Neto

I've heard that even static electricity can set them off. (When I scrapped out a 93 Chrysler Town & Country I removed the air bag in the steering wheel, strung a long wire to it, and exploded it. It was just as much fun as when I (as a young teenager) connected the capacitors out of an old phonograph to an electrical cord, flipped the breaker off, plugged it in, then flipped the breaker back on - from across the room. Bang!, and bits of paper & foil everywhere. Great fun. (I'm past 70 now, and it still makes me smile.)

Yes, the Journey is just a key with a chip in it, no battery at all. I was thinking of other vehicles, like our 2019 Ram Classic (the continued 4th Gen). Also the 2010 Grand Caravan, but I pulled the battery out of that one years ago. (It had a problem with rolling down both front windows while I was away from the vehicle. I once also saw a 5th Gen Chrysler T&C with the rear door open - in a heavy snow. I closed it for who ever owned it. Then recently I saw another minivan with the hatch open, with no one around. It was at Aldi's, and the back already had a lot of groceries in there. Closed that as well. Maybe on that one they walked off and forgot to close it. It was one of those that has the button to automatically close the hatch, so maybe they DID it the button, but it sensed something in the way, and opened back up after they walked away.)

I do that all of the time - Hadn't thought about the coin battery in there.

We got about 11 or 12 inches of small flake 'dry' snow here in central Ohio (East Holmes County). (But not nearly as light snow as was typical west of Minneapolis, where I attended Bible college during the years 75 through December of 78.) For the small engines (small generator, snow blower, mowers) we use the 'recreational gasoline' they now have available at a convenience store just a couple miles from our home. I used to get it at a small engine repair shop near here, but the gas station has it for less, and it's more convenient, as I can buy it when the other place is closed. But I just went through the carb on the Honda GX200 engine that powers the generator. We never had issues with gunk in the carburetor like this back in the days of leaded gasoline. Did the lead prevent the formation of this stuff? (All of these pieces of equipment I bought used, so I cannot say what the previous owners used, but I have always used the non-alcohol fuel in all of them. But the generator especially hardly ever gets used, and the snow blower sat unused since, I think, the year before last. With small snow fall, and a fairly short driveway, it was easier to just use a shovel.)

I put in the after-market aluminum one last month. I bought it several months ago, but just kept driving the other vehicle until I had to do it, to use that spot in the garage. The main difficulty I has was that the inside area of the tube that has the O ring wasn't tapered like the plastic one, and I couldn't get the housing to go over the o ring. I worked it over twice with a rat tail file, then smoothed it out with sand paper, and finally emery cloth. I had it lubricated, too, but no way would it go on. Finally used the old O ring, and it went right on. No leaks, either. The other thing I'll say is that the casting flash had not been cleaned up, and I really cut my hands up trying to slide that thing on. After the damage to my hands, THEN I cleaned up the edges with a file. (Should have done that first.)

Only other one I have heard of is in a post above (Sept 25, 2024 - ThatGuy01), on a 2010. Maybe it's something I left in the car while it was sitting outside, in the sun. (I do computer repair work, so??? Not sure, since I don't leave components in a hot car.)

I did this job on the front passenger door, but before I got it installed, the driver's side door panel got baggy again - coming loose already. Now the left rear door has done the same thing. Maybe I'll just pull the upholstery out entirely, and paint the panel instead. Maybe some hammer tone?

Man, I've been so busy since we started renovations and remodel work on my wife's Dad's house (he passed away in 2020, at 99 years of age) that I haven't been paying attention to things here. Until the age of 9, we lived 1/4 mile east of the junction of state highway 20 with US 169 and US 75. At that time we moved to a new house 1/4 mile north of that intersection. None of those highways go past there anymore - all were moved years ago. That corner may still be known as 'German Corner', named after our old church house. Now I think it's called 116th North and Garnet. (The church house was the one belonging to the Collinsville Mennonite Brethren church, later renamed as Westport MB, now Discovery or something like that. The old building was built in the years from 1917 to 1920. We tore it down in 1980, partly due to foundation issues.)

I saw that you live in northeast Oklahoma. I grew up north of Tulsa, between Owasso and Collinsville. Back then US 75, US 169, and Oklahoma State Highway 20 went past our place. (None of them go past there anymore.) I now live in Ohio, but not near any big city. Welcome to the forum. We have a 2009 Journey, but it's no longer the family car. (I just don't know how to sell vehicles....)

