Journey_SeXT

I had a whack of maintenance items (and still do) from my Aveo. Spark plugs, wires, coil pack, oil filters and so on....everything that was close out prices at Rockauto. Well, the car got totaled a week after I installed the brand new drums, pads and exhaust and now I can't get rid of them. Even tried ebay with no success....I'm just gonna unload all of it on the next Aveo I see in a parking lot somewhere.....I know i might creep someone out but It's some good stuff I hate to see go to waste.

My 2011 gets new rotors once a year.... I switched to 500℉ rated dot4 brake fluid which handles heat better. Semi-metalic pads also draw more heat from the rotors than ceramic pads. The pads take the heat instead of the rotors. Lately I've had no problems.

Also it helps to slowly break in new rotors by avoiding hard stops for the first few hundred miles.

11JB you must be doing your own brake work if you are replacing rotors every year. Are you using the "good stuff" or just going with cheapies. My rotors will probably not last long either as I don't buy the high end stuff but I don't care once they warp I replace them with a new pair....no big deal. I always buy in advance when they go on special...I already have a set of brakes stored at home for the next time the brakes need to be replaced.

Ignore what the dealer says. Follow the manual and you are just fine. Dodge published the manual oil change timelines along side with the warranty they provide. They would not give you a 100k mile powertrain warranty if they thought 8k or 10k mile oil change intervals was unsafe.

Oh I've ignored them alright, I haven't used the dealer since 2012 and do my own maintenance. I replace my oil every 5,000 miles which is probably too soon on these engines but I find changing oil very therapeutic so I don't mind doing it little more frequently. Also looks good on the maintenance log if I had to sell it.

The manual tries to show the lowest maintenance cost to the consumer and why they show some pretty high mileage between OCI's....the dealer on the other hand doesn't look out for the consumers wallet so that is why I am surprised. I thought for sure they might stretch it to a max of 3,750 miles (6,000 km's) but 10,000 km's is great....maybe there is hope for some dealerships or maybe FIAT requested that they increase OCI's? I know the last time I had mine done at the dealer a few years ago slapped at 3,000 mile sticker.

I would say that they are under sized for the weight of the Journey combined with less than stellar brake parts.

I took my DJ to the dealer for an oil change (my oil changes are included in the warranty) this morning and noticed the sticker they put on the windshield to remind me for the next one was for 10,000 kilometres ( a little over 6200 miles). They always put 5, 000 kilometres (3100 miles) before. That's the second time in a row they've done this, but I thought the first time they had made a mistake. I'm thinking customers must have told them to look in the owners manual. Welcome to 2015.

Is that on conventional oil? If so, I am surprised the dealer would do that.

It was minus 28 c here on Sunday and would not start . Had to replace the battery .

The weekend was brutal here too. My Journey started fine but that cold start noise was real ugly.

It's 42 here as the sun is setting.....

42 F = 6 Celsius.....That's warm enough for me! We're expecting wind chills tomorrow of -30c (-22 F) Thanks for that wind Hockey Puck!

Happy to say the harmonic squealing noise is gone after replacing the idler pulley, however the grinding sound when the starter first turns over remains. Lasts 5-10 seconds. Supposedly it was all part of the same fix.....apparently not. Hopefully it doesn't take another 2 years to get to the bottom of that too.

Lytefall,

What was the part# they replaced it with? Was it 05281301AA? That's the p/n on the TSB....I checked the net and I don't seem to find it.

Yes, thankfully everyone is safe. Thank you for the write up and letting us know that we are pretty safe in these vehicles.

I only wish the spark plugs were just as easy to get to on the V6.

Wow, that looks bad. Everyone okay?

My engine light just came on

I have 2014 crossroad V6 FWD

14,000 Km

What code are you getting? Also you are under warranty so have it taken to the dealer and please let us know what code and what fix was done. Reporting back helps other members who may have the same issue.

Agreed, 3000 miles is way too soon with Pentastar engines which is very easy on the oil,

I was at Service First for an oil change and they said I was supposed to have my spark plugs changed every 30k miles. I have 80k miles now. Is it true and if it is, why don't the last longer?

