Ray Ray

10 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

Have you made actual progress that there is now electrical power to things, as you post of starter spinning? Now have someone work the key and see if the alternator belt and engine pullies are also spinning with the starter engaged. IF not then yes it could be a starter problem. IF YES and it spins fast with no effective compression resistance of a normal startup, you need to take the TIMING BELT cover back off and see if the belt is rotating with starter engaged. IF not then you have a broken/ stripped tooth cog timing belt that I warned you of in your initial posting.

Yes there are electrical power to things now. Everything inside works and now car spins when trying to start. Alternator belt is spinning. Not sure if engine pulleys are spinning. But my husband did he get under car to see if engine spins and it did. How do we see if engine pullies are spinning on engine? 

7 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

When a cars electrical system is totally drained as you posted of yours doing then normal level scanners will not read any codes as the computer erases(from power disconnected). Only a high level scanner that can read history codes (more than pending/current/permanent codes) can bring codes up that would help figure things out. Other than crank or cam sensor related codes would "clue you into a Timing Belt problem 

  Just what lights came on when the car started to die (but was still running) during your trip? There is the oil pressure (red oil can), Battery light and the Check Engine Light(yellow).

 

AND you did NOT answer ANY of the suggestions posted to be able to help you any further.

The engine light only 

1 hour ago, 5rebel9 said:

Agreed! and if read by RayRay it needs to be a flatbed and not traditional tow truck being the car is an AWD model.

I’m trying my best. My mind is all over the place right now. We’ve tried almost everything to get this car running. And half the things u throw out are MAYBES or things we can do out here on 110 degree heat in the middle of nowhere. So please bear with me.

2 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

Have you made actual progress that there is now electrical power to things, as you post of starter spinning? Now have someone work the key and see if the alternator belt and engine pullies are also spinning with the starter engaged. IF not then yes it could be a starter problem. IF YES and it spins fast with no effective compression resistance of a normal startup, you need to take the TIMING BELT cover back off and see if the belt is rotating with starter engaged. IF not then you have a broken/ stripped tooth cog timing belt that I warned you of in your initial posting.

I used the OBD scanner and it’s not showing any codes tho. No timing belt or engine light code. Nothing 

1 hour ago, OhareFred said:

That is a definite possibility.  You could have burned out the diodes in the alternator.  Again, take out the battery (even if you think it’s good) and alternator and have them tested.  The alternator may be under warranty.  Replace what’s bad and start there.  Once you know for sure you have a good battery and alternator we can go from there.  Make sure the cables are tight, and nothing on the cables are loose or broken.  Newer cars have battery monitors right on the cables. If they get damaged you need new cables.  Your also going to have to fix that broken dipstick as well.

Okay. We have to drive an hour out to the car because the nearest autozone is an hour away. It’s so tiring and stressful. We’ve drove back and forth so many times. But this will be our last try. 

So my 2009 Dodge Journey SXT 3.5L broke down on my way to Vegas last weekend. I was driving on the highway, engine light came on and I pulled over immediately and then car came to a stop. 
 

To give some background information:

About a week prior to leaving for Vegas my car wouldn’t start but closer to where I live (this was the 1st time). It wouldn’t start and battery barely held a charge so my husband and I towed it. We were told it could be a bad alternator so he swapped it out and car was working fine. Fast forward to the following week, we drove to Vegas and car stopped again. So husband swapped out battery with brand new one and still no luck. Autozone told him the battery that was in our car when it stopped was bad. That’s why we bought the new one. He also swapped out starter and still no luck. 
 

So my guess is that when the car stopped the FIRST time I noticed the battery light was on as well. I’m thinking that because the car was mostly running on the batttery, it drained the battery back then and it was time to be changed when we put the alternator in as well. Battery light disappeared after changing alternator so we didn’t think about it. But it would pop up occasionally and then turn off. Anyway, after putting new alternator in with a battery that was still bad MAYBE it killed the new alternator as well. Basically causing the car not to start EVENTUALLY. The reason it didn’t happen instantly was because I heard a car can still run if the alternator is good and battery is bad but not for long. That’s why it gave out when we headed to Vegas a week later. Am I right or wrong? Give me some ideas and feedback please 

1 hour ago, OhareFred said:

So I understand this correctly, you can’t check the oil because the stick is broken (happened on my 09 as well) but you added oil….why?  Not to be mean, but it becoming apparent that either you are not very mechanically inclined or that you are not maintaining this car correctly, throwing parts at it, and asking why it won’t run. It may be cheaper to tow it to a repair facility and have them tell you what’s wrong.  If you can’t/don’t want to, then this is how I would proceed.
 

