LBD-CT

Thanks for the update. We were told that the PTO seals were the problem with our Journey oil leak as well, but unlike what you were told, we were told that the seals themselves were not available, and therefore a new PTO unit would have to be installed. This was fine by us, as our fear was that if they only replace one seal, a week later we could have one of the other seals fail, especially if the vehicle's PTO was operating low on oil, causing possible lack of lubrication or overheating. I'd expect if they replace all your PTO seals you should be in good shape, and like you say, you have the warranty.

Good news - got the call today that our Journey was fixed and ready for pickup.

Bad news - I got the call at 11 am, and was told that Chrysler would stop paying for our rental at 5:30 pm, and we had a 3 hr trip one way to get to this dealer in the town our Journey broke down in. We didn't get any warning, like perhaps a call yesterday to tell us that the part was in earlier than expected, and that they'd have the repair completed today. We've scrambled to get the day off work tomorrow to drive there, and I can't fathom they'd have the gaul to request we pay for another day's rental (already made us pay for the first "diagnostic" day). But than again......

I'll post to let you know if we have any further issues, and please do the same if you don't mind.

The car spent an extra night in the shop because a bolt was "over torqued" and had to be replaced. But we have the car now & so far everything looks good. Will update in a few days once the car has been driven for a bit

All the best. It's amazing how similar our stories are. We're in Canada, and after reading some of the Journey quality horror stories on this forum and from other sites, we opted to purchase the extended service contract with our Journey, and less than 2 weeks later we're unfortunately already reaping the benefits. We've been told that Chrysler will cover the cost of the rental car for the length of time it takes to get the new PTO installed, with the exception of the first day which is considered a "diagnostic" day. They'll also cover other expenses incurred, like hotel, cab or food, if receipts are submitted, up to $100 per day for 3 days.

We have yet to submit, as they don't even have us on file yet, because our Journey broke down quicker than Chrysler could process our purchase paperwork.

I'm very curious to hear how long it takes for your dealership to get your new PTO installed, and what expenses they cover.

Got a call from the dealer today. They are not replacing the PTO. They are replacing all of the seals on the PTO. That's fine, I guess because we should get the car back tomorrow and if the PTO goes bad, we've still got the warranty...

Time will tell, but I'm not completely optimistic that this issue will be over with the replacement of the seals.

My wife and I just purchased our new AWD SXT Journey a little over a week ago, and decided to take it for a day trip the other day. We had just logged over 1000 km when we started smelling a burning oil smell. We pulled into the closest parking lot, popped the hood, and had a look under the vehicle. We were devastated to find copious amounts of hypoid gear oil dripping onto the pavement, and I estimated that most if not all had leaked out. The smell was from the gear oil leaking onto the hot exhaust manifold. Road side assistance towed our vehicle to the closest dealer, and our family of 4 was left standing alone in a parking lot, after hours, over 200 km from home. We asked roadside assistance if we could/should try to rent a car on our own in order to get home, or try to rent a hotel room for the night, and what would be covered, but they said we'd have to make those arrangements through the dealership. Unfortunately, the dealership was closed, and being the Sunday before a holiday Monday, it wouldn't be open for another 36 hours (2 nights). We went ahead, with lack of any direction from Chrysler Roadside assistance, and found a hotel room for the night, took a cab there, and then rented a car the next day to get us home. The dealer had a look at our Journey on Tuesday morning, and determined that a bad seal in the AWD PTO unit caused the leak, that the seal itself was not available, but rather the entire PTO unit has to be replaced. These PTO units are severely back ordered, and we could be out of our Journey for 2-3 weeks. This dealership alone has 2 other Journey's in with the same problem, and one owner has been in a rental for over 6 weeks waiting for a new PTO to arrive and be installed. One of these Journeys actually caught on fire from the oil leaking onto the hot exhaust system.

How many other Journey owners out there have had this same problem, and how long did you have to wait, or are still waiting, for your Journey to be repaired?

If this is a potential fire hazard, should a safety recall not be mandated?