I started on the passenger door today. Used a wire brush (hand brush) to get the "decomposed" foam backing off of the vinyl upholstery and the plastic door panel. That's the reason the upholstery comes down - the foam has deteriorated, and turned into sort of sticky dust. I used a piece of stiff cardboard under it, to provide a firm flat surface. I do not want to pull the upholstery out at the bottom - that's what made it necessary to dismantle the door to fix it. I will mask around that area on the door, then cover all of the door, to avoid getting adhesive spray anywhere else. Also will attach cardboard under the loose upholstery, because both sides need to be sprayed. I thought about gluing some thin foam into the door panel first, then spray it as well, before working the upholstery back into place, but I don't think I'll do that. There will be a small gap between the upholstery and the edge of the upper part of the door panel (or 'door card, as it is called on old vehicles), but it won't show much, and leaving that gap will make it easier to work the upholstery back up behind the plastic panel at the top & sides. I will start at the bottom (above the arm rest) and press it into place, working up from there, evenly all across the bottom, as I go up.then I'll use some sort of flat blunt tool to push the top edge of the upholstery up under the top lip. I'll try to get some photos when I do this, in case this explanation is not clear. I should really go ahead & do the back doors right away as well, but I don't know if I'll get to it before it turns cold here.

Now last week or so the right side did the same thing. I think I mentioned previously that the rear door upholstery panels are 'baggy' too. I need to figure out how I can spray the two sides (door panel & the back of the upholstery) without getting glue every where. I saw a deal on YouTube recently where a guy used the nozzle off of a WD-40 spray bottle to be able to more accurately direct the stuff into hard to get to places. (He was using it to paint, not shoot adhesive. This was the type that has the swing-up straw.) I should do it before Winter sets in.

Alright, I confess. I did it anyway. Decided to try to get it back together. Spending money that turns out to be a waste rubs me real wrong (the spray adhesive I bought). So I whittled on the pegs and the stop flanges that gave the foam space (kept the panel from coming down tight), and used a bunch of small short screws to fasten it down. (Drilling small holes in the center of each peg - well not all of them, but enough to keep it all in place. Used high heat hot glue to secure the insulation / sound deadening material back in place.) Next time I get out to my favorite salvage yard, I'll still check for a Journey with door panels. See what he wants for them, then decide. It's an old car now, by today's standards. (My first car was this old when I first got it. But that was a different time, cars were easier to maintain back then. It was a 62 Chrysler Newport.)

This is rather like admitting defeat. I got some adhesive and glued the vinyl back on. But I didn't replace the thin foam, which had totally turned into dust. Turns out that is crucial, because the way it's all made, it needs that foam to close the gap. I didn't go to a salvage because there aren't any anywhere near our little town. This is cultural center of the largest Amish community in the world, and maybe that's why there are no salvages close by. (A number of "used buggy lots", but no salvages. The ones that used to be the closest ones have all closed.) But it looks like I'll either have to "accept the sting of defeat" and go to a salvage, or just use it as it is. The other reason I went the repair route is because I have a background in auto restoration, and so I tend to think along those lines. But these modern plastic cars are another matter entirely. I mean, there can be plastic parts, but the way this panel is fastened in there, it is obvious that this vehicle was manufactured as a "discardable". Sorry to say that, because I'm a MoPar guy through and through. It's just not the same anymore. I had only noticed the 2 front doors until now, but examining the rear doors this morning, I see that they are doing the same thing. Can I assume that ALL Journeys used the same shape and size door panels?

Mine is the base model, so this upholstery isn't real leather. I have tried to think of some chemical I might have left in the car, but I cannot recall that I have ever had anything like that in this car at all. I am self employed, and the place I rent as a shop is just a quarter mile from our house. There isn't room on our drive at the house for another vehicle, so after this Journey became my work vehicle, I have left it up there at my shop, and just walk back & forth, year around. So yeah, the windows are all the way up pretty much all of the time. (I wouldn't park it here anyway, as I try to avoid all short trips like that. No use starting the car for just a quarter mile, and I need the daily exercise anyway - walk home for lunch as well, so I get in at least a mile every day. Not a lot, I know, but better than just sitting all of the time, as I generally do in my work.) I didn't work today, because I had some sort of "episode" yesterday, and still don't feel right. So this late afternoon I used a large drill bit to get those melted down plastic "rivets" down far enough that I could get that panel off from behind. (I think they are long enough that I can drill them for small screws.) If I hadn't tried to pull the upholstery completely out after it fell down over the door controls, I could have just cleaned it up a bit behind there, and glued it back up into place. I think I could push the top edge back up into the crack, but the bottom is a lot tighter, and the material goes around some of the rivet studs. I was, however, considering replacing the vinyl with real leather. I have some scraps from a rocking chair company where I do IT work, but I don't have any black pieces, at least not large enough for this area. The seats are all fabric - base model, as I said, so it might look a bit funny to have leather on the door panels. Did the tricked out models have leather door panel inserts? I had a 93 Chrysler T&C that had leather all around, seats and door panels. Thanks to everyone who has answered, by the way.

Thanks for the input. I was sort of assuming that what happened to mine might be somewhat common, especially for a 2009 model - 15 years old. It is the thin layer of foam on the back of the upholstery that deteriorated - basically it's like dust in there.