If I were you, I would do the following things before I went another step further, even if it means taking them out/off the car to do it:

1: Get the battery tested with an electronic battery tester, not the old carbon pile type.

2: Get the alternator tested and verify it’s the correct one.

3: Fix the dipstick. Too much oil is as bad as too little.  Sometimes you can grab the broken end with a pair of needle nose pliers, then just install a new one.

 

once those are done

Okay and I am not mechanically inclined. My husband does all of the work on our car and he has basic knowledge. 
 

okay so I know for sure battery is good because after car stopped running we swapped it out for a brand new one. So it hasn’t even been used yet. 
 

what I’m thinking is either the alternator is the wrong one OR when the car broke down the first time due to bad alternator, it could have killed the battery (hence why when we took it to autozone after car stopped second time, they said it was bad or dead or whatever). So that being said maybe brand new alternator was trying to operate with that bad battery and eventually ran out of juice once battery went completely dead. I’m thinking we killed the brand new alternator because we didn’t swap out the bad battery as well resulting in the car still not starting. Right or wrong? I’m just trying to figure this out 

6 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

As member Oharefred posted and you now report of interior stuff now NOT working. The basic battery system needs first attention, RECHECK cable connections hopefully terminals of the battery cables were cleaned when battery was replaced before. but now a terminal clamp my have worked loose. YES your posted door latch and glove box problem will cause a "not in use" drain on the battery. BUT you should be able to drive and have the alternator charge enough to travel as you posted originally. Your couple week old battery may now be too drained to accept and hold ant jump or quick charge. Also the antitheft system can "kick in" when such things as the door latch or battery connections are not good.

My it is sounding like there is more going on than what was originally posted.....

The brand new battery never got used because we put it in AFTER it broke down. So I’m thinking that when we changed the alternator, the battery was bad and that’s why the car stalled before (when alternator went out). So when we changed the alternator, we should have changed the battery too. We changed the alternator and car was running but battery was probably slowly getting worse. So when we drove it a long distance maybe alternator gave out due to bad battery? Also it was confirmed that battery that was being used when car stalled was bad at autozone when we went to buy the new one.  

4 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

YES that is good news as member john/Horace posted already, and I will gladly "eat crow" from my first response!

   NOW as for what's actually gone wrong and figuring it out  ....

What was going on BEFORE your trip that gave the "before trip" work?

What are the engine oil, and coolant levels now?

Did you just get fuel before this happened(possible water in the gas)?

Did engine make bucking/clattering noises when this happened?

You stated interior electrical items still worked properly, so yes we are looking more to an engine OR electrical/ computer control problem. IF just a bad fuel pump, a shot of starting fluid into the intake air hose should fire the engine till it is used up. If no fire, then troubles are deeper in computer controls.

 In my book, these are the BASICS that need to be addressed.   GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!   

So basically a week before our trip we were leaving a restaurant and the car wouldnt start. We got a jump and it held a charge for like 5 minutes and then died again. It would only hold a charge for a few seconds after that so we had to get it towed. We were told by the tow truck driver that it was the alternator so we went and bought one from autozone. Husband installed it and car was running again. A week later we drove to Vegas and on the way, while I was driving car stopped again and now engine light is on. We installed a new battery and still no luck but autozone did confirm that our old battery was dead. After putting new one in still no luck. Maybe autozone gave us the wrong alternator? I thought it was good because it ran for a week fine but I heard that it will do that and shut down again. And also drain battery if it’s not the right one. Idk just throwing ideas out there.

to answer ur questions it didn’t make any bucking/clattering noises. We can’t check oil because the part to remove stick broke off but we did add oil and coolant already. The oil was changed about 3 months ago. Yes I had just filled the tank about and drove for about an hour and a half after. Tank is still full. Internal electrical items aren’t working now. Windows won’t roll up or down. No lights. And alarm went off by itself when we were trying to jump it once. We also can’t unlock or lock doors unless we jump it but it only lasts a few minutes. And still won’t start.  

