Journeyman425

That's a really nice Journey. A couple of years ago we rented a Journey SE in Florida with the 4 cylinder engine and it ran fine on the flat Florida interstates. We tow a camper, so the 3.6 was mandatory for us. Even if I didn't need it for towing, I still would have chosen the 3.6. I love the power, smoothness and refinement of this engine, plus I prefer the six speed transmission. The sound of the engine alone is worth the extra cost, speaking strictly for myself on this matter. As recommended above, drive both to be sure, but that Blacktop SXT has got all the right equipment in it otherwise and is a helluva good value. Enjoy!

Haven't seen it in person yet but there's a guy on this forum who just got one. He posted a couple of pics in the Welcome forum.

Hither Hills State Park in Montauk, NY. We love it there and our kids have made a bunch of friends there over the last three years. In the top photo, look between and behind the two tents and you'll see the top of the dune, covered in green beach plants, behind our site. The ocean is just on the other side of that dune - maybe 100' from our site. You fall asleep at night listening to it.

Did some towing this weekend with the Journey for the first time. I thought it would handle the camper better than the 300M and sure enough, big difference. The Journey is much more stable with the weight and the two extra ratios in the transmission make a big difference in power and even economy when towing. Plus, now I can see over the camper in the rearview whereas I could not in the 300M - huge plus there! Pics as promised:

Glad it is resolved.

Sinister looking Journey! Best of luck with it; you will love the car.

Post pictures! Haven't seen a Blacktop yet except on the website.

Except for some color changes, the 2014's will look essentially the same. Some option packages will be refreshed, and the Crew will be called Limited for 2014. No radical changes like it underwent for 2011, for instance.

What is your symptom? Sounds like someone is simply throwing parts at a problem without diagnosis. There really is no such thing as overdue for brakes. Everyone's brakes wear at alternating rates because no two people drive exactly the same, manner-wise and route-wise. Please share your braking symptoms so we can understand the problem better.

He's correct. My 2000 300M had its first wheel alignment following the replacement of worn inner and outer tie rod ends - at 158,000 miles. Now, at 282,000 I have another bad inner tie rod on the left side, and will align it again after that is replaced. Otherwise, it has never needed it and it tracks perfectly fine.

Not sure if this will help, but here goes. Diag is from 2010 SXT V6 AWD - earliest that I can go back to. See if what you need is on this page. Hope this helps:

You should change the oil even though the mileage interval has not been reached. Frequent short trips cause oil deterioration over time as well as mileage. From the owner's manual: Required Maintenance Intervals Refer to the Maintenance Schedules on the following pages for the required maintenance intervals. 13000 Km 8000 Miles 6 Months Change the engine oil and engine oil filter. Rotate the tires, rotate at the first sign of irregular wear, even if it occurs before 8,000 miles (13 000 km). Ask the service advisor to have the oil change indicator reset so that the indicator system is in sync with your next service. Safe trip!

I ordered my 2013 Crew with the Trailer Tow Prep group, sales code AHT. We installed a Mopar hitch when the car arrived at the dealership and connected the supplied wiring harness to the wiring which was installed at the factory. No power to trailer harness. In order to enable the trailer harness, we had to add sales code AHC (Trailer Tow Group) to the vehicle configuration as per Chrysler, then reconfigure the vehicle to see the wiring installation. Tested wiring and all is working. Connected camper and everything works. Here is the document: LLC Version 1 Case Number: S1108000077 Release Date: 11/04/2011 Symptom/Vehicle Issue: Trailer Tow Wiring Is Inoperative Diagnosis: If vehicle has trailer tow group AHT and the trailer tow wiring harness is inoperative, you need to add a sales code (AHC). Repair Procedure: 1. Go to Dealer Connect, Service Tab, Global Claims System, Vehicle Option, Add a Sales Code and enter vin, then select “AHC Trailer Tow” and then select add, then hit the save button. 2. Now perform a vehicle restore configuration with the WiTech. Verification: Verify trailer tow wiring is working.

Flash Lights with Remote Key Lock This feature will cause the turn signal lights to flash when the doors are locked or unlocked with the RKE transmitter. This feature can be turned on or turned off. To change the current setting, proceed as follows: For vehicles equipped with the EVIC, refer to “Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC)/Personal Settings (Customer-Programmable Features)” in “Understanding Your Instrument Panel” for further information. For vehicles not equipped with the EVIC, perform the following steps: Press and hold the UNLOCK button on a programmed RKE transmitter for at least 4 seconds, but no longer than 10 seconds. Then, press and hold the LOCK button while still holding the UNLOCK button. Release both buttons at the same time. Test the feature while outside of the vehicle by pressing the LOCK/UNLOCK buttons on the RKE transmitter with the ignition switch in the LOCK position and the Key Fob removed. Repeat these steps if you want to return this feature to its previous setting. Note: Pressing the LOCK button on the RKE transmitter while you are in the vehicle will activate the Security Alarm. Opening a door with the Security Alarm activated will cause the alarm to sound. Press the UNLOCK button to deactivate the Security Alarm.

How about some pictures?