We noticed the gear oil smell on the ride home from a long weekend. After going highway speed we could smell the oil through the vent as we came to a top. A quick look under the car it was clear enough to see the PTO rear seal was leaking. It did spray on the exhaust and down the frame rails. Stopped at the dealership and have been given an appt for Monday morning. Here's to hoping all goes well. We do have the Chrysler super duper extended warranty, so hopefully they cover all costs and a rental if needed.

Any comments on how well the Dodge installed OEM hitch for the Journey works? Any recommendations on aftermarket hitches for the Journey? Pros? Cons? Price differences?

Thanks.

zman

The company that makes the hidden hitch for the Journey also manufactures the same hitch for Curtiss. We paid about $150 for a 2 inch Hidden Hitch reciever. It fit nicely and wasn't horrible to install. You do have to drop the mufflers which means popping a bunch of rubber holding grommets. The install took two of us about two hours to install. Unless you have a way to support the mufflers and the hitch while installing, you need at least one helper. There is no drilling with the hidden hitch. everything bolts to existing frame holes.

I believe the OEM product was about $200 and it's my understanding that Hidden Hitch/Curtiss makes that unit as well.

It says on the description of the trailer tow prep package that it comes with the engine oil cooler, hitch and 7 pin wiring harness. Is the engine oil cooler a transmission oil cooler? My journey didn't come with a hitch, and I wanted to install one, but didn't know if I would needed an engine oil cooler, or a transmission oil cooler, or whether it was necessary at all. I have the 3.5L with 6 speed auto. Thanks to all for posting info on what hitches were available.

We ordered the trailer prep package. You get a Transmission cooler and a wiring harness. There is no hitch included. You can purchase a Hidden hitch brand 2 inch receiver for Less than $150. It takes a couple hours to install as you have to drop the mufflers.

I didn't connect the wiring harness as All I needed the receiver for was a bike rack, but the harness is not installed unless you set it up with the dealer and there is probably a fee for installing the harness.

tool6996 - I know the mouldings you are talking about and am also looking for them. I've searched the net for HOURS trying to find with no luck. I'll keep you posted if I find anything! Those make the Journey look SO much better! Any great sites you have would be appreciated!

Here's what my baby has gotten so far AFTER purchase...

Stone White Journey R/T AWD (loaded)

HID lights (Bosch aftermarket)

Chrome gas cap

Molded mud flaps

Polished Dodge door sills

Dodge Vent shades/sunroof deflector

Rear cargo tray that folds 50/50 with 3rd seat (Ebay)

Dark slate slush mats

LOOKING FOR/AT:

back bumber protector (the white scuffs VERY easily!)

chrome side mouldings

Billet grille (Ebay)

parking sensors front/rear (I have the camera, but it has its limitations)

I'll try to post a pic soon! New to this forum stuff...

Snow-Bird

Bird,

We installed the parking sensors when we bought our Journey.

A couple weeks after the install, my wife backed in to another car. The sensors went off after contact. A new bumper is about $600 to replace.

I'm not sure if the metallic paint reduces the sensor sensitivity, but I wouldn't install the sensors if I had the chance to do it again. The sensors on our last car were much more sensitive than on the Journey.

These were factory MOPAR sensors. Maybe 3rd party sensors will work better for you.

Just an FYI

Well it's been about 2 weeks now and the noise is gone. Thanks again

Gave my Dodge service guys a copy of the star bulletin. They hadn't seen it before.

They overfilled the power steering reservoir (raising the level a few mm) and the noise seems gone for me as well.

It's only been a week, but so far, so good

Has anybody found any floormats for the third row? I have seen some floormats, but none for the third row.

LOL is there enough room back there for a floormat?

maybe a couple of color coordinated washcloths?

sorry...

Well I imagine this is a very simple question for those of you out there that have the AWD is there a light on the console that lights up when the vehicle goes into AWD. I have yet to see it and thats why I am asking. I have driven in some really heavy rain as well big puddles the whole nine yards and have yet to see anything was wondering if it happens behind the scences allthough this does not make sense.