On 8/30/2021 at 6:38 PM, John/Horace said:

You need to line up crank pulley at top dead centre, notch on pulley lined up at mark on lower timing cover.

 

Both intake and exhaust cams will also have a timing mark on pulley and matching spot on head casting.

All three timing marks should be right on together. Out by one tooth or more and car won’t run, timing out of range.

 

Hopefully it’s not a belt issue. Lots of other stuff to check like fuel pump, if belt is still ok.

Timing belt is fine. How do I check fuel pump?

Or maybe fuel pump? 

So husband checked timing belt and it was perfect. No damage. Still in tact. So now we have to figure out why car stopped suddenly on highway and why the battery won’t hold a charge after putting a brand new battery and alternator in a week or two ago. Also when we were trying to jump the car the alarm went off randomly. Car at first held a charge for a while but now only for a few seconds and then immediately dies. Can’t lock doors or turn on lights. Nothing. I know that my passenger side door latch is broken so sometimes when we think it’s closed it isn’t. And also I was having issues closing the glove compartment about a week ago and forced it closed. Maybe the light inside of it isn’t going off when we close it? I don’t know. 

11 hours ago, 5rebel9 said:

Agree'd , BUT just so anyone following this saga knows ......

   The timing belt and water pump and belt tensioner are recommended to be replaced EVERY 105k MILES OR 7 years whichever comes first. It's a pretty big job in the sideways mounting of the drivetrain of the Journey. AND why I jumped on so hard about it and it SHOULD be looked at early on to be sure it is hopefully OK and then go on with checking other things BEFORE throwing in a lot of parts in HOPES.

Yes and it just hit 117k miles so it was about that time

12 hours ago, John/Horace said:

You need to line up crank pulley at top dead centre, notch on pulley lined up at mark on lower timing cover.

 

Both intake and exhaust cams will also have a timing mark on pulley and matching spot on head casting.

All three timing marks should be right on together. Out by one tooth or more and car won’t run, timing out of range.

 

Hopefully it’s not a belt issue. Lots of other stuff to check like fuel pump, if belt is still ok.

Ok I will pass this on to my husband. Thank you so much for ur help. Will keep u updated. We just got to the car. Once we charge the battery maybe I can send you guys a video of what it sounds like when it tries to start too

Guys, I’m heading down there tonight. Will keep you updated ❤️

On 8/28/2021 at 8:21 AM, Armando G said:

Geezzzz.... these responses seem to be worse case scenarios. How about starting with the basics. Home install of the alternator, could be a loose screw that isn't making good contact (we've all done it). Are the battery terminals nice and tight, and clean? Is the battery itself good? Again, just because it's new, doesn't mean there isn't an issue.

Verify what you have done before assuming what it could be. Hopefully it isn't a major item... good luck. 

I was thinking that as well because husband never changed an alternator before and he squeezed the belt back on because he couldn’t reach the thing that loosens the belt attached to the alternator 

On 8/25/2021 at 5:38 PM, John/Horace said:

Pulling the upper half of one of the plastic timing covers should expose the timing belt. If It’s either shredded or jumped a few teeth then it’s really bad news. Sometimes if they jump on start up with out engine actually running, the piston doesn’t hit valves and engine can be salvaged. Long shot.

Ok I will check it

On 8/25/2021 at 5:03 PM, 5rebel9 said:

Sorry to say this, but as an 09 and probably high(+100k miles), but this is the 3.5 TIMING BELT driven engine and there's a good chance that the timing belt broke. And at the speed posted of when it happened, the motor is probably shot.

I’m going to have to agree with you ? I am really devastated if that is the case. I only had the car for almost a year so this really sucks. 

On 8/25/2021 at 3:34 PM, John/Horace said:

Always start with scanning for codes to avoid throwing parts at a car.  The CPS crank position sensor doesn’t always set a code when it fails,  and is around $30 part , oem is best. At high mileage over a 100k miles I just change them to avoid getting stuck, becomes a wear item from heat and vibration it seems.

The CPS crank position sensor? So would that also cause the engine light to come on?