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2012 2.4L jerks in 4th going uphill


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Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on something new/weird that is happening with our 2012 Journey CVP (2.4L/4spd/151,000km) recently.  When we're travelling along in 4th gear, and come to a bit of a hill, if we just gradually push on the throttle (vs. giving it a kick to force a downshift), it will very noticeably jerk.  (In the old carbureted engine days, I'd have called it lugging.)  It's like it's trying desperately to hold 4th gear, even though it should really drop to 3rd, and the engine is getting overloaded at the lower RPMs.  

 

I have a BlueDriver OBDII code reader, connected to my phone for live readings (and stored code readings/clearing codes), and had it running real time while driving the other day.  There are NO codes being thrown whatsoever.  Nothing.  The ONLY thing that I saw when it happened is the reading for the Engine Coolant Temperature dropped to nothing at the moment of the 'jerk'.  It almost looked like there was an electrical issue.  But it is very consistently ONLY happening in 4th gear, when going up a hill and slowly pressing the throttle vs. punching it.

 

Anybody ever run into something like that, or have any suggestions before we sink a bunch of money into random things that may or may not fix it?

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Had a meeting cancelled tonight, so had time to change the plugs.  Let the engine cool for about an hour and a half .. hood up, engine cover off.  It was still warm, but I could lay my hand on the engine for a good 30 seconds without getting hot.  I upgraded the old plugs from the stock V-groove copper to platinum, ($11/pair) took her for a drive, no more jerking on hills, nice smooth downshift when it needs extra power.

 

Makes me very happy to have this fixed so cheap - and before we do about 2,000 miles to kick off June with a little vacay and to bring our daughter home for the summer.  :)  Makes me even happier that it was a $32 fix, including the anti-seize and di-electric grease.  w00t!  WAY better than the $3k I'm putting into a transmission rebuild for my old truck this week.

Journey_Plug1.jpg

Journey_Plug2.jpg

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Honestly, couldn't even find the copper ones. We'll see how they fare over time, but I've never had issues with platinum plugs in the past. Get to start the mileage test next week on the road to Indiana.  (Although mileage has NEVER been the Journey's strong point...the 2.4 has always been a pretty thirsty little thing.)

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Our Walmart barely stocks oil anymore, let alone plugs.  The automotive department is down to two short aisles, including all the camper/RV stuff, wipers, and stereos.  About a third of what it was a few years ago when they added the grocery section and cut back everything else.  And if our Canadian Tire had them, I couldn't find 'em on the wall.  Worst case, if the platinums as are horrifyingly terrible as you say, I'll order some coppers from Amazon. But it was running just fine on them last night.  Certainly better than what was in there! 

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I've searched for these "bad things" too ... but so far I can't find anything specific, outside of possible reduced fuel economy. No accounts of any specific negatives outside of that.  Most of the comments end with, "Just go with OEM copper.  The engineers said to."  In my experience, the engineers are also told to reduce costs in all ways possible for mass production of a 'budget' vehicle.  Hence why we have power steering systems blowing hoses like 4th of July fireworks every winter because they cheaped out on the PS fluid specs ... using ATF instead of full synth power steering fluid, which supposedly fixes that problem.  And god knows I've gone through enough of those blown freakin' hoses in the last 7 years. Only ONE calendar year without one going so far.  But that's a separate rant.  lol

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4 minutes ago, ChrisPollard said:

I've searched for these "bad things" too ... but so far I can't find anything specific, outside of possible reduced fuel economy. No accounts of any specific negatives outside of that.  Most of the comments end with, "Just go with OEM copper.  The engineers said to."  In my experience, the engineers are also told to reduce costs in all ways possible for mass production of a 'budget' vehicle.  Hence why we have power steering systems blowing hoses like 4th of July fireworks every winter because they cheaped out on the PS fluid specs ... using ATF instead of full synth power steering fluid, which supposedly fixes that problem.  And god knows I've gone through enough of those blown freakin' hoses in the last 7 years. Only ONE calendar year without one going so far.  But that's a separate rant.  lol

so have you switched to the full sny fuild instead of replacing hoses, also instead of replacing with oem hoes go to your local hyd hose shop and have some good ones made up, shouldn't be to expensive and save the aggravation of replacing them.

 

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Not yet, no.  I just read about the full synth fluid solution this week.  Several of the replaced lines have already been 'upgraded' vs. OEM though.  Partly because at one point the OEM parts were so far backordered they had to find alternatives. It's on my service list for this summer though.  Hopefully we won't have any -20 days until fall now.  lol

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  • 1 month later...

Figured I'd post an update on changes in mileage since going to the platinum plugs.  Went for a 3,000+km road trip this month.  Reset the fuel economy reading at the start.  Over the first 200km or so, down a secondary highway between 90-100km/h and LOTS of big hills, we ran 7.5l/100km.  That is the best mileage, highway or otherwise, we EVER managed from the Journey.  One time on a long road trip, I managed 7.7 and was happy. 

 

Anyway, two weeks later, mixed city/highway driving (70-80mph average on the interstates) it was reading 11.5 when we got home.  The 2.4 always was thirsty over 65mph ... but we used to run closer to 12l/100.  So, so far, I'm not seeing any notable mileage hits from the change of plugs.  YMMV.

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