Dodgems

Really sounds like low voltage. Any codes? What does this mean? "Engine revs up but loss power head lamps dim" Engine looses power? or electrical power drops off as engine revs? Or doesn't matter what rpms, the headlights stay dim? Check your grounds. Rust or corroded body grounds can cause low voltage. Check to make sure the engine ground strap is intact. If you suspect TIPM I would reseat the connectors and inspect them for corrosion before buying a new one. The pins are so small a failed seal can let water in and they corrode. Doesn't take much corrosion/dirt/water intrusion to cause them to loose a good connection.

Here is one that had me stumped for a bit. We have a 2017 sxt. I have other threads about adding heated leather seats, camera, remote start ect. Basically I took it from a cloth SXT to a loaded R/T interior wise. Over the past 2 months the following started happening once every 2 weeks progressing to daily in the past week. I searched but didn't find any similar complaints. I was starting to think I had caused the problem with faulty wiring somewhere along the line when I upgraded it. I now think it's a faulty relay and this thread may help someone else in the future. The windows would work in accessory position. They would not work when ign was in run. The rear view camera came up but was just a blank screen, front and rear blower motors didn't work. The HVAC panels seemed to work and the screen showed changes with button presses on the panel. Just no blower. The seats moved but no heat. the windows were all inop with the car in run position. I could hear the blend doors moving. The radio showed the fan changing speeds but neither fan would work. The mirrors and door locks worked. Just a mismatched failure of specific items. Did not matter if engine was on or off. The problems occurred more often on cooler mornings for the last month. So 50's for a morning temperature. Usually everything would work by the time my wife made it to work. Sometimes in a minute, sometimes it took most of the drive. A few times it would not work at all on her morning commute which is about 40 minutes. She would hear a "ding" through the radio and everything would be on again. After sitting outside in the sun all day it would always work for the drive home. The few times I tried it always worked. Until today. I finally got to it when she was off work and it was acting up. I found multiple codes for the amp, the windows, rear camera, heated seats, heated wheel and hvac. Codes ranged from open to short to lack of communication on various modules. There was low voltage codes as well as a code for ign run short to ground or open. At this point I know I messed up somewhere. I cleared all the codes and then checked for codes in accessory it showed the B2121-15 code right away. Putting it in Run 13 codes popped up after about a minute of running. I looked online and didn't find anything useful. I checked the schematics and found there is a replaceable relay for the ignition. Simply labeled " Run" . I pulled it and the windows worked. I grabbed one off the fuse block for the Rt I stripped and popped it in. Everything worked ! Replacing the K107 relay seems to have fixed it. I assume it shorted out internally. It is the only large relay in the interior fuse block. Being intermittent I will be wary for a few days but as soon as I removed that relay the windows worked in run. Replacing the relay and clearing codes again everything seems to be working as designed.

Do you have the right antenna? You will need the sat capable antenna for navigation. Ours had it already. Did the 4" have sirius? If so you have the right antenna., If not you will need the antenna that has sat capability.

I do not know about Mopar but on Mercedes you really only need the scanner if your replacing the abs module or a component upstream from the module. Like the master cylinder or brake lines before it. Since most abs modules are a bosch design I would assume Mopars are the same. If your just bleeding them to bleed them it's not usually necessary. just do not let the master cylinder run dry. I worked in a shop which saw a lot of mercedes and bmw. We rarely needed to use the scanner for brake work. Unless we were working at or before the abs module. Replacing a caliper or brake line it was not necessary. I doubt bleeding them will help but it is worth a try. Since the system was never opened the fluid could just be old. If it has a lot of moisture that can cause problems in the abs module. It can also lead to moisture pockets which can heat up faster than the brake fluid. It has to be rare or a sales gimmick but I have had a BG salesman swear that letting the moisture get too high can cause rust as well as intermittent abs issues. We used litmus strips to test the fluid for moisture. I imagine you can get them online or have a local shop check it. Takes all of a couple minutes to do. The shop owner from above was so cheap he used blue food coloring in tap water to make the washer fluid look correct. He would buy actual washer fluid in the fall but we usually ran out in spring. He would refill the drum with water and add dye till the color was right. We did it as part of an oil change so they are cheap. We could test the same year car with similar mileage and come out with wildly different moisture readings.

