DodgeaWrench

The salvage yard quoted $100 (privacy tint w/heat), 3M window weld $28, 3M primer $46, and daubers $9. I've got razor blades, scrapers, and suctions cups. So far under just under $200. Local glass repair quoted $415.00 to have it done. As the same window was used for many years, my guess is there are many available and if I spent the energy to search further it could be had for less (but I doubt I will). With Easter on the horizon, if my make shift laminated window holds up, I'm thinking mid-April . Hopefully Spring gets here by then.

If the weather ever warms up, I'm going to give glass replacement a try. The plan is to pick up window from a local salvage yard and give it a go. Chris Fixx has a good video on youtube with the process. Order placed with Amazon for the supplies. The shattered window was layered with plastic packing tape on both sides to keep it together and in place until the replacement. Not pretty, but so far its holding well. Today feels like the coldest day of winter.

When dealing with the (lug) issue, I was able to get the an extractor on the nut, and it would bite real good, but the problem was I couldnt budge it. I broke a socket wrench and a breaker bar trying to get it to turn. I started to worry about breaking the stud. They used the torch to heat it up and allow it to break free. Looking back, I am always taking tires on and off during warm months. This is the first time I recall doing it in the cold (temps around freezing). Maybe between a high torque (or maybe even normal torgue) and the cold, I've always had this issue of lug nuts being near impossible to remove in cold weather, and never knew it. Regardless, I agree the 2 piece lugs are crap and have ordered a set of the McGard's this week. I definitely will wait for warmer weather before installing them, and will pay extra attention to how well the socket fits on the old lug before applying force.

In my days of owning 6 cyclinder Pontiacs, it happened on more than 1 vehicle, overheating and loss of coolant meant a leak in a head gasket.

The tire service center was able to get the rounded lug off. They needed to use the torch. They replaced all 5 lugs on that wheel with one piece lugs and I'll need to address the others once the weather warms a bit. The weather must have been right. While in line dropping off and picking up, other customers were dealing with lugs that wont come off. Arguably, in hindsight, I didn't need to take the wheel off to address this cooler issue, but Im glad I experienced this 2 piece lug issue in my driveway and not with a flat, at night, out of town. Thank goodness daylight savings changed Sunday. I had a little more daylight on my side. After picking up the car, it was already late afternoon Sunday and I still had to address the p/s leak. I pulled out the plastic retaining pins to get the wheel well lower plastic covering off, and the large plastic guard under the front of the car off. With guards and grill off and the car running, I put a little bit of p/s fluid in the reservoir and the watch it quickly drip out at the cooler (see picture). The p/s cooler was the problem. It was then the late Sunday evening dash to the local Irish Auto Parts store and picked up a universal p/s cooler by Hayden P/N 1012 for $39. It very close in size to the original with the exception of no mounting brackets (see pictures). I moved the hoses from the old to the new cooler, and installed the new cooler on top of the old. There are foam rubber pieces between the two (supplied with the new cooler) and large plastic mount ties (similar to zip ties) that run through the middle of the two coolers to hold them together. I did a quick test and all seemed dry. The sun was down and I was done for the night. I buttoned the guards and grill back on this evening and gave it a test drive. Still dry. I'll provide additional updates over the next few days of real driving. The best i could tell, Dodge only sells the cooler as a large assembly with the hoses attached, $450-ish online. The dealer was quoting over $1000 for parts and labor to replace ($650 for the part and 2-3hrs labor). Third option was after market for $39 and hose clamps. The leak at the p/s fluid cooler (from underneath looking up) With the grill off, the leak, from the top looking down. The Hayden cooler and an extra set of mounting rods. Side by side, the old and the new. The new mounted on top of the old. The mounting rods through the new and old.

No luck with the recall lookup. This car didn't qualify for the recall. I popped the grill off yesterday and the p/s cooler "appears" to not be leaking. The leaks seems to be coming from one of the return lines where it routes through the fender well just in front of the passenger tire. BUT BUT BUT the car recently had the tires rotated, and the lug nuts were so tight, that I rounded out one of the lug nuts yesterday and was unable to get to the lines to check them out further. I exhausted my attempts and dropped off the car this morning at the local tire service center to see if they get the lug off. (Besides the possibility of them being over-torqued, I'll start a separate thread to re-discuss these terrible 2 piece lug nuts that should / will be replaced.) More to come. Todays weather report: A dusting to 1"-2" inches of snow expected this morning with highs just above freezing.

