Patientpilot Posted May 15, 2020 Report Share Posted May 15, 2020 Hi all. Hope you can help. I drive a 2010 Dodge Journey 2.4 vvti, and about a month ago I noticed when I park the car in the garage at night a coolant smell. I noticed a few drops of coolant on top of the gearbox a few days later, but the car drove normally and never shorted coolant or overheated. So I took it to NAPA to have it checked out before it would become a problem. He fixed a cracked clamp, and charged me $300 for the work done. The leak persisted and I wanted to take the car back but he was fully booked. So I booked the car into Canadian tyre. They also reportedly replaced a cracked clamp, and said they suspect a blown head gasket. But I did not trust speaking with the lady behind a till to fix such a big problem, and was not allowed to speak with the mechanic directly with the Covid situation. Car still leaked coolant and now started getting warmer than usual, but not close to red line. Took the car to a guy that works from his house, and he said its the head gasket. So he replaced the head gasket, and skimmed the top, Intold him while he is at it, he must replace the Thermostat housing aswell, as I read it will crack after a few years. So he replaced the head G and thermostat housing. Collected the car and drove probably 10 km, and car made a knocking noise when accelerating , engine light came on, and I parked immediately. Coolant all over the engine on the right side of engine looking at the engine from the front. Car is back at him now. But he also dont know whats happening now anymore. Anyone got any suggemstions tips for me? Feels like Im pumping more money into this car than its actually worth, and no one seems to be able to fix it? Hope anyone can help. Have a good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted May 15, 2020 Report Share Posted May 15, 2020 Ouch. How many k’s on vehicle? May have only had a loose clamp and hose came off and dumped glycol, need a diagnosis from mechanic. Was repair correctly done? People should warranty their work for a period of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patientpilot Posted May 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2020 Hi John Horace. The car now has 78 000 km on. I dont know if the repair was done correctly. Wish I had more knowledge on this topic. Im now running out of ideas and money?♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALLIEM Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 We had a terrible time with the cooling system on our 2011 Dodge Journey Mainstreet 3.6. We could not stop ours from overheating to save our behinds. We replaced the heater core, thermostat, the cooling fan resistor and the coolant reservoir cap... NOTHING! Finally replaced the radiator and solved the issue. About two weeks after that, check engine light came on and we were in limp mode. GREAT! Leaking oil due to the oil cooler being cracked because it was overheating so much and so bad before we got that issue fixed. NOW the oil pressure says 96PSI ALL OF THE TIME! So now we have to replace the oil cooler and the oil pressure senor and hopefully solve that issue. I swear these Journey's are all lemons, I could cry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 5 hours ago, ALLIEM said: We had a terrible time with the cooling system on our 2011 Dodge Journey Mainstreet 3.6. We could not stop ours from overheating to save our behinds. We replaced the heater core, thermostat, the cooling fan resistor and the coolant reservoir cap... NOTHING! Finally replaced the radiator and solved the issue. About two weeks after that, check engine light came on and we were in limp mode. GREAT! Leaking oil due to the oil cooler being cracked because it was overheating so much and so bad before we got that issue fixed. NOW the oil pressure says 96PSI ALL OF THE TIME! So now we have to replace the oil cooler and the oil pressure senor and hopefully solve that issue. I swear these Journey's are all lemons, I could cry. Wrong. They are not ALL lemons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted May 20, 2020 Report Share Posted May 20, 2020 Fix it or dump it and quit complaining about a used car that you aren’t properly maintaining (I drive around with oil because the oil cooler leaks, rather then fix it) jkeaton, probak118 and larryl 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patientpilot Posted May 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Ok so the mechanic replaced the water pump, and water inlet tube, I got the car and drove about 10 km, car made a ticking noise again and started to overheat, coolant again all over, so I pulled over and got a tow back to the mechanic. He now thinks its a crack in the engine block as he got a misfire in nr 4 cylinder, but is not totally sure. Does this sounds like a viable problem? And if there is a crack in the nr 4 cylinder what would that costs be to fix +-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 I’d find a different mechanic if he’s just guessing. Replacing a cylinder head could cost anywhere from @$300 for the head (install your self) or a couple thousand for a shop to do it. Best to get a firm diagnosis and then call around different shops and get an estimate. OhareFred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probak118 Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Question , what did you pay for the used car...how much have you spent so far . At some point one will outweigh the other. jkeaton and OhareFred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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