2late4u Posted December 30, 2025 Report Share Posted December 30, 2025 well I had noticed oil covered grime under the passenger side crankcase area and CV axle area as well, I cleaned it off real good about 3 weeks ago but noticed it was coming back again so I dropped it off to the dealership that I use,they reported back that the front and back valve covers was the culprit on the leak I had thought it was the crankcase seal leaking again as they had replaced that 2 yrs ago,,,,, so this covered under the Mopar warranty that I have of course with a 100 ded, I am going to have them replace the spark plugs as well as the journey has 178 k on it and I had them replaced at 100k thought they would cut me a break on $$ since they already had it apart for the valve covers seal, but NOT sure they are doing that for me LOL they said well our labor rate is 230 hr so only 200 and my Chrysler discount on the plugs 25 percent off so the plugs around 32 each drops down to around 22 about 358 for 6 plugs and labor,,,plus my 100 ded on the covered valve covers........... ouch so much for cutting me a break for doing the plugs now vs later, oh well the economy has to keep on going....HOPE everyone has a safe NEW YEAR experience,,,, Stay warm and Happy John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted December 30, 2025 Report Share Posted December 30, 2025 You must be in a "high rent district" for such a labor rate....even for a dealer! VC gaskets are not much fun to do, especially the firewall side. I know, as I've done 3 sets now on the 3.6 Journeys i've had/have. The spark plugs do not have to be removed to do the VC gaskets, but I would hope that before installing the upper intake that they swap out the plugs at minimal charge. Even with parts discount dealer prices are high for any part, the VC gaskets are not very wallet friendly for quality replacements even thru rockauto. Stay WARM and SNOW FREE my friend, we're getting POUNDED again up here! And may you enjoy a safe, happy and healthy NEW YEAR also ! John/Horace and 2late4u 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted December 30, 2025 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2025 well I am using a dodge dealership so everything is high,,,,and ya I am having the plugs changed out as well but they sure aren't giving me a cheap rate this dealership just changed hands about 4 months ago so I had always trusted them to do good quality work ,,,HOPE that holds true for the new owners that are running it now,,,,No snow here but dang it sure is getting cold had to put on my long pants today it got down to 30 degrees, I do miss the fresh fallen snow for the first few days but then it starts to melt and that isn't very pretty...take care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted December 31, 2025 Report Share Posted December 31, 2025 2 hours ago, 2late4u said: well I am using a dodge dealership so everything is high,,,,and ya I am having the plugs changed out as well but they sure aren't giving me a cheap rate this dealership just changed hands about 4 months ago so I had always trusted them to do good quality work ,,,HOPE that holds true for the new owners that are running it now,,,,No snow here but dang it sure is getting cold had to put on my long pants today it got down to 30 degrees, I do miss the fresh fallen snow for the first few days but then it starts to melt and that isn't very pretty...take care ANY TIME you want a good batch of WIND, COLD and SNOW, just let me know and I'll GLADLY fill your order! Winter has just OFFICIALLY started, and I'm sick of it already! I just got done getting a partially frozen hot water baseboard heat pipe to thaw out and flow without bursting the pipe! 3.5 hours clearing off the cars and snow blowing out the driveway and then a 45 minute drive to my son's house 14 miles away. His Nat. Gas forced air furnace quit and had to get that fixed and heat back into his home. Then the same 45 minute drive home on the same blowing and drifting ICE GLAZED rodes. It has not been the "best of days" here today, and they say it won't let up until late FRIDAY! 2late4u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted December 31, 2025 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2025 (edited) was born and raised up in Michigan till I moved at 24 to alabama, I only remember the good things of fresh snow after the storms and snow skiing and skating on the lakes with 2 poles and a bed sheet made into a sail of course the bad part was you couldn't see where you were going....LOL most of all the crystal clear water to swim in excerpt both of the lakes we lived on were spring fed so they were always freezing cold , unlike here in Al most of the lakes here are reddish color except for a coupe of them that I can drive to that actually aren't that bad but nothing like Mich. lakes... and I sure don't miss the property tax difference between Michigan $4-7 k and Al $0 what I pay and if I was still working it would be around $700 Edited December 31, 2025 by 2late4u 5rebel9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted December 31, 2025 Report Share Posted December 31, 2025 HAH ! Only remember the GOOD PARTS.... We caught a few HOURS break just now, COLD 20*f but little wind and snow stopped. We caught a good 6" between this time Tuesday and now, Now to go blow out the driveway AGAIN before more comes down later today and the drifts get higher! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted December 31, 2025 Report Share Posted December 31, 2025 Valve covers, one of the few journey repairs I haven't done...yet. On lots of other cars though, plastic and metal, torque wrench important. . Good gaskets mentioned, yeah absolutely, labor is time/money. 5rebel9 you are getting both barrels this winter. Snow and the cold both. Some how only a few small dumps on this side of the lake, or my exact spot really, 24F so temp not nice. Lots of heavy storms really close by, power outages as well. Now that I have a costco generator, only a few flickers brown outs. Did a jenny run for 30 mins just to make sure it still works at year 3. Running on propane only so far, can store in basement without smell that way. Propane is a little harder to start in the cold, I have learned. 5rebel9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted December 31, 2025 Report Share Posted December 31, 2025 got done with the cars and driveway 2 hours ago.... wind has picked back up and snowing again!!! I can take the snow part of things, but the single digit night temps and winds are a killer!!! The little 4 banger is doing quite well with weight in it and no new problems to work on yet. John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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