Last night the weather was just below freezing. This morning I start up the DJ and its making a whirling noise. As I pull out, I see a couple of wet spots. On the drive to work, the noise gets worse, like an angry cat growling. To cut to the chase, the power steering reservoir was empty, filled it, and the whirling/growling is gone. While parked, it drips away. I got a P/S leak. During the drive time, I did not lose the power steering. I didn’t have too much time to check it out in detail, and the weather is not going to cooperate for the next few days, but it looks like it is leaking somewhere near the p/s fluid cooler. I’m reading this is a common problem, and a recall to some. By VIN on an online lookup, mine is not covered by the recall. I'm assuming that because I didn't loose the power assist, my issue isn't with the high pressure hoses. Fair assumption? Anyone have any experience with this issue? Do the repairs themselves? How do you even get to the p/s cooler? YouTube is a bit thin on these videos. From Mopar, best I can tell, the cooler and its hoses are sold together… $450-$500 (ouch). Aftermarket universal p/s coolers are $50… big difference. What am I missing? Normally I’d go OEM, but the car is closing in on 10 years old. I’m considering going aftermarket on this one. 68304253AC power steering with hose cooler 68322228AA power steering return hose Power Steering Fluid Leak no drips up top - only a near empty bottle

Not a good day. I was scraping the snow off the DJ early this morning when I noticed the rear glass was shattered. Best guess is a stone or piece of ice flung from the snow plows out last night cleaning up after the storm. It was odd that most of the glass from the hole was outside the car and almost no broken glass inside. I've watch a few videos on glass replacement, and the worst part seems to be the removal of all the old seal/sealer. Anyone replaced theirs? Or should I just pay the $400 and have it done at a local glass shop and be done with it.

I had the tires replaced on my 2014 dodge Journey SXT 3.6 FWD. The old tires were Firestone Destination LE2 225/65R 17 102H. I got 5 years and just shy of 81,000 miles from them. No complaints, no issues. They were rotated regularly and wore evenly. According to my gauge, they were at 3/32 depth remaining. Granted I might have been able to get just a few more miles out of them, but with prices generally rising on everything, I decided that waiting might only cost me more. Being pleased with the old, and in my mind reasonable pricing on new, I bought another all around set of the same Firestone Destination LE2 225/65R 17 102H again, and a front end alignment. Coupled with an oil change, with my fingers crossed and a little luck to not have an unexpected repair, I'm already all set for the Summer. I measured the depth of the new tires an I'm getting 9/32. TireRack specs it a 10/32. I couldn't find depth spec on the Firestone site. My guess is the difference is slight puffing by the manufacturer. Anyone else measure new tire depth and/or similar results?

I did reuse the green grommet. LOL DOH I didnt even think about that until you just mentioned it. If I had thought about it, I would have ordered/replaced it. As far as fluid level, I would agree with it being below it. There are no bolts there to secure a strong seal with the cover. My uneducated guess is that in this area fluid is just 'splash'in" around here and the trans solenoid pack is not submerged. Its closer to 1 quart that drained out when opening this cover, but I had bought 2. OFF TOPIC: I just noticed "He who is without oil shall throw the first rod.” -Compressions 8.7:1" "Compressions" LMFAO

Back in March, I never found anything definitely wrong with the rear brakes. I did bleed the rears for grins, and on the one side in question, I did disassemble, and watched the piston move when the brake pedal was pushed. It seems to have worked since. No pulling to one side and no rust forming on the rotor from lack of pads not applying pressure. Oh well. Finally I got around to replacing the original fronts today, at 131,000 miles. They STILL had at least another 30,000 mile left on them. Crazy. They are considerably larger pads than the rear. As they had never been replaced, the front rotors did not want to come off without a fight. Just penetrating oil and a hammer was not enough. It really wasn't that bad, but I did have to borrow a puller from the local parts store. After cranking tightly on the puller, then banging the poop out of the rotor from the back side, finally got it to pop. The rest of the job was textbook. Not that I was going to, but there was no reusing the original rotors after removal. I went with OEM replacement pads and rotors all around. Assuming I did the replacement correctly, I am not expecting to have to due another brake job for the life of the vehicle in my ownership. Beside being long lasting pads, our driving miles have greatly reduce as no more out of state college trips (which is why we bought this car) and eventually covid. Changed the oil and filter today too. Nice to get these checked off before winter. Looks like replacing the tires are starting to move up the list. While doing the brakes I can see the tires are starting to wear thin. Replaced the original tires at 58,000 (dont recall the make or model) Got 73,000 miles on the ones on the car now (Firestone Destination LE2 225/65R). I'll probably go with those Firestone's again if still available. The tires have performed well and the local shop has given me good service and good pricing over the years.

And after a week of driving... Replacing the TCC solenoid solved the problem!!! Downshifting when stopping is smoooooth every time. No more jerking, no more rumble strips, no more surging, no more. The solenoid was $21.00, some permatex gasket goo, and couple of quarts of trans fluid is all it took. The trans fluid and filter change along the way was needed, and overdue. I made sure to disconnect the battery before I started the solenoid replacement as that trans electrical connector spooked me. I feared damaging electronics in the disconnect/reconnect process and having a whole slew of codes to deal with if I didn't. Some of the videos don't mention disconnecting the battery. I didn't want to take even the slightest chance of shorts, spikes, surges, when dealing with connections providing input and outputs from the computer that controls the transmission. I had no issues. And... no leaks! It took over a year to get to get to this point, but call this resolved and THANK YOU for the input. This forum got me through this and saved me $$$. Replace the throttle body... what was I thinking. LOL (It was my original thought on what needed to be replaced.)

