danyboy Posted October 13, 2022 Report Share Posted October 13, 2022 Just changed battery in my 2012 SXT3.6L, which is in the driver's side fender. Bought at some tire and battery shop and never paid attention at number of amps and never looked at the battery before installation. Does this model Journey require a reprogramming of some sort when you change battery to tell the computer how much the alternator should charge like some newer models do ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted October 13, 2022 Report Share Posted October 13, 2022 NO larryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted October 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2022 2late4u, thanks for the tip, you made my day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Alternator has built in electronics that adjusts charging. There is an emergency shut down that car will do if battery voltage gets too low. Cooling fans etc given priority over dash radio, heated seats to maximize run time, will eventually shut the car down to avoid damage to aluminum engine from over heating. AGM battery are better choice if you have the money. Lexus etc shipped from factory with them. Charge much faster, hold charge longer when sitting. Better cold weather ability in the nord. Life span it seems not any better unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted October 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 (edited) John/Horace, Couldn't find any better explanation. It wasn't AGM and I had a hell of a hard time to put the new one in. I am on crutches, managed to do the job on a small bench. Negative battery terminal of the new battery was to small for the original post clamp ! I had to shim the terminal in order to make it fit. Changed lots of batteries in the past and never ran into this problem before. thanks, danyboy Edited October 14, 2022 by danyboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, danyboy said: John/Horace, Couldn't find any better explanation. It wasn't AGM and I had a hell of a hard time to put the new one in. I am on crutches, managed to do the job on a small bench. Negative battery terminal of the new battery was to small for the original post clamp ! I had to shim the terminal in order to make it fit. Changed lots of batteries in the past and never ran into this problem before. thanks, danyboy i hope you used the right group code battery , the battery post being to small sounds wrong .................2012 Dodge Journey Standard has a group code of 86, Edited October 14, 2022 by 2late4u Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 Always grab a tightened battery terminal with a gloved hand afterwards, try to twist terminal. If you can move it on post, tighten it more or you will have issues. 2late4u and Locosiete 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted October 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 I did try to turn it and it didn't move. Battery was the right group but for some reason, negative terminal was a tiny bit smaller, keeping the clamp from closing tight on it. Then, I found that shims exist for that. You wouldn't hear about too small battery terminals before. Does it mean, they are made in countries where different size terminals are made ? Maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armando G Posted October 14, 2022 Report Share Posted October 14, 2022 @danyboy are you just asking out of curiosity or are you having an issue with the new battery? Personally, I wouldn't use shims on a new battery. I would get the right size to start with. I've used a shim in the past for an old battery with corroded terminals in order to save money, but ultimately became more of an issue than a fix. Locosiete, 2late4u and John/Horace 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted October 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2022 Unfortunately, more and more new batteries have smaller terminals ehich is probably why they are selling shims to acvomodate this new problem. Copper or aluminum tape are both good conductors and maybe used without problems as long as the clamp is tight after tightening it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted October 15, 2022 Report Share Posted October 15, 2022 As far as I know batteries are not imported from over seas. There is only a few manufacturers left, probably why price has gone up so much. Terminals are most likely from everyplace, so more variation. Because of location of Journey battery I agree with the others, no McGiver solutions. Shorting out stuff from battery can fry electronics. Bad ground another set of problems. If you mobility issues and a break down….even a harder situation. The push button start for example is very fussy on voltage. Even boosting needs very good source. Remote terminals under hood harder for good contact points. Old style key switches seemed easier for low battery starts IMO. Free advice worth everything you pay for it. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted October 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2022 Tell you what, when you run across this problem you'll see what I mean, because you will. Nowadays, nothing seems to work the way it did. Do some research on the subject and you'll see it happened to others before. They wouldn't sell terminal lead shims if it never happened. Aluminum is a goo conductor and the clamp is tight and solid. I don't see any problems with that. I will post any problem if I ever get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyboy Posted December 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2022 Finally changed the wire clamp to fit new post. Journey is running well now, no issue. Thanks to all John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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