2.4L uses NGK ZFR5F-11 (Gap 0.044 in [1.12 mm]) copper core plugs which is why they don't last long. You could try switching them out to a platinum or iridium plug which will last longer but I usually like to stick with whatever is the original. Anyhow, the 4 cyl. is easy to replace plugs and cheap for copper core and done yourself.

I am assuming you have the 4 cyl. and if so I would like to see pics of what the plugs look like after that long used. Has you noticed any difference in performance lately?

Yup, 32,000 miles for 2.4L and 96,000 miles for 3.6L. I've attached the 2011 owners manual.and spark plug replacement guide for 4 cylinder 2.4L if needed.

2011-Journey-OM-6th.pdf

Spark plugs removal DJ 2.4.pdf

Spark plugs installation DJ 2.4.pdf

For the coolant it doesn't say anything about checking the coolant at 80k miles. It says change at 80k and 104k miles. Just doesn't make any sense.

And it just can't be right to wait until 120k miles for a transmission flush. That's a long time for the original fluid!

I'll probably start checking with the dealer to see if they have any deals on the transmission flush or change. The coolant I will do myself, but I'll probably wait until 104k miles since the fluid is only 3 years old. I hate taking my vehicle to get serviced, but I don't exactly have the equipment to do a transmission flush myself!

Like you I will be doing the coolant this year myself. I think doing it a bit earlier than the manual's mileage is a good thing and couldn't hurt the vehicle....I'm just hoping by the time I hit the year 5 mark someone out their will put a youtube how to on replacing the tranny fluid in our sealed units so I can avoid going to the dealer.

I'm not about to get out the manual, but from what you've quoted it seems clear enough to me;

At 64K you check the fluid for level and color. At 120K you drain, flush, replace filters and refill.

Same story for coolant; check at 80K, flush and fill at 5 years or 104K miles.

Of course nothing prevents you from doing these maintenance procedures more often - a clean engine is a happy engine.

+1 ^^

Congrats with the new Cherokee JS! I have seen quite a few of them up here in T.O. and I think they are very sharp looking. Well done!

If you can find one with a "seasoned" mechanic thats good. Ones around me employee nothing but high school kids.

Which there is nothing wrong with that....just don't have them learn how to change oil on my car.

The last few times I have been at the Urgent Care they have indicated that my blood pressure was high (over the last year plus), so yesterday I went in. Sure enough, it's high...VERY high. With 1 in 3 people having high blood pressure I figured that there is bound to be some experience on the forum.

So, do/did you have high blood pressure? Were you able to get in in check? What things worked for you? What things didn't?

My background: I am 35 years old. I work out 4 to 5 days a week (strength and cardio). I play and coach hockey as well, so I would consider myself to be a fairly active person. I don't smoke, but I do drink...sometimes a lot. Yesterday they put me on what I would consider a fairly strong dose of meds and I am going back in for a follow-up in 30 days.

That's my story, what's yours?

What about your diet? High sodium? Coffee or caffeine pills? Stressful job? Like I am the one to talk...I smoke over a pack a day and drink two full pots of coffee daily. but hey, at least I quit drinking and that made a big improvement on my health. I went from a size 42 to a size 36.

At 15 bucks per oil change, any oil is fine

Not all oils are the same so I would at least like to know what they are using. Chrysler (under FIAT) does have a deal in place with Sopus so that $15 oil change would be real sweet if they are using Pennzoil or Quaker State.

My dealer uses Valvolene, and oil changes and tire rotation are included in the Platinum Extended Warranty I purchased with the car.

Valvoline is a great oil!

Even at that price I wouldn't bite personally. I'm a strictler for doing my own maintenance. I don't like other people messing with my car. I like to know exactly what goes into my engine. Plus I enjoy working on my vehicles. But that's just me .

Same here. There is no way that any oil changer would put the same TLC in an oil change like I do.

$15.00 oil change....that's pretty damn good. What oil brand will they be using? At that price bring you should see if you could bring your own synthetic oil and pay the $15 dollars as labor. That would probably work out to less than $50.00/oil change. My dealer charges close to a $100.00 (with taxes) for synthetic.