SUMMER update As Summer progressed, so did the problem. Over time it went from barely noticeable to being there on almost every stop. Not severe, but there. As I would come to a stop at a stoplight, the car would shutter or jerk as the car was downshifting. This felt like the equivalent of driving a vehicle with a manual transmission and the motor lurching when leaving it in a higher gear too long and the clutch engaged too long when coming to a stop. With the weather finally cooling off a bit, yesterday I put on by big boy pants and replaced the torque converter clutch solenoid (TCC). I was quite nervous going in. Everything went well. Its not toooooo much more difficult then when doing a trans fluid change when dropping the pan, and everything is easily accessible toggling between above and below. As always the advice on this forum and youtube videos were invaluable. I let the gasket sealant dry overnight. Today I refilled the trans fluid (more on that later) and went for a test drive. On all accounts this appears to be SUCCESS! Ive put on a few miles today and the car downshifts smoothly when coming to a stop and not once did anything resemble a stutter or jerking motion. I will provide another update in the upcoming days or week as I monitor the shifting and watch for leaks (with fingers crossed).

Over the weekend I replaced my battery. During the week, starting the car to go to work, it started up VERY weak. I knew something was going on. After work, for the ride home, same thing but this time the check engine light came on. I wasn't able to get anywhere that evening to read the code. Next morning, it would not start. All electrical would work, but it would not crank over when pressing the button. I couldn't get too mad as this was my own fault. Its a 2014 and the battery was still original. I was all set to replace it last fall due to age, but never did. This Spring I had priced up a new battery and even sprayed the terminals and mount with penetrating oil to prepare for the change, but again, did not pull the trigger. As expected, after the battery was replaced, the car started right up. I hope there is not an underlying issue of a drain or charging problem. Time will tell. Regardless that battery had to be replaced. I went with a Deka Ultimate 786MF battery, $120.00. (Deka Premium battery is all that is needed, but they were out of stock.) Deka has performed well in the boat so I figured I'd give them a try in the car.

Congrats! I am having similar issues, but FAR less severe. I already have the replacement OEM TCC solenoid, but haven't yet worked up the courage to go in. Uncoupling and recoupling that electrical connector scares the bajeesus out of me. Any tips or gotcha's to share? Thanks for posting as this will help me get past my demons. In Spring, I had to wait over a month for front mopar brake pads to come in.

I replaced mine a 105K miles. Besides being time to change them per the maintenance schedule, as someone previously mentioned, I wanted to get to them before waiting tooooo long and then the plugs might be stuck or break. As I got over 100K on OEM's, I replaced with the same. That was long-lasting enough for me. Most likely the replacements will last the remainder of my time with this car. I doubt I'll ever have to do plugs again. One and done. The new OEM plugs were just under $11 each. Here is a picture of my old and new. Mine's a 2014 3.6 FWD. To replace them, while a bit time consuming isnt thaaaaaaat bad. Rewatch the videos, take your time, and be gentle with electrical connectors. Replacing the plugs was the first 'large' wrenching on this car I performed (not really 'large'), and I'm glad I did. With the confidence I gained doing it, I've since been through the same process to replace spark plug tube gaskets, and again for an oil cooler.

Good to know. Thanks for sharing. Anyone know if the head restraint warranty extension is in effect in the USA? If this were to happen to me while driving, I'd have to change more than the headrest.

UPDATE after winter Throughout the winter the downshift problem continued to get more subdued. At times I wondered if it was still there, but if I paid attention, closely, it was. When all this started, passengers could notice the car jerking when coming to a stop. Now, they wouldn’t even notice. The car no longer feels like its riding over rumble strips when coming to a stop, nor when at its worst, the car does not stall when coming to a stop. My conclusion is that the trans fluid change and subsequence fluid swaps were not an instant fix, but over time resolved a majority of the issue. (Slowly cleaning itself?) Another possibility is that the cold weather had a positive effect that may change when the weather warms. I was still prepared to replace the TCC solenoid (I bought one, its cheap), but after thinking about it and looking at it yesterday, I wimped out and decided the risk / reward / effort wasn’t worth it for such a minor issue. As I was working on the car yesterday (replaced serpentine belt due to age), I swapped another 2 liters of trans fluid out for grins. Maybe it will continue to get better? I’ll continue to monitor the situation. After removing the airbox, the picture below is of the trans covers that needs to be removed, the electrical connections that would need to be disconnected, and possibly trans hoses that would need to be disconnected, to access the TCC valve, which I believe sits on top of the solenoid pack under these covers.

