John/Horace

Could not of written this better myself. Most likely hatch feed bundle has broken wires. I lost the remote lock/unlock switch and high mount 3 rd brake light, ended up soldering/heat shrinking about 5 wires total. Looking at wires in the rubber flex feed harness is logical starting point. Auto wrecker probably cheapest, grab the whole trim piece with hatch handle, return spring gets rusty and start to stick with age. Switch pops out but plug needs to be accessed, so whole latch panel needs removing, or pull main inner cover. https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/wve,1S14277,tailgate+release+switch,4732

Maybe drop the oil pan and unbolt connecting rods. Could allow crank to turn again.

You should here a loud click when the latch does release from turning the plastic screw. Once it’s open you may have to deal with the wires in the rubber sleeve feeding into the top of the hatch. It’s a common issue for the wires to get bad enough to stop sending enough voltage for lock solenoid etc. The rear led hatch brake light also loses power eventually and the outside hatch lock/unlock activation button. Lots of posts on site about fixing it. Electronic solder, gun, some 14 gauge multi strand wire and heat shrink are needed.

Who did timing chain work, is it a new tensioner? Was a cam relearn procedure used ? At least the 4 cylinder is easier to work on then the 6. From google…. If the cam timing is OK, remove the phaser from the camshaft and check for a worn dowel pin/dowel pin hole. This could be beyond just a sensor problem.

Milage on car. Any recent work completed? Could be anything spinning on the engine. Remove surpentine belt and only for a min or two (water pump won’t be running) run the engine and listen for the sound. Report back. Engine stethoscope are about $10 at Princess Auto/Harbour Freight. Very good for trouble shooting noises.

Dot 3 for sure.

Milage on vehicle, any recent work done on it. AWD or two wheel drive vehicle? Parked in a garage or outside with the rodents ?

From the google….The Instrument Cluster monitors Passenger Door Lock/Unlock Switch. When the Passenger Door Lock Switch Mux circuit is below 1.5 volts or over 4.3 volts for 10 seconds, this Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) will set. Multi meter needs to be put inline on power feed to door solenoid and try switch too. If it’s showing over 4.3 I would guess the solenoid/latch mechanism is seizing or internal coil getting bad. If it’s under 1.5 at both switch and the solenoid then it could be door harness wires getting ratty from age/flexing. Try gently moving the flex boot while watching voltage. Rear hatch wires often have problems. Not that many BCM problems talked about here, could be your finding real problem now. Lots of ground issues on these vehicles, posts on cleaning up and upgrading ground wires. Behind glove box in front is a few main dash ground wires.

LKQ is the best auto recycler site. Body shops mechanics use them, stuff is tested and warranty for some items. But depending on where you are $200 might not even cover the shipping.

An auto recycler can tell you what will fit. I’m pretty sure it was the same all years as long as you have the 3.6 v6 engine. New parts will be wayyyy too expensive to fix the Journey with, people always go used. Just a used diff is probaby $400 not installed, the front ptu if it’s been neglected it’s may also need replacing, another $400 ish. The rear diff awd is engages by a power plug that feeds the signal right into the diff, if you unplug it it will probably stop clunking almost immediately. Any mechanic could do this 5 mins job. However long term you probably need the driveshaft that runs the awd removed as well. The rear diff needed to have oil in it to keep all the bearings lubricated. Switching car permanently to two wheel drive might even be best option. So the rear c/v half shafts would likely be removed too. Could sell off the removed parts for a few $’s. This way toasted diff can just stay where it is and do nothing with no oil in it. Mechanics and tranny shops will be interested in making $3,000 to fix the awd…and not make $300 disabling and removing it. But people have disabled/removed awd on these vehicles before. Probably with a permanent light on the dash afterwards.

Sign of leakage… glycol out usually means some small amount of air going back in too. If you went to an aluminum thermostat housing I assume a new thermostat was installed. The crazy priced oem thermostat is a better quality unit than some of the cheaper aftermarket ones. But mine works fine with a cheaper Gates made unit for 4 yrs now. Like 5Rebel9:is saying, rad age matters. It’s not necessarily internal blockage as much as heat transfer fins bent over and dirt bugs etc slowing air flow just enough to add a few degrees. My original rad has about 150k mikes on it now. I expect to change it soon. Our cooling fans I think are two speed units.

So you used a glycol test kit for exhaust gas contamination ? Gear clamps bite into hoses, not considered as good as the factory clamps. Squeeze clamps are designed for the max operating pressure. If they are rusted they could weaken, long shot.

