hockey_puck

The Pentastar V6 was one of the reasons I bought my Journey. There is no way in H.E. double hockey sticks I'd buy a turbo engine. I tend to keep my vehicles till the floor rusts out and after year 7 any turbo, even with the most care, is likely to have issues and you better get a Brinks truck of money, if it needs repair. I just have a natural aversion to anything that spins at around 100k RPM. Even European turbos with lots of miles tend to have issues. No thanks.

Leagues run in the summer here too. Fewer games, but many of us play year round. Nothing quite like heading to the arena on a 90f day.....

When you replace rotors and pads, go with high quality aftermarket rather than the OEM stuff. Cheaper and lasts longer. Rock Auto has great prices on this stuff and ships to Canada. And for heavens sake, use ceramic pads and keep your wheels cleaner!

I load music onto a small flash drive and plug that into the input slot inside the center console. (at the front) Don't know if pre 14's have this feature. Works fine. I convert the files to MP3 and just drag and drop them onto the flash drive.

Happy to help. H.P.

This is regarding the clunk you get (when cold) going from Park to Reverse or Drive. Now I'll show my age.... Many years ago in the 70's when I bought my first automatic tranny car, an old mechanic whom I used and was brilliant told me to always start my automatic in neutral when the car was cold. He explained that, automatics don't circulate their fluid when in park but do in neutral and shifting from park to drive or reverse, brings the full fluid pressure online suddenly when the oil tends to be a little thicker and cold. He explained this neutral start, helped lubricate the transmission before the higher pressure of drive and reverse. So over the years I got into the habit of always starting that way. Recent vehicles like the Journey allow you to only start in park, but to this day by instinct, once I start up cold, I shift immediately from park to neutral for a few seconds before I move. I have no idea if any of this is true today, but I never get a clunk when shifting from neutral to drive or reverse. We are not talking about more than 10-15 seconds in neutral. Old habits die hard.....

Nice report JK! I'm at the 6 month mark. Have not had to go in for any warranty work whatsoever. Now that snow arrived (late for us) I finally get to see the traction control work. Very pleased. It works well. Happy to report that they upgraded brake pads for 2014 to ceramic so I get no visible dust on the wheels at all. I do love the heated seats and steering wheel. I'm turning into a heat suck. Since the Journey came with remote start, I now open the garage door from inside and hit the button to start it. Simply decadent! I would not have thought of ordering that feature if it was optional. But now I love it. The only thing I wonder about is there always seems to be condensation dripping out of the mufflers after shutoff. A bit of water on the garage floor below the driver side muffler. Just a little from the passenger side muffler. Any one else get this? Did pickup some Weathertech floor liners. They are terrific. Like to keep the carpet mats pristine for non winter seasons. HP

Poor old Lobitz. Must be all that snow has made him grumpy! Or maybe a puck or 7 to the head.

With the onslaught of cold weather I finally am using the heated seats and steering wheel. OMG. I love them! I am getting soft in old age.... H.P.

Nope. http://www.roadkillcustoms.com/hot-rods-rat-rods/Wheel-Bolt-Pattern-Cross-Reference-Database.asp#axzz3GoIMk21N H.P.

I recently tried Turtle Wax's trim restorer and it does a very good job on the black plastic. Quite cheap at 7 bucks. A friend picked up for me in Grand Forks ND and have not seen it in any Canadian stores. Seems to last albeit, it's only used it 2 weeks ago. Since I wash and detail at least every two weeks, that isn't an issue for me. (a retired bastard)

Oooo ooo oooo...... *holds up hand from the back of the class* Rectal Thermometers?

225/65-17

We WILL send you another polar vortex. Unless you surrender, Minnesota (for the hockey) North Dakota (for the oil) and Hawaii (we need a warm spot to go in winter) They'd all make fine Canadian Provinces.

Gotta be in Alberta! -20 one day. +20 the next.

Ya ya, whether you like it or not, Winter will arrive. Although I'm not sure what you softies in NC consider winter to be. Folks on the Prairie (US and Canada) do giggle when CNN shows mayhem, panic and hand wringing at the sight of 5 cm. of snow (Translation for the Yankee's - 2 inches) Or worse, when a U.S. weather person refers to a cold front from the north as "cold Canadian air" Those evil Canucks! LOL The leaves are raked, split and replanted the perennials and cut the grass for likely the last time. One can never be too prepared. BTW. Only 3 countries on this planet officially use the "old" imperial measurement. Liberia Myanmar (a.k.a. “the country formerly known as Burma”) United States of America - See more at: http://www.joeydevilla.com/2008/08/13/countries-that-dont-use-the-metric-system/#sthash.Ed392FXK.dpuf Liberia Myanmar (a.k.a. “the country formerly known as Burma”) United States of America

Dear Ma Nature The winter tires are mounted on their wheels and ready to switch with the 3 season tires, and today the Weather Tech floor liners arrived. I'm ready for whatever you throw at us this winter. Bring it on Bitch! H.P.

2008 and later minivans

Caravan/Town and Coujntry. car-part.com Put in appropriate info......

Get any goals? Hell of a lot more important than lights!

Yup they'll fit. Used on both the Journey and Caravan. Tire size to keep speedo accurate is 225/65 17 Way cheaper than buying 19 inch snow tires. Bigger selection too.

DON'T DO IT! If money is the issue, then shop around and buy the 4 cheapest you can find or even used. Let me make a strong point. If you buy winter tires to propel yourself through deep snow, then you should really consider AWD. What winter tires do best is help you keep control in corners and stopping power. More so, if you have antilock brakes and traction control. If the snow is so deep, and you hear it rubbing the bottom of the car, nothing will help, if you get hung up. I cannot count the number of times over the years I've stopped quickly on a slippery surface and watched my rear view mirror because someone behind is having a huge problem stopping because of 3 (not 4) season tires. Or last winter when we had a lot of icy ruts, the large number of cars spun out into the ditch and as I drove by I can see by just the tread pattern they do not have winter tires. If you live in a snowbelt, and must travel, then I'd highly recommend them, if not. consider local conditions and avoid driving on those crappy days. Here is a great article from driving.ca When it comes time for the winter tire install, some folks are still hesitant about the cost. That’s fair, but don’t try to save by installing just two winter tires. Most shops will refuse anyway since liability, should you be in a collision, can come back and bite them in the behind. Four winter tires are needed according to Transport Canada and all the major tire companies. It is not about increasing tire sales, it is about the safety of the driver and passengers. By using just two winter tires, the car has different grip capabilities at different ends of the car. It is like trying to play hockey on one hockey skate and one broomball shoe. There would be a whole lot of slipping and sliding going on. The same is true for your car. Imaging going into a slippery corner with the winter tires only on the front. The front tires will have more grip and track into the corner, but the rears won’t have enough grabbing power to make the corner. In this instance, the car will have a rear skid and spin. This is an oversteer skid. If we enter the same corner with the winter tires on the back, the rear of the car is now in control. Turning the steering wheel asks the front tires to turn the car, but the back tires want to keep going straight. This condition is understeer, and the car will just plow ahead straight until it runs out of road. Even driving a car with the latest, greatest stability management system does not help. All these electronic systems can do is maximize the traction you have, they cannot create traction. They can move the power or braking force to the tire with the most traction, but if only two tires have good traction the system is severely limited in what it can do to save the skid situation. If cost is that big of an issue, consider looking for less costly winter tires or have a look at Kijiji or Craigslist for some good used rubber.

Correction. car-part.com