When does it overheat? All the time. When sitting at idle. While at highway speeds. Does the engine cooling fan come on? What is the coolant level? Do you see a coolant leak? What does the engine oil look like? Is it full? low? Overfilled? Do you have a pressure tester?

Possibly broken wires in the door jamb? I had to repair the wiring in the hatch jamb for the rear view camera. The wires they use anymore are very thin and tend to break in jambs where they flex. It could be the sensor in that door as well but I have read several posts about broken wires in the drivers door jamb and hatch. I have not seen anyone with a bad sensor/receiver.

Anyone can. All you need is a new key fob with the remote start button. A hood switch or 1k ohm resistor. As well as Alfaobd. I used no parts from the wrecked journey for this. All our Journey's have the ability with a hood switch and key fob. Program new key to the vehicle. I purchased the key from amazon for $35. Install a new battery in the remote before starting this step. Mine came with a weak battery and would not reliably work at first. I could not get it to program. With a new battery it programmed on the first try. Install the hood switch or resistor. The wiring is already there. Just taped up in cloth like tape behind the right headlight. I bent a resistor so it would slid into the existing connector and wrapped it in electrical tape for now. Activate remote start and hood switch present with alfaobd. There is a setting for the resistor as well. It defaulted to 1k ohm. I checked it but did not need to change it. I then reset the rfhub using alfaobd. It does not change anything. it just forces the rfhub to check for any new settings or hardware and implement them if present. Drive around for 10 minutes. I let the car sit for 15 minutes and it would not work. After a short drive it worked. That is all there was to it. Only new parts are the remote and hood switch. The oem kit includes a new rfhub and remote start antenna. I ass-u-me it gives better range but the remote start on our journey works fine from inside the house.

The harness is behind the headlight. Just have to unwrap or cut some of the tape off and it should plug into the switch. I used a resistor but it was long enough to reach the hole that is for the switch. The connector I plugged the resistor into looks just like the plug on the harnesses I have seen for sale.

What do you mean by "Blew out" ? What brand did you use?

At first I could not get the key to program. I had to replace the battery in the new remote then it worked. When first using the lock and unlock buttons it was hit or miss for a few minutes. I was starting to get worried the remote was bad. After the short drive it has worked fine. The panic button does not work but it doesn't work on 1 of the factory remotes as well.

Remote start now works. I purchased a key fob from amazon with the remote start button ($35) and a 1k ohm resistor for the hood ajar switch ($0.10). Activated the new remote with Alfa. Be warned. It came with a dead battery. I could not get the learn process to work. I thought I was doing something wrong. After failing several times I installed a new battery in the new remote. It worked on the first try. Enabled the hood ajar switch and remote start in Alfa. Reset the RF Hub. Drove around for 10 minutes and we now have remote start! I cannot understand the whole oem remote start kit. It is not necessary. Just a waste of your money and parts/resources. I assume Chrysler knows people will be mad paying.. what.. $600 for a remote start and finding out you only need a key and hood ajar switch. Then 10 minutes to program everything. I would have been even madder knowing I spent that and only needed the software enabled and a new key. I guess the antenna may increase range but for our situation the remote works fine from the house. I still need to get the wiring for the temp sensor and sun sensor installed. Hook up the 110 volt inverter and I think I am finished upgrading for now.

Remote Start Works!!!!! The hood switch harness is attached to the right headlight harness. Mine had the cloth like tape covering it. I installed a 1k ohm resistor. Programmed a new remote with the remote start button. Used Alfa to enable remote start and hood ajar switch present. Reset the rf hub using Alfa. And....It would not work. I could get 1 beep from the horn but that was it. Didn't matter how may times I hit the start button on the remote. It would beep on the 1st press and that's all. Letting it sit for 10 minutes did not help. So I drove around for 10 minutes and shut it off. It works! Cost a new remote from Amazon. $35 and the resistor was maybe 10 cents. I will get the hood ajar switch now that I know it works. Wife is very happy!!

