Jay Sixspeedrt

I have owned my Journey SXT AWD for exactly 1 year and just over 25k miles. Great truck! I haven't had a single issue with the vehicle. Everything works superbly well - the truck is solid, quiet and comfortable in all types of driving. I must be doing something wrong, I guess. It also was the fastest accelerating vehicle in its class when equipped with the Pentastar - now it's edged out by the new Ecoboost turbo Explorer.

Wow, Black, sorry to see that. Happened to me back in 1989 with a 84 Rabbit GTI. Came out in the morning, wheels gone, car on blocks. Should have had locking lug nuts. Hard to believe no one ever sees this stuff taking place.

Maybe invest in a security cam too?

I've had the tail lamp issues with my 2012 Journey - using tail lamps with my boat trailer connected - after about 5 minutes of operation the entire tail lamp circuit turned off.... it automatically reset itself after a few minutes, but the tail lamps are not useful for more than a few minutes at a time.

also, you can get a message that it's time for an oil change.

Yeah, I double checked the installation instructions too for this unit. Matches the labeling on the chart - green is right turn lamp.

I guess I should have just done it myself in the first place. So much for a 'professional' installation.

What I can't figure - how do the turn signals WORK on the trailer? Right signal works fine, even though green is wired to ground. Even the tail lights work... for a while.

Maybe it would work if wired correctly... although I think the load may be too heavy for the LED tail lamp circuit - isn't that an issue?

Bump for info. Would a modulite (powered directly from the electrical system) reduce the load on the vehicle's tail lights?

Welcome! I've had a 2012 SXT AWD since early January - just over 14,000 miles now - great vehicle - tows like a dream.

Well, I removed the tail lense so I could inspect the wiring. Here is what I found installed. - here are some photos and a link

http://www.towready.com/content/products.aspx?lvl=3&parentid=1500&catID=1545∂=119130

This is using the vehicle circuit for power - it doesn't have a dedicated power supply like a Modulite

Also, oddly - Green is supposed to be the right turn signal per the labeling on the Tow Rite Module, and the written instructions, but he has green wired as the ground - you can see it going down in the photo - it's connected to a mounting post. I'm not sure how the wiring functions correctly but it does - the turn signals DO work normally..

But I am thinking the vehicle wiring can't supply sufficient amperage to drive the vehicle and trailer tail lights without overloading eventually??

I've used her twice now to tow to the lake and back - it's about a 150 mile round trip with over 1400 ft of elevation change each way. Truck tows great.

Well, it returned to normal on it's own.... so no need for a trip to the dealer. I put the Journey up on ramps this AM and took a peek.... the trailer hitch dealer installed a modulite type connector up behind the tail light lense on the driver side. He must have pulled the tail light lense to install. I'll have to pull it and take a look to see how it's wired.

I wonder if the Modulite itself might have an internal overload sensor that tripped and reset? Not sure how that could affect the Journey's tail lights though.

I had not towed my boat trailer at night, but the tail lights/ marker lights appeared to run normally. Today, it was foggy, so I ran my headlights. After about 5 minutes, I noticed the side marker lights on my boat trailer were out. I pulled over to check it out.

I found that the taillights on the Journey were out too. Brake lights/turn signals still worked, but the tail lamps were out. I unplugged the wiring harness to the trailer - and the tail lamps on the Journey were still out. I assumed that I had blown a fuse?

So I continued on to the lake. After I got done fishing, pulled the boat from the water... reconnected my trailer lights. And I now noticed the Journey's tail lights and the trailer lights were working! ???

I wonder what happened? Are the tail lights protected by a relay that tripped due to too much load? And when the relay cooled down, it reset?

I wondered the same thing myself. Dodge has an unfortunate habit of putting cheap prop rod hood supports on $30,000+ vehicles.

They're an easy upgrade on the Challenger - the Challengers have the ball-mounts to attach the struts to the hood already installed.... but there's no such balls mounted on the Journey hood. Looks to me like the ball mounts that the struts need to pivot on would have to be welded to the Journey hood to accomplish this - then of course you'd have to repaint over the welds to make it look 'factory'.

Ok, after 830 miles I've filled up twice. The first time, the EVIC read 24 mpg, the actual was 23 mpg. Tonight, EVIC read 22.5 mpg, the actual was 23 mpg. May have to do with where the gas pump "clicks" off when filling. I never add gas beyond the first click.

Ahhh, thanks... I was going to ask if Moparman was referring to the air-box or the intake manifold.

The chips are junk. The only useful electronic engine tuner is a true handheld tuner like a Diablosport Predator. However, those aren't available for the newer Dodge vehicles.

