Hello all,
We purchased a 2015 Dodge Journey R/T with 73,xxx miles a couple months ago. At the time we purchased it, we did not hear the noise it was making.
In my quest to fix this issue. I am documenting my findings here.
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2015 Dodge Journey R/T - 75,xxx Miles
Symptoms:
- Hard left and right turns causes binding (metal creaking noises (tick tick tick tick tick)). The noise can be amplified by applying more throttle on these turns.
- After the turn is completed and when the car upshifts, a loud thump/clunk is heard from the rear (driveline stress is unwinding during the upshift)
When accelerating hard from a dead stop in a straight line, no metal creaking noises are thumps were observed.
I believe the metal creaking noises are from the clutch plates inside of the rear viscous coupler slipping. I did not observe the binding being unwounded through the tires. I believe the rear viscous coupler is not 100% locked up since enough driveline stress will eventually slip the clutch plates and not unload it on the tires.
Possible Causes:
The rear viscous coupler is always engaged, not allowing the front wheels to spin freely from the rear wheels. When making hard turns, the rear viscous coupler is locking the front + rear wheel engagement. This does not allow proper rotational speed variation of the front and rear wheels when making a hard left or right turn, causing the driveline to bind.
Something inside of the rear viscous coupler is broken and does not allow slippage. I am not sure what exactly is broken.
To test my initial thoughts out, I removed the center driveshaft that connects the transmission in the front of the car to the rear viscous coupler. This changes the vehicle to front wheel drive and will confirm if the issue is related to the front or rear part of the vehicle.
To remove the center driveshaft:
1. Remove the 3 bolts on the rear driveshaft that connects to the rear viscous coupler.
2. Remove the 8 bolts that connects the driveshaft to the front of the transmission.
3. Remove the carrier bearing holder in the center of the car (2 bolts to remove the heat shield, 2 more bolts to remove the carrier)
4. With a flat head screw driver, pop off the driveshaft from the rear viscous coupler and lower the driveshaft.
5. Tug on the driveshaft from the rear of the car to pop off the driveshaft from the front of the transmission.
After removing the center driveshaft and taking it for a test drive, all the noises observed earlier was gone.
Since the rear differential is an OPEN differential I do not see any issues that it would be causing. I am still leaning towards the rear viscous coupler.
I found two different parts for the rear viscous couplers listed below.
One is listed for $1200: https://www.moparpartsinc.com/p/Dodge__Journey/BDORCVISCOUS-UNIT-KIT-Rear-axle-36L-V6-24V-VVT-Engine/61611628/68058066AB.html?partner=googlebase_adwords&kwd=&origin=pla&partnerDevice=c&userLocation=9019545&gclid=CjwKCAjwy42FBhB2EiwAJY0yQuJJSLp6nANUHqmbAuLoyrQhEwk5Wi7IjwAUJ8L4utfbCFJ96eciEhoCGUkQAvD_BwE
Another one is listed for $450: https://www.moparpartsinc.com/p/Dodge__Journey/BDORCVISCOUS-UNIT-KIT-Rear-axle-20L-I4-Turbo-Diesel-Engine/61587188/05146768AC.html?partner=googlebase_adwords&kwd=&origin=pla&partnerDevice=c&userLocation=9019559&gclid=CjwKCAjwy42FBhB2EiwAJY0yQoFBJgcZUL9wUijUBfc7KOa_fC9kPj2Jdjt3IfK7Hkq8kZpEpIEa7xoCRboQAvD_BwE
I believe the $1200 unit is the correct one, but the $450 also looks correct but it lists it for a 2.0 Diesel model only. However, both the pictures look alike.
I decided not to purchase either of those and went with a used unit from ebay that included both the rear viscous coupler and the rear differential for $450. In the event it is a failing rear diff, I would have another unit to replace it with also.
I am now awaiting for the unit to arrive.
I will post more when It arrives.