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Hi,

I have a 2010 Journey SXT with 5000km on it. I had to drop it off at the dealer this morning due to a power steering pump failure.

I had an '03 and a '06 Dodge Caravan that both had the power steering pumps fail at low mileage. Anyone else have issues like this on their Journey's? Is this a known Dodge thing or just my bad luck? .... maybe it's my wifes fault somehow ...

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  • 9 months later...

I just bought a 2009 Journey SXT with 50,000 km on it. Yesterday the power steering pump squealed for 20 seconds and blew fluid all over the parking stall. With no assist it's a bugger to turn through the lumpy snow covered streets, especially when the tractions control starts hammering the wheel out of your grip.

your wife's fault? - for marrying a guy that buys Chryslers? ;-)

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  • 1 year later...

2010 Journey r/t dumped its steering fluid today. It is extremely cold (-27 Celsius, -40 with windchill). A friend's 2010 (sxt i think) dumped theirs around Christmas.

Anyone else seeing this? I have not seen any TSBs/recalls about this issue. Is it related to the "power steering fluid reservoir replacement" issue that others have mentioned? (none of these people have lost all/most of their fluid.

Elmwoodie.

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  • 1 year later...

we bought our 2010 DJ R/T from the dealership in Aug 2013 since w have had it we have had to replace front and rear axle seals and now its the return power steering hose that goes to the reservoir has blown apart 3 times once in Oct and twice this Dec am on the fence with this car we are a family of five and need a reliable car is there any recalls on power steering hoses

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hello all,

I have a 2010 sxt with a 3.5litre. every year there is a ps line that blows in cold weather, we are in Calgary and when the weather reaches 20 below, a line always blows. we have owned this horrible vehicle for over 3 years. I have had such a horrible experience with the vehicle and the dealers that we had to buy an extended warranty. although, the hoses are not covered.

in 2010, with 35k, a power steering hose blew after a few months of ownership, the following year a hose blew off the reservoir and needed to be re connected. this year at 98,500k the " return line" from the rack to the reservoir failed. no warranty,, extended didn't cover it, 275 for the hose and 370 in labour to install. I asked the dealer to see the old line when I came in to pick it up. the tech cut the he## out of the line ( to save time) but charged me 2.5hrs anyways. I asked him to show me where it leaked and he showed me where the solid metal line connects to two rubber lines. it was connected with standard screw type connectors. the rubber line were very short and attached with clamps. dealers will not just put on new rubber hoses to the solid line.... although it would make sense since they can easily be disconnected and replaced with a higher psi hose. I wouldn't think it would be much money to replace the rubber ( maybe 6inch each) so they throw out the entire hose.

I asked why he didn't just replace the rubber, he said Chrysler builds these lines in one piece and they can't warranty if part of it is replaced. what a waste as the solid line is still serviceable. my brother in-law has a 2010 rt, his return line blew less then a year ago, he had a garage put it in, now just a few weeks ago,the hose blew again, Chrysler warranteed the hose but is now on back order. this is a known problem with the ps system in the dodge journey. the dealers make a killing on this problem. the hoses and labor easily reach 700 plus per return line. not to mention various other hoses this system has that blow off. this is proven by the fact that journey ps hoses are usually back ordered around this time of year.

there was a service manager at tower Chrysler named baron that had a very good idea. he had a hose shop on Calgary sw side replace the rubber components of the hose not the entire hose. he said that the hose material and psi and connectors were heavy duty and resolved the problem. he has left tower Chrysler and works at crosstown in Edmonton. I am trying to track him down and ask which shop he used and what the procedure was to modify them.

I will update as soon as I know how he did this!! it is funny that the tech I talked to mentioned that he didn't see many journeys with ps hoses fail........... I don't know if that is the line they need to use or since the newer journey's use electric power assist steering, owners of the older systems just go to non dealers since they are tired of getting screwed over. I have a hard time believing his version..... these ps hose failures bring in a lot of money to the dealers and Chrysler has no incentive to fix the problem.

I have a question to all on the forum.