Just google open source map project. There is a lot of info. Basically it's like linux for map software. It's just people who update maps. They may be much better than Garmin in certain areas but they may be horrible in an area with fewer people participating. It seems to be geared more towards hikers. They have road maps as well. I do not recommend that route. I tried it and am not thrilled. I cannot delete whats in there and the maps are huge. We have limited space in our nav units. I tried to load midwest and northeast. We have family in New York but live in the midwest. The northeast maps seems to work. When I search for anything it finds them there. But the major city we live near is not found. Not any specific place but the entire city comes up not found. Our nav systems use Garmin software and it looks to be a much easier install vs open source.

I ordered a remote start key fob and resistor today. I may have time tomorrow to fiddle with ours if they actually arrive tomorrow. I will update here as well once I get to it. I did not search but glanced under the hood this morning before she left for work and did not see the harness. I found an install manual but half of it is in another language. It shows the wiring is present but taped up near right headlight. I will look again tonight if she gets home before dark. The oem kit includes a new antenna. I wonder why. Maybe to increase range? If the fob talks to the car that should be all we need. I wonder if the new rf hub has the additional antenna port but the oem non remote start doesn't? Or is it just a bunch of parts that are not really needed but justify the cost and install time? The description says hood ajar harness but the pics I found and the install manual do not show adding a harness. It just says "Locate existing harness and cut away retaining tape"

You can use garmin map software or open source. I have not done garmin but tried the open source. I think it's worth buying a garmin device with lifetime map updates. If you own a garmin device it's a matter of updating said device and copying a few files to a thumb drive and installing into uconnect. The open source is finicky. I have not figured out how to delete the open maps once installed. They are large files and we have limited space on the uconnect. I tried to load the midwest and northeast open source maps but it only took the one I do not live in. Then the usb port decided it no longer liked any usb drives or to even charge a phone without dropping out constantly. So, I would recommend the factory update or get a garmin device and go that way.

Can you keep us updated on progress? I have an aftermarket remote start module from a 16 I was going to install but if you get the oem working with new keys and hood switch I will pursue that route instead.

I don't know anything about apple but it was easy on android. Had to go into developer mode which is just clicking a few buttons. I was on version 1.5. I tried upgrading to 1.6 that did not help. I then went down to 1.4 and it connected. The dongle I bought for Alfaobd would not connect until I downgraded as well.

We have a 17 but the uconnect is from a 16. I could not get the phones to see the vehicle. My wife and I have Pixel phones. I had to downgrade the bluetooth drivers in the phone. Apparently they are not backwards compatible with some devices. I had to go into developer mode and downgrade to version 1.4. If you have a new phone or your phone upgraded the drivers that could be your culpret.

Call whoever you bought it from. Sounds like faulty radio. Which radio was it that you installed? I wonder if it was keeping the bcm awake since it was activating the dash lights. That will certainly kill a battery.

This internet thing always brings us to the worst case solution. Cars, health, relationships. Doesn't matter. It is doomed.....Whatever the problem. It's terminal. Throw it away and start over! Then after that terrified phase passes we realize it's usually the simple things. But Doom drives us to post about the impending doom. Then we assume the only logical outcome is the worst possible outcome. Usually when the guy finds some cleaner and 10 minutes fixes it he disappears into the bowels of the interwebs. Never to be seen again in the doom post leaving others to assume it was even worse then first thought. I am happy it worked out. And even happier you took the time to let others know that the dynamite was not really the best option... This time.

I only see oil on the actual... Nut. The rest looks dry from these pics. I would assume it's an o ring? Can you take some measurements and just get a new o ring? Clean that...nut up and new o ring she should be good as new.

Doable? Sure. It's not just an engine swap though. There will be a lot of fabricating or a lot of cash to someone who can fabricate. I eyed doing a v8 swap in my Omni O24 back in the 80's. There was even a kit available for a while. Just too much work for too little gain. I hate being told this\saying this but it's true here. It would be considerably cheaper to buy a v8 durango. I don't know of a transverse mounted hemi. I doubt a fwd transmission can handle the hemi in a reliable manner. You would need to switch the car to a longitudinal drivetrain. The firewall will have to be moved back to fit the v8. Awd is gone unless you can grab an awd charger and use its drivetrain. Needs a new rear end. Entire rear suspension rethought and changed. That leaves a fwd front suspension. It will need changed or at least modified. I would use an 8 speed with any hemi swap. It's a phenomenal trans. Yet they are physically huge. You need to cut the tunnel out and fabricate a new one to fit that monster. With how the heater box is mounted and having to cut the firewall and tunnel your going to have to relocate the hvac or get an aftermarket setup. We haven't even touched on strengthening the chassis. In awd most power is still to the front. Can the body handle 400ft lb applied to the rear portion of the chassis without twisting itself into a pretzel? So yeah sure it's doable. If you already own a fab shop or have unlimited cash or have unlimited time and cash. I am one to make my ride into what I want it to be but this is too much for 99.9% of the automotive world.