I’ve never liked auto mode on our journey. Seems to have a mind if it’s own. But always running too fast, not slow. Almost like unit can’t get to set temp point so it blast’s airflow to speed up getting to set point. No rear plenum on ours so a simpler set up.

The answer is really trouble shooting to narrow it down to one problem or part. Often it’s grounds and not a power supply issue. So cleaning up as many frame grounds as possible is always a good starting point, takes a bit of time. It could even be a module like the BCM that controls multiple grounds for the wire harness. And can be a vehicle option specific part. Electrical speciality shops are often better at this than general maint mechanical places. Dealers sometimes have a person who specializes at it. Wiring schematics and knowing how to read them…is usually required. Checking for ecm codes is another important step. Free advice worth everything you pay for it.

Looks great, nice work. Trim plastic can be fragile, takes some skills not to break stuff. I sometimes practice on a u-pull wrecker car before working on a dash I’m not familiar with. Just seeing stuff apart helps a lot. Adding a hidden screw painted black for broken clips …not uncommon on flimsy trim. . Or wreckers for a $5 new piece of plastic. Curious about the shifter slide gate. Needs to move every time you use car. But not that visible really. Texture might impede slide. Are you planning on just using shiny clear coat spray, or is to minor to worry about really. Eye mainly focuses on very new looking console cover.

Lots of auto parts have the actual part # in tiny letters on the part somewhere, try cleaning it off a bit. DPF filters are sometimes cleaned and refurbished using special chemicals. Maybe something to check into.

Auto recyclers might be a good source for a blue tooth module. The chrome rims always pit from brake dust, the grey powder painted 19” rims last better. Mopar on line parts are cheaper here. https://www.moparpartscanada.ca/

No hesitation or fuel economy issue. Could have regapped used plugs but decided for new NGK single plat cheaper plug. Lots more info on BITOG site. My pics of used plugs below. Still running orig coils at 165k kms(100k miles), dash gauge fuel rating was showing 9.6/100 kms, normal. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/clarification-on-upgrading-spark-plugs.302965/

From bob is the oil guy forum, long time established internet site. Here's what NGK emailed back to me today when I asked if there was any data to support the idea that it is o.k. (or not) to use platinum or irridium plugs in a FCA vehicle that came from the factory with standard copper core/nickel electrode plugs: "Hello, Thank you for your E-mail. I do not have any data for you, but the reason I believe they used nickel spark plugs up to 2013 is they wanted to keep cost down. After enough customer complaining on service life, in 2014 they switched to an iridium spark plug. NGK has the iridium version listed as an upgrade for the OE nickel for pre-2014 models. An iridium spark plug will always be more efficient in flame propagation than a nickel spark plug. Regards, Michael Durocher, Technical and Training Specialist , NGK Spark Plugs (USA), Inc."

As you accelerate and brake these mounts are affected on transverse mount engines. The exhaust takes some of the extra movement when the mounts are worn. You can end up with flex section leaks after a while.

I have heard of engine mounts doing that. The front to rear engine mounts or roll stops seem to have the most effect on handling. They are not normally hard to change. Rubber will look torn.

Electrical problems rarely visual. Intact means continuity to ground ? What is the voltage output with the ignition on. Amperage to ground also useful, but since it’s fed from ecm you need to be careful. Expensive item, so maybe skip for now unless your an electronics tec. Resistance measurement from ecm output plug pin to the harness fusible link, safer. Both ends isolated for test. My alternator produced proper charge for about 4 mins before it would drastically drop off. Warming up caused internal intermittent failure of voltage regulator. Quick bench test wouldn’t have shown my issue.

Welcome to the forum. Could be a lot of things. Always start with scanning for codes first, even if no light on dash. Parts guessing gets expensive fast. Parasitic load, however, is power that drains car battery when it’s not running. Doesn’t set a code. Best wild guess for most common Journey parasitic load is Bluetooth module staying on. Pull the fuse in passenger side fuse box labelled HFM for hands free module. Put a charger on battery for a few hours to get it back to 100% charge. A multi meter is needed to trouble shoot parasitic draw…if that is the problem.

Welcome to the forum. Which engine, milage on car, any major work done on car. Could be a lot of different things. What does glycol look like. Is radiator fan coming on when it’s hot, is a/c being used at the time. Careful when engine goes to hot easy to damage aluminum engine. Put down windows run interior heat to help lower temp. Was a pressure test done on cooling system?

Welcome to the forum. Intake manifold seals on cylinder 1 can allow extra air if bad and set codes. Leak down test on cylinder could be useful. Boroscope cam to look at intake valve through spark plug hole. How is upper valve train noise, clacking when it’s running?