Jay

the only time you'll get a light is when it's not working properly. Otherwise it's transparent and happens behind the scenes

We had the same problem, but we threw a fit and the dealer went back and put one on for us.

For now, mine is hanging in the garage. If I need it I'll install it. Or better yet, my 5 star service tech, A.k.a my brother will install it and I'll pay him with beer

Interesting. I'm in the midwest...not more than several hundred miles from where the birds cross overhead. I rarely experience any drop-outs on any of my three receivers, even when out of terrestrial range. I know of three trouble spots, one being stopped underneath an overpass waiting for a traffic light, another on a road with heavy foliage and the third on a hill where one of the terrestrial stations is pretty much gunning the signal right down your throat and desensing any satellite reception almost completely.

Your summation of the usual trouble areas and weather is spot on. I never have a reception issue in even the worst downpours. Wet, heavy, water saturated snow piled on top of the antenna however can lead to reduced performance.

I think they may have installed the roof rack backwards on my wife's Journey. Here are my observations: 1) The rails that go front to back don't look like they sit properly in the plastic ends. 2) There are little triangles stamped into the rails (they look like little arrows), and they point to the back. 3) The cross bars (the two that go across the roof) were mounted backwards.

So I wanted to know 2 things:

1) Can anyone confirm if those little arrows should be pointing to the front or back.

2) I noticed that the rails on our ride are chrome, but I've seen pics where they are black. Anyone know why? Ours is the R/T, maybe the R/T's came with chrome rails...?

Rick

I have an SXT. The Factory installed roof rack is all black. There are 2 sets of arrows on the fore/aft bars and they point to the rear of the car. The cross bars when not in use are positioned at those arrows for noise reduction.

Hope this helps

A couple of things that might be helpful in diagnosing your problem:

The patch antenna for the satellite radio is located in the base of your mast antenna on the roof. If you have something on the roof rack, or one of the crossbeams of the roof rack over the top of the base (or nearly over the top), it may cause a loss of signal.

In all of the Sirius radios that I've come across, the antenna isn't simply a passive hunk of metal, either. It is actually an antenna with a frequency downconverter and amplifier built into it and powered by a low voltage sent up the antenna cable. This is done to eliminate the problems associated with carrying a weak signal at microwave frequencies through 20 some feet of cable. If the enclosure around the antenna becomes damaged or develops a hairline fracture that allows moisture to seep in, it will significantly affect the performance of this circuit. I had this happen on one of my aftermarket Sirius installations. The symptoms to watch for are reception problems after the antenna gets wet, such as after rainy conditions or heavy morning dew. The problem tends to go away after the antenna gets a sunny afternoon to dry out a bit. If this sounds like it matches your condition, ask the dealership to replace the antenna (give them the full reason why). No contact with Sirius should be necessary to fix this.

Sirius has terrestrial-based translators in many urban areas. These are transmitters that broadcast the digital data stream on an adjacent frequency band. This signal is meant to fill in what would be annoying signal drops when you get into the "canyons" of tall buildings, some parking structures, and larger overpasses that you stay under for longer durations (e.g. slow traffic conditions). While this terrestrial-based signal is nice, it also is a secondary user of that bandwidth, the primary user being point to point microwave links commonly used by TV and radio stations (the satellite bandwidth has it's own exclusive allocation). It is possible that you may be crossing the path of one of these links, which may be interfering with your reception. What's worse is since they can be nearly adjacent to the satellite frequency bandwidth, they can cause a condition known as "desense" if they are strong enough, effectively drowning out the satellite signals even though they are not transmitting over the top of them. Unfortunately if this is the problem you are experiencing, you don't have much of a choice other than to put up with it. Your receiver (in the United States) is covered under FCC rules part 15, which means that it must accept any interference, even if it causes undesired operation.

If you want to see if your area has a translator, check out this map. You may need to zoom in a little to see the marks in your area.