I'm hoping to get a chance to look into it further this weekend. I'll definitely check for air / bleed first, as suggested. I saw a video on how to check the piston movement by pulling the caliper off the rotor, stick in a piece of wood to block the piston from popping completely out, but still leaving some room for the piston to move, and have someone push on the break pedal. If good, the piston should move. I watched a few videos on rebuilding the caliper. Anyone rebuilt their own? If Im going to replace the caliper, I might as investigate a rebuild first. I got a kit on order, 7 bucks from NAPA. Assuming the piston isn't pitted, a rebuild kit isnt too much more than replacing 1 internal o-ring, the dust cover rubber, and a new snap ring for the dust cover. It doesn't look technically difficult, but I bet its a project where a colorful vocabulary is used frequently.

quick update... so far the engine is still running and no leaks. (fingers crossed) - tip: After the old cooler is removed, when cleaning out the oil and grime in the valley under the cooler, do a very very good job cleaning out this area, mainly in the area that would be around/under the oil filter. This is the are you will be checking, with a flashlight, for leaks after you are done. I did an ok job cleaning this area, but ended up dabbing in paper towels after the fact to get it as dry and clean as possible for better inspection. This inspection are is small and deep.

Agreed its a good video. Its one of several I watched before doing my cooler. It shows its no small job. He starts in the morning and isn't finished until after the sun goes down. The scenes with his daughter are priceless.

[This is about the rears only. The fronts were not touched.] The bolt and rust gods were good to me. The rear rotors and pads have been replaced. On inspecting the old pads, they did not wear evenly. The passenger side were significantly more worn that the driver side. At the time I didn’t think twice about this given the number of miles on these pads. (The passenger side was the side making a noise when apply brakes, hence the reason for the pad and rotor replacement.) Now the rub. Everything went back together well, but after driving the day, I see that on the driver side, the pads are not being pressed onto the rotor. The rotor is untouched. It still looks as if it just came out of the box, where as the passenger side at least has the markings on where the pads touched the rotor. My guess is the driver side stopped working some time ago hence its pads were not as worn as the passenger side (which is still working correctly). The car never pulls to one side or another on braking both before or after the rears were replaced. When compressing the piston on the calipers they acted differently. On the drivers side (bad side) I slowly kept turned it in until I felt resistance then stopped. I assumed it bottom out. On the passage side (good side), I slowly kept turning it, but it never got to a point of resistance. It did compress all the way in, but just kept turning even though it wouldn’t go in any further. As they acted differently on compression, does this mean anything? The guide pins moved smoothly, both on inspection after initial disassembly, and after cleaning and lubricating. Brake fluid level is good. I have not done anything yet to troubleshoot. I have not tried to bleed anything. I’m starting my research… Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot or should I just order a replacement caliper? The picture below is of the driver side rotor. It still looks this way after a day of driving with the cross machining marks and no signs of a pad touching it.

I'm only doing the rears this weekend. The fronts are still original. Even though there is still a little time left on the fronts, I'll call it a win and replace them too. Very soon, but just not this weekend. Other DJ projects planned for this weekend to catchup from winter: - wrap up my oil cooler replacement from last weekend (do final visual check for any leaks, recheck fluid levels, etc) - replace serpentine belt (still original and will be replaced due to age/mileage) - check the battery and begin oiling the battery cable clamp bolts for later removal (battery is still original and it will be replaced this summer due to age) - if I get brave I will make an attempt to replace the torque convertor solenoid on the trans solenoid pack (downshift issues). I have another thread open on this subject. CLEAN THE WINDOWS and vacuum! Time to remove the winter session of the dog window art, winter fries under the seats, and lottery scratcher dust. LOL

Thanks Summer Solstice for letting me know how yours runs. I guess I just never watched the oil pressure before. I've been watching it closely this week, and its been very similar to what you described. Normal.

Just shy of 125K miles its finally time to replace the brakes on the JD. If it wasn’t happening to me I wouldn’t believe they would last that long. (I’m aware of the undersized brake issues on earlier years.) Being the OEM’s worked so well, I’m going to replace them with genuine Mopar rotors and pads. The plan is that with a known track record for the OEM this should be the first, last, and only brake job needed for the life planned for this car while I’m the owner. The weather is supposed to be good. This weekend will be the rears. I went out and borrowed the brake tool press to turn in the calipers from the local auto parts store. After more research than I was planning to do on brake lube for the pins, I plan to use Napa or AGS Sil-Glyde Silicone Brake Lubricant. Hopefully I can find it locally. If not a good choice, let me know. I believe I can use it for metal to metal touch points too. Silicone, synthetic, ceramic, operating temps, grease, lube, rubber, …. Sheesh.