Quite frankly, I am shocked. As a dealer service manager, this is not protocol as I am accustomed to it. In all honesty, we are rarely, if ever, involved in rentals since we're in a small town and we can usually provide a loaner where needed. When a customer calls Chrysler seeking assistance of some sort, they always call us to qualify the customer's request and will almost always offer some assistance. In a case like yours where the cylinder head is a known problem and your car is relatively new, I would expect Chrysler to honor your request for rental coverage. If the dealer's District Service Manager will authorize it, then the dealer can submit a claim for the rental along with the claim for the head and be reimbursed for the Hertz bill.

My 300M was built with Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires which I love. My other 300M had Falken Ziex tires and they were awful. Switched them to Michelin Primacy and they are almost as good as the Pilot HX. I was skeptical of the Kumho's but after driving the car a few hundred miles, I must say I'm pretty impressed with their smoothness and how quiet they are. The car's cornering grip is very good too, with no squeal. Zero vibration issues to speak of. At this point I see no reason to spend extra money to upgrade to Michelins. I'll reserve final judgement after I see how long they last and how good they perform in snow. The Pilot HX, in particular, is outstanding in the snow on my 300M, believe it or not. It's one of the reasons why we skipped AWD when we ordered our Journey - we've never been close to being stuck in snow.

Sorry, I was more focused on your actuator concern and realized after re-reading your post that you are more concerned with the brake noise. Re-checked for bulletins and Technician Confirmed Repairs on my end but I'm not coming up with anything - yet. If that changes I'll post the results of my search here right away.

This Journey is a very credible vehicle for those seeking performance but need a utility-type vehicle. Its power is impressive and the handling is very well composed and not at all clumsy. This car corners nearly as well as my 300M with Performance Handling Group. Dodge should be proud to offer it as a worthy performance partner in its lineup. I'm really surprised that we don't sell more of them in the U.S, although sales are up over 20,000 from this time last year.

I'm going out into the driveway to play with it at night time here and there too. Only had ours for five weeks. This car has that effect on many of us, I suspect Congratulations, enjoy and welcome!

What a wonderful read; thank you! Really happy to hear how well your Journey performed. We're so happy with ours so far. Going camping with it July 5th, curious to see how it handles our pop-up camper. Not expecting any difficulty as our 300M tows it easily. Hershey trip two weeks after that. Distance won't be anything like your road trip but it will give me a sense of its capabilities. Nice to have a new car to travel in, too.

Jarod - not seeing a TSB in either 2011 or 2012 that describes fixes to your issue. This bulletin is listed - see below: SUBJECT: FLASH: Hands Free Module Software Enhancements OVERVIEW: This Bulletin involves performing a USB service flash of the Hands Free Module (HFM). MODELS: 2011 (JC) Journey 2011 (LD) Charger 2011 (LX) 300 NOTE: This bulletin applies to vehicles built from December 20, 2010 (MDH 1220XX) to June 10, 2011 (MDH 0610XX) equipped with UCONNECT VOICE COMMAND W/BLUETOOTH (sales code RSP, RSQ for international). SYMPTOM/CONDITION: NUMBER: 08-008-12 REV. A GROUP: Electrical DATE: June 15, 2012 The customer may experience the following: · Revised foreign language translations. · Complete HFM Lockup, no hands free functionality can be used. · No start, or drained battery due to HFM keeping bus awake. · Using Station names to switch channels will take user to the wrong channel. · Station names added to the Sirius line up after the May 4th are not be recognized. · HFM does not work and the phone screens cannot be entered into at all. · If the Emergency and Towing assistance number are modified by the customer after several ignition cycles they revert back to default number. · Voice Recognition for Phone book names may not work. · Voice Recognition may not work at all. Voice Recognition may recover after several ignition cycles or in some cases Voice Recognition may never recover. · Phone book download to vehicle system is incomplete. Phone book download may recover after several ignition cycles. · Once a call is transferred to handset it cannot be transferred back to vehicle Hands free system. This issue is intermittent. · Voice Recognition Satellite commands may not work. Voice Recognition Satellite commands may recover after several ignition cycles or in some cases may never recover. · User can not select Brief or Detailed voice response mode in settings. · In NAV mode “Call” soft key is not available for Points Of Interest with phone numbers. · Hands Free Calls with Audio Muted. Incoming or Outgoing calls are intermittently muted or muted when making a call via a favorite immediately after ending a call. · Screen switches to Main Phone screen every time phone connects. · System may call Emergency without waiting for user to say “Yes” when detailed prompt modes are active. · Cannot get into phone mode via Phone soft key after editing emergency number.

Did a quick check on DealerConnect to see if there are any service bulletins or technician confirmed repairs, but there are none listed for this concern. Sounds like a mode door behind the dash making noise. I can hear them whirring in my 300M and that is characteristic of their operation but it is certainly not intrusive. I hear them work in my Journey sometimes if I'm sitting in the driveway playing with the radio with the engine off. I would say that a machine gun-like sound is not normal.

Dodge will back the customer in this case since the head is a known problem. They want to minimize inconvenience to the customer so if a dealer loaner is not available, rental coverage can be authorized for a couple of days while this work is done. Respectfully request that the dealership cover the rental cost for you. If they do not oblige, contact customer service @ 1-800-992-1997 and request reimbursement.