Yes I am enjoying it. Very much so. Mostly to give her a nicer ride but I have read several posts on how this cannot be done. Telling me I cannot do something is a great way to make me try. The only attempt I found to get bluetooth and auto temp control working on a Journey happened before Alfaobd was a thing. I think his limiting factor was the dealer would not program his bcm. Then the junkyard guy made me a deal of a lifetime and here we are. The way this played out I got really lucky. I know it's not going to pan out for most this cheap but if you can get your hands on a wrecked Journey it can really pay off. I have some health issues and have not worked for a few years now. I am lucky enough my better half lets me play with cars to stay busy. I am slow, can only work in short bursts and have to plan my projects a bit more, but it keeps me moving and helps prevent cabin fever. Some back ground. I built my 78 Mustang II over the past few years. It was a v6 automatic and now is a built 302 5 speed. It needs paint but the body only has 40k on it. Otherwise it's now a new car. Chassis resurface with Por15 and painted. New suspension, trans, engine, carpet, dash, seals and seats. I built it all except the exhaust and the engine was rebuilt by a local engine builder. Otherwise I have done everything myself but the alignment, windshield and hatch glass. It was taken down to an empty shell by the previous owner and I put it back together. Better than Ford ever could back then. It came with no options. A stripped down car but it has factory T Tops with no real rust. A perfect blank canvass. I am adding every option but keeping the add-ons as factory as possible. Just before she wrecked her Mazda I bought coil overs for the II. Then a loaded 14 Ram to replace my old 94 Ram. The 94 only has 130k miles, still runs great but the rockers are gone and my kid smashed the side of it when he first started driving. I feel bad having a loaded Ram, Feral Mustang II and a few other project vehicles. While she had to downgrade. The Journey is a nice vehicle it was just that it was a base SXT. I started this project just wanting to give her a backup camera. I wanted it to look factory. Then.....gestures around the piles of wires.... this happened. I went back over the backup camera wiring today. I did not want to buy a new camera if I made a mistake. Everything looked intact. Checked continuity at the body to dash harness connector. All looked good. Checked power at the d pillar connector. Again looked good. I had the better half hop in the car and put her in reverse. I noticed the image was black but was snowy earlier when I pulled it into the barn. Only difference was the hatch was open. I wiggled the wiring harness between the hatch and the vehicle and the camera started flickering. I was able to pinch the wire harness near the body and camera came on. That is one of the risks using used parts. I replaced about 1 foot of wire between the hatch and D pillar. Camera now works as designed. I installed the left steering wheel buttons with the one from the heated steering wheel. She now has the VR and phone button for the bluetooth. No further programming needed. Plugged right in and worked. Next up is the automatic temp control. Hoping next Sunday that is taken care of. The owie that started all this and the toys that fuel the guilt driving me to make her car the best it can be!

I just added factory bluetooth to our Journey. I am finding if your car did not come with an option there is no wiring for that option. Excluding heated seats. the wiring for that was present. Otherwise I have added wiring for the options I am installing. It was not that hard but was time consuming. Check out my thread for more info.

So far we have heated leather seats, 8.4 uconnect, factory alpine amp and sub, bluetooth, and auto dimming mirror all installed and functioning. I have the backup cam installed but image is afu. I will be ordering a new camera to hopefully fix it. I still have the heated steering wheel, 120v inverter and auto climate control to get working. Not bad for a few minutes,,err umm hours,,, well actually days invested. I probably have 16 hours total involved at this point. That is pulling the parts from the wrecked Journey and installing into our Journey. I work slow and an hour or two here and there. I am sure someone more agile than me could cut that time in half.