A side note: Those of you who live in Canada will appreciate that Sirius offers better satellite coverage than XM. XM uses two (actually four, two satellites co-located at each position) geosynchronous equatorial satellites that remain in the exact same position of the sky at all times. As you go further north in latitude, they get closer to the horizon. Sirius uses three satellites in elliptical orbits, which two are visible and transmitting at any one given time. These elliptical orbits are setup in such a manner that if you were to trace their paths on a flat map, it would look like a lop-sided infinity symbol that is vertically oriented (some of this is visible on the above mentioned map). The northern-most point is roughly 66° north latitude, so the satellites spend much of their time directly overhead of the central part of the United States and Canada. If you were able to see these satellites and lived in the midwest , they would rise in the southeast, head northwest to the northwestern sky, linger over to the northeastern sky, then head southwest and set in the southwest. Each satellite does this in a period of about 16 hours. The remaining 8 hours are spent out of view and subsequently switched into standby for power reasons. Then again, if the Sirius/XM merger goes through, it will be interesting to see what they do altogether with the satellite infrastructure.

Okay, back to your problem:

1. Check to make sure nothing is obstructing the view of the sky for your antenna's base. If obstructed, such as by a kayak, bike rack, ski case, or cross beam, this is likely your problem.

2. Note if your radio has problems after the antenna gets wet (rain, car wash, heavy dew). If this seems to be the case, have the antenna replaced.

3. Note when (and possibly where) the problem happens. There are clues to be gleaned from this.

Yeah, what he said...lol. Except I have the cool picture!!! ;-)

We had our radio system changed a while back due to some programming errors and we notice that even on a clear day that we get frequent dropouts of the signal.

I at first thought of a loose connection when we hit bumps but it does not happen always at that time. Loss for 5 or 10 seconds is not unusual at times.

I hesitate to call Sirius due to other posts that say you might get a few months free before your activation papers come in.

Is anyone else experiencing the same problem? Any suggestions?

TheStewie

Drop outs are a regular problem with either satellite radio company and are especially prevalent in rural areas without ground repeaters. The drop outs tend to happen most frequently under heavy tree cover or bridges or while in some valleys or close to hill sides. The Sirius Satellites rotate around the earth so that at any given time, 2 Satellites are overhead north America, That gives you good reception in some places and not so ggod with others. XM satellites broadcast from a fixed point over the equator and it's much easier to figure out where the dropouts will happen. As a subscriber to both services, I've found, for my location, with no ground repeaters nearby, that Sirius drops out about 5 times more frequently than XM. The one thing that won't affect your satellite radio reception, unlike Satellite TV is clouds. The signal has no trouble penetrating clouds, rain and snow.

here is a site that discusses Sirius, XM and their satellites.

I haven't had that problem but my passenger window doesn't work right all the time. I think it's the switch on the drivers controls that is faulty because it works fine from the passenger button. It goes down fine but goes up slow and stalls several times and I have to let go of the button and press it again to get it o go up a little more and then repeat.

I'm going to drop it off this week to get a recall fixed and also the squeak in the drivers side rear and the window. I'm also going to have them check the AC because it stinks like mildew every time I use it.

Have them check the drivers window controller plug. My Journey had the connector fall off the drivers side window controller. The tech was able to see the error when the diagnostic machine was plugged in to the odbII connector. He then popped up the drivers window controller assembly and firmly locked in the connector and my window issues went away.

My SXT did not come with fog lights. I am wondering if it would be very difficult to have a dealer now install fog lights or whether it can even be done. How would they handle a switch for the fog lights?

I don't suppose it would be that difficult. My fog lights turn on when you pull the end signal turn stalk out. Hard to describe. If you don't mind the fog lights being on all the time with the low beams, the all you'd need to do is wire a small relay in between the battery and the low beams to the new fog lamps. That's how many yaftermarket fog lamps are installed.

There are also plenty of places in & around the center console that you could install an on/off switch and keep it discreetly hidden.

here is an example from eBay

I bought my Journey on 5/25, and got the card yesterday 6/21 (it is a separate card, it is just billed to an existing cc). I hope to get the PIN in early this week so that I can use it on my next fill-up.

