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What Did You do to