erbie78

I know they're tight enough as I checked power before buttoning everything back up, and it was a little wonky on my first check. I didn't have the Neg connection completely seated, so I went and redid that and tightened everything up to where nothing was moving. I'll probably have to hunt down all the grounds and check those. To be honest, I've never thought about checking the charge of a new battery. I might throw the trickle on it tonight.

Oh yes. It's a common thing for them to sound horrible for a few seconds after start on a really cold morning. I got used to it having at '13 and a '14 Grand Caravan for a while.

So it's been below freezing here for the last week or so. I noticed the kiddo's '12 was turning over pretty slow in 3* F and found that the battery was 6+ years old, so determined it was time for a new one. Got that done last night, but it's still turning over slower than I would think it should. Could I be looking at needing a starter? 3.6 AWD 119,000 miles.

Changed the 6 yr old battery in the kiddo's '12. That was fun. I don't remember it being as hard to change the one in my 03 Concorde that was in the passenger wheel well.

My wife's 2013 Grand Caravan had a similar issue. Lost reception and it ended up being the antenna connection within the head unit. I scrapped it for an aftermarket once since it was the basic radio/cd player.

Absolutely agree! The pressure holding them down is the most important. I order from RockAuto most times at less than $10/ blade for the whole family. (Durango, DJ, and a Buick Enclave)

I tend to go with beam for the windshield, but usually end up with frame for the back since I usually get better results with those back there.

Just curious what everyone out there prefers for their wiper blades.

I believe the Journey came first in 2008 and then was rebadged for Fiat in Europe as the Freemont in 2011.

Well, I took it for a short drive this morning to put gas in it. Outside air temp was 36* and while it wasn't a long drive, I was satisfied with the temp rise and was getting adequate heat from the vents by the time I got back home. Coolant was up above 160. I think our issue is her short drive and just how cold it had been, but I will keep an eye on it and report back if anything changes.

Just to update, life got in the way over the weekend (4 basketball games, show choir competition, and the first decent weather to sell Girl Scout cookies), so I have not had a chance to look into this further.

116k miles. It hasn't tripped any codes. I might check to see if any are pending. This morning (-4*F) she let it run for a little over 10 minutes before leaving, drove to school (she drives more like a grandma than she does like me), and checked the coolant temp for me. It was 176* when she got there. Again, I know the trip isn't long enough to get it warmed up, but I would have thought a 10 minute warm up would have had it closer. Might just be too damned cold out right now. Fortunately, we're going to be back above freezing consistently after tomorrow and thru the next 10 days.

I'm taking that into account. I'm going to try and see if I can do some personal research in it this weekend. While it won't be as cold as it has been the last couple of days (-12* F this morning), I should be able to figure something out.

After some research, the change from OAT to HOAT happened between 2012 and 2013, so if I do have any left over (if it would even be any good), it doesn't look like it will be the right stuff.

Sorry, it's the 3.6, which is why I reference changing the one in the Caravan, it'll be pretty much the same job. I plan to double check the coolant requirements (pain in the ass), but I believe it should be OAT. Hell, I might have some left from doing the Caravan. What's the shelf life on an open bottle of antifreeze? I've looked into the process of replacing the heater core, but not flushing it. I'll look into that. I'll definitely report back. I hate non-resolved forum posts.