That being said, we know that Dodge has two tunes for the Pentastar, one with significantly higher horsepower. The Journey tune only makes 283 hp and 260 ft lbs torque... however the same Pentastar in the Challengers makes 305 hp and 268 ft lbs torque. Has to be only software - I seriously doubt there are any physical differences between the two engines. Sure wished I could flash my Journey's PCM with the Challenger tune.

I will check with a fill up the next few times to compare. My VW which I traded... usually the actual mileage was slightly better than reported in the VW version of EVIC.

I ran about 450 miles before resetting the fuel economy average in EVIC - got 25.1. Just ran 650 miles or so, got 25.2 - 80% of that was interstate driving with cruise at 72 mph. Very happy with the mileage so far for this type of vehicle. On the interstate, at 72, she will average well over 26 mpg. Had about 80 miles to drive yesterday on the interstate - the average started at 25 mpg and was over 26 mpg. Of course it came back down when I was doing urban/suburban stop and go after exiting the interstate.

Its not a noise from lack of oil, sounds like something got left under hood(funnel??)and fell down and was rubbing on belt.

That's what I'm hoping it is too, MM. That way no harm, no foul.

I am hoping for you, Tommy, it's just something stupid like a mechanic left *something* under the hood, and it got squared away with no damage, and they just didn't want to tell you what happened.

Should be easy to tell if there's any damage at the next oil change - have someone look for metal shavings/filings in the oil when it's drained out. Dunno if the Journey's drain plug is magnetic - some are magnetic and metal will pile up on the plug if something was damaged.

Call Chrysler as Chris advises and get this issue documented pronto.

Is the Journey still making any abnormal noises during start up or when driving?

If so probably Geer is spot on... someone started it with no oil accidentally - then added oil. Probably had oil when they drove it around the building. But that doesn't fix the permanent damage to the engine that would very likely result.

If, however, the engine is quiet and running normally - maybe someone left a tool or something else under the hood and it fell against the pulleys when the mechanic stopped? LOL - it happens.

That's quite stout - very 'truck like' - the beauty is the Journey rides and handles like a car.

I don't have any load levers - just a class 4 hitch. That back suspension barely moves when I stand on the hitch drawer. The 2012 Journey has a stout rear suspension - capable of carrying some weight.

There is a large meet scheduled for May 26 on the Queesnway

in Etobicoke with a full cross-section of Mopars.

The location is very near Sherway mall and is in it's 3rd or 4th year,

info on the Caliberforumz site.

This is a great get together and a lot of fun. I went last May with my 2010 Challenger R/T. We had a 30-40 car cruise from Hamilton to the event. I haven't committed to going this year, but I am not sure I could bring the Journey - the R/T might get jealous. ^_^

I am not sure of the total trailer weight - The hull weight is 1200, add another 350 for the 75 hp outboard, batteries (100 lbs) trolling motor - 50 lbs, miscellaneous gear (100 lbs) and fuel 200 lbs. Then the Load Rite trailer must weigh 500-550 lbs, so the total trailer/boat combo must be around 2500 lbs (and that's if the live wells/bait wells are empty). Usually tongue weight of 10% is a good ratio to total trailer weight.

I did weigh the trailer tonque just now by putting my floor jack on a bath scale, and lifting just 6" behind the coupler - I got about 240-250 lbs so my guesstimate from lifting the tongue was quite close.

The point is... it barely even pushes the rear suspension on the Journey down - it's pretty beefy.

Tonight picked my boat up from winter storage at the Marina, and getting fitted with a new trailering/mooring cover. First time I'd towed the boat with my Journey.

Boat trailer tongue is fairly heavy - I would estimate about 250 lbs or so - but barely even budges the rear suspension of the Journey downward when hooked up - surprised at how much load capacity the rear suspension has. I thought it would be soft and car like - pleasant surprise to see it's more like a truck.

And the Pentastar with six speed auto handles the boat with minimum drama - tows superbly well - feels like it could tow a lot heavier trailer if I needed it to. I'll bet the Journey with trailer could do 0-60 mph as fast as my old 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Sport could manage it empty - . In fact, seems kind of comparable to my 2004 Ram 2500 with 5.7 in the way it tows the boat - maybe the Ram had a little more umph going up very steep hills.

Anyways, very happy with the Journey's hauling performance. I averaged 16.5 mpg over 20 miles of towing in some hilly country.

PS - I just noticed that the roofline of the Journey is similar to that of the Magnum wagons with the shape of the rear window, roofline curve, etc. I never noticed the 'family' resemblance, but I appreciate it now