. It’s $’s but if it breaks the motor is usually wrecked on interference engines. Knock issues makes it tricky decision for more investment. Paint marking belt and cam and crank teeth before removal is a good double check for keeping timing, some experienced mechanics do it.

Timing very tricky on double cams engines if you haven’t done it before. Put it back together. Rear main seal , the passenger side bigger leak needs tranny removal which is not a typical diy job. Motor was not maintained and has major issues. Sucks. Could try snake oil leak sealer for now see if it slows it down.

It’s snake oil but ... https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiuubTSl67sAhVjuVkKHd04CWkQFjAWegQIBhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fautomobileremedy.com%2Fmaintenance%2Fbest-head-gasket-sealer-product-reviews%2F&usg=AOvVaw3bmabUrACZw5vxZIOOjlzG

When crankshaft main bearings get too much clearance they get extra movement or travel in a side to side direction. This is called run out and can be measured with special tools. There is a spec, but when it gets excessive it starts to make seals leak. If you use a pry bar on the crankshaft pulley there should be almost no horizontal or in and out movement detected. There are two main seals, a front behind crank pulley and rear that needs to be changed with transmission removed.

Switch to heavier oil like 10w40 or 10w50 if needed, temporarily. Crank are always standard right hand thread. So righty tightly lefty loose. Sometimes there is a plastic plug in the sheet metal that pops out so an extension and socket on impact can be used. Or plastic shields remove and motor mount removed with engine supported and lowered a few inches for access.

KYB are a Japanese company, very good products. Have used them on Hyundai I had with great results. I have a cheapo compressor tool. Loaner tools are often heavy duty stuff...which is good.

Not a crazy job usually. Cost is mainly labor, part $10 ish. If engine has a knock then crank has an issue with too much run out. Seal change is a band aid and will leak again probably. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,2009,journey,3.5l+v6,1442283,engine,crankshaft+seal,5604

Front main seal behind crank pulley correct. Sometimes black light die added to eng oil for leak location. Haven’t changed one on a 3.5 dodge, but have changed on other engines. Remove surpentine belt and plastic fender liner for front eng access. Impact gun to remove crank pulley bolt, often very tight, like 180 pounds. Pulley usually walks off without puller, just light tapping, there will be a straight key that needs attention. Lip seal removing tool or large screw driver is used to pop out old seal, need to avoid scratching sealing surface during process. There are lip seal installing kits for new seal. Often a large socket can be used to tap in new seal, lube lightly with oil. Also lube contact surface on inner seal before reinstalling crank pulley and key way. Clean area where seal was with Scotchbrite before starting new seal install. Torque wrench for crank bolt, wedge pipe etc into pulley spokes against block to allow tightening (or chain strap wrench with hose to protect outer pulley groves from damage).

Glad you found a way. Curious what brand of piston/shock did you use as replacement? We’re old units original? Harbour Freight brand strut compressor or better brand?

Bleed screw is made of plastic, it’s in housing right beside thermostat. Loosen and coolant should squirt out. Don’t over tighten it’s plastic screw in plastic housing. A bad cap could be allowing air back in system like 5rebel9:mentioned, so bleed after new cap worth trying.

Welcome to forum. If gauge shows overheating and it’s not it could be the temp sensor. Isn there a numeric reading in cluster and a convention analogue arrow. Are they both showing high. If there was gunk floating around system it’s possible newish thermostat is plugged up again, they are cheap and not hard to replace.

Always start out with scanning for codes first. Several sensors like map etc can cause bad idle and stalling.