I stand corrected

Thanks :-)

It is true that if you yank them hard enough they seem to lock up. When you lean slowly forward you could lean right into the dash without it locking so that is why I thought they might be having issues.

Thanks.

The Stewie

From Pages 41-48 of your owners manual:

Lap/Shoulder Belts

All seating positions in your vehicle are equipped with

lap/shoulder belts.

The belt webbing retractor is designed to lock during

very sudden stops or impacts. This feature allows the

shoulder part of the belt to move freely with you under

normal conditions. However, in a collision, the belt will

lock and reduce your risk of striking the inside of the

vehicle or being thrown out.

How to Engage the Automatic Locking Mode

1. Buckle the combination lap and shoulder belt.

2. Grasp the shoulder portion and pull downward until

the entire belt is extracted.

3. Allow the belt to retract. As the belt retracts, you will

here a clicking sound. This indicates the safety belt is

now in the Automatic Locking mode.

How to Disengage the Automatic Locking Mode

Unbuckle the combination lap and shoulder belt and

allow it to retract completely to disengage the Automatic

Locking mode and activate the vehicle sensitive (emergency)

locking mode

Anyone else notice that when you open like just one passenger window in the back, you need to open another cause the pressure will just kill your ears after about a minute? So I can never just have like one of the kids windows open, it has to be two.

It's discussed several times in the owners manual. Maybe it's an issue with other Chrysler products

Page 37 of the owner's manual:

Wind Buffeting

Wind buffeting can be described as the perception of

pressure on the ears or a helicopter type sound in the

ears. Your vehicle may exhibit wind buffeting with the

windows down, or the sunroof (if equipped) in certain

open or partially open positions. This is a normal occurrence

and can be minimized. If the buffeting occurs with

the rear windows open, then open the front and rear

windows together to minimize the buffeting. If the

buffeting occurs with the sunroof open, adjust the sunroof

opening to minimize the buffeting or open any

window.

How long does it take until you get your gas card?

Fine print said 4-6 weeks for activation on your visa/mastercard. You are not issued a separate gas card

I've seen a few. My wife saw a white one the other day. I enjoy having the only one in my area. My only question is, if they can't keep them on the lot, where are they going?

my dealer told us a huge number are going to the tourist meccas in Fla to replace minivan rentals

Today I had a not so nice surprise.

I made a left turn and to my dismay a bunch of liquid started to slush out of the "chill zone" above the glove compartment.

It turns out that a Coke can my wife left in there exploded due to the heat in the cabin. I was parked in the sunlight and the car warmed up.

It leaked onto the floor, center console, lower glove compartment etc. It luckily cleaned up well, but was not a welcome occurance.

So, lesson to be learned;

Don't leave cans of pop in the Chill Zone unless you are planning on drinking them on a road trip.

Yuck!

You know, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it until your post. Thanks for the lesson. You may be the first to post about this, I know you won't be the last, lol

Post whoring Rob? or just going slowly insane while waiting for the car to arrive? I feel for ya, bud.

For my Genie Garage door, the homelink programmed per the first set of instructions in the manual. For the liftmaster garage door, I had to use the purple program button on the garage door unit and then program the homelink, per the 2nd set of instructions in the manual.

It was a little confusing, but I just spent some time programming some universal keypads for the garage doors, and programming the homelink was about as much of a process.

nelsonclan,

I believe it's directly proportional to the location of the drivers seat. In my case I can still see the full rear view mirrow when the drop-down mirrow is deployed however I'm not a big fan of the image in that mirrow so only deploy it occasionally to make sure everyone who is supposed to be there is still there. I find it rather destracting and would not use it on a full time basis. It's the old love/hate syndrome in that some people will love it and others will hate it. I'm just kind of sitting on the fence.

Keith

Keith, I'm with you. I'm sure that some people will find the panoramic mirror useful, I can't think of any usefulness for me. That little door will just stay closed.