1. does anyone know if Chrysler has in fact resolved the ps hose problem splitting in cold weather? have they manufactured an improved line replacements that are now circulating in the parts system with new material and stronger rubber and pressure connector? or are they the same as they were when they came out in 08? my return line was original to my 2010 journey... tower Chrysler replaced the factory clamps with screw type clamps when the hose blew off in 2012. the original high pressure line is still intact form the ps pump to the rack. 09 (which is weird cause that was the hose the tsb was concerned with on 2010. it is still going!!!!)

2. the tech did mention that the ps fluid was dirty and needed replacing. he said that he suspects that there is moisture in the fluid, once the temp. reaches -15 to -25 the moisture in the fluid expands and ruptures the line due to expansion within the system. is there any truth to this and could this resolve the hose blow out? it seems to make sense but then again, could the ps system on these journey's just badly designed, and not able to hold up in cold weather? if so, then there really is no resolution to this problem other then strengthening the weak points of the system, ( the rubber hoses) with good quality high psi lines and connectors from a hose shop.

3. I also heard that the atf+4 is a tranny fluid and eats hoses? is this true and would that mean that these hoses are susceptible to breakdown?

thanks to all in advance....

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hello all,

I have the hose company that Tower Chrysler service manager used to modify and strengthen the return and other hoses on the power steering system. the name is Ability hose out of Calgary. they just require that you bring in the sample hose and they will manufacture an exact hose with higher psi requirements.

I spoke to Baron and he said that the factory hoses are just not strong enough to handle the psi that the ps pump puts out... apparently a very strong pump. he had sent out the hoses to the hose shop and they strengthened them with higher psi hoses. he said he had no repeat failures on the modified hoses

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  • 3 weeks later...

We bought a 2013 R/T Journey December 0f 2012. November 2013 it started to make strange noise. December it was found with an axle leak and last January 14, 2014 the power steering started to give problem, The odometer reading is 24,000 km only. Please if you encounter the same problem make a formal complain to https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/7/pcdb-bdpp/fc-cp.aspx?lang=eng.

Edited by John Paul Lim
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  • 1 month later...
  • Official Dodge Support

IS there and ifno why not recalls on this as in one month I have had to replace 2 hoses at my expence one was just a bandaid fix as the part was on back order

jouneyjen,

The recall K26 identified a VERY small number of vehicles for a possible separation at the crimped end of the power steering pressure hose assembly.

I've been tracking some cases in Canada where the frequency of these failures are on the high end. I realize your vehicle is out of warranty however your dealer can get a hold of our technical group to review what can be done in this case to ensure a long term solution.

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I've been having serious issues with my 2010 Dodge Journey SXT and loss of power steering fluid over the last 11 months. On 2013/03/20, a power steering fluid leak resulted in loss of power steering. I was on the highway, 15 km. from home. Pretty scary! The dealership replaced the failed section of the AF return hose. - Vehicle was at 66,000 km. - Cost - $120.15. On 2013/12/13, a second power steering fluid leak. This happened on start up in my garage The same dealership replaced the power steering return line however the rack and pinion bellows blew out requiring a new rack and pinion steering assembly. The cost was to be over $2,000 to repair however because it was such an unusual default, they only charged labour and sent the old core back to Chrysler. cost - $459.51. On 2014/02/27, I had a third power steering fluid leak. I was driving in the city at approx. 50 km. down a bridge when the line blew, resulting in gradually diminished steering. Pulled over and was towed to the dealership. They replaced the cooler line for the power steering and added a synthetic power steering fluid. 84,000 km. Cost - $355.19. Loved my Journey but I am loosing faith in this vehicle and don't feel it is reliable. We maintain this vehicle very well and yet this issue seems to happen without warning.

I notice that WesH responded regarding a previous comment. I wonder if there is anything that can be done to ensure a long term solution in my case?

dfp57

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

The power steering hose blew on our 2010 Dodge Journey this winter in extreme cold weather. Warranty was expired so we had to pay to get it fixed. I have the receipt somewhere, it was around $1,000 I think. The dealer said to keep it in case there is a recall up here in Canada, then they would be able to re-imburse the cost. This is a part that fails almoast always in very cold weather... and they only do a recall in the US?? We contacted Dodge Canada and they said they would look into why this recall is not in Canada. This part fails so often on Dodge Journeys (and other models) that every time there is really cold weather the dealer runs out of stock. We were going to have to wait 2 to 3 weeks until we got Dodge Canada involved. Then they said that we would be better off to get the existing hose fixed by a local shop. It would be faster, cheaper and better! What they do is seal the hose and put a rubber sleeve around it. This makes it stronger than the original. This problem has been going on for over 4 years, enough already!

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  • 6 months later...

Hi

I have a 2009 Dodge Journey SXT. Two winters in a row my power steering hose has blown, and now the power steering rack needs replacing, cost over $2,000.

If you are going to sell a car in Canada make sure it can handle our weather conditions. -20c is not extreme weather here, so make the parts that can tolerate it, or get the hell out.

This vehicle is terrible and I wish I had read some of these comments before buying.

I am never, ever going to buy another Dodge as long as I live!

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Hi

I have a 2009 Dodge Journey SXT. Two winters in a row my power steering hose has blown, and now the power steering rack needs replacing, cost over $2,000.

If you are going to sell a car in Canada make sure it can handle our weather conditions. -20c is not extreme weather here, so make the parts that can tolerate it, or get the hell out.

This vehicle is terrible and I wish I had read some of these comments before buying.

I am never, ever going to buy another Dodge as long as I live!

Thanks for stopping by to rant. It adds a lot to the forum and will be very useful for others looking for something to bitch about... :doh: Have fun with whatever you buy, as I'm sure as long as it isn't a Dodge it will definitely be trouble free. :hammer_self:

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Yup : ) It's one thing to moan and complain, but at least ask for help in resolving issues. It's quite another just to join a forum and complain and bash and say the old: "I'll never buy a Dodge again!!!" Jeesh, if I had that attitude everytime something I bought had a problem, I would have nothing to own because I "would never buy another one".

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  • 1 month later...

I have an 09 Journey and the power steering hose blew on my last week. I'm in Canmore Alberta and the temp had dropped to -17, hardly extreme weather here.

Today my TPMS gave out on me, one minute I'm driving 125km/hour, then I get a chime and not 20 seconds later my tire blows and the car ends up in an uncontrollable spin. I took it to have the tire replaced and the guy tells me this is common for the Journeys!? The TPMS corrodes and falls into the tire and causes it to rapidly deflate and shred. I understand the car is not new, but I've only had it for 34 days a am terrified to drive it now knowing I have three other sensors that could "fall" into my tire.

Have there been any Canadian recalls on the power steering and TPMS yet?

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I have an 09 Journey and the power steering hose blew on my last week. I'm in Canmore Alberta and the temp had dropped to -17, hardly extreme weather here.

Today my TPMS gave out on me, one minute I'm driving 125km/hour, then I get a chime and not 20 seconds later my tire blows and the car ends up in an uncontrollable spin. I took it to have the tire replaced and the guy tells me this is common for the Journeys!? The TPMS corrodes and falls into the tire and causes it to rapidly deflate and shred. I understand the car is not new, but I've only had it for 34 days a am terrified to drive it now knowing I have three other sensors that could "fall" into my tire.

Have there been any Canadian recalls on the power steering and TPMS yet?

No recalls yet. I have heard some dealers are having hoses made that are a little beefier, while other are switching to a full synthetic fluid rather then a ATF+4 blend that is normally used. Note that changing fluids will void that part of the warranty if you still have one.

While I haven't had to replace my TPMS units, I'm 99% sure they are relatively cheap and easy to replace. I'd do that if I was in your position. Salt corrodes everything.

Peace.

Agreed. They should be replaced whenever you get new tires. Also, I highly doubt that something like this would be "Journey specific" as they use the same valve stems for all of their vehicles. I would be more inclined to believe that they were replaced last time the tires were replaced and whoever did it, screwed it up. I would take what you heard with a grain of salt and just have them all replaced for piece of mind (I would also have it done by a mechanic that doesn't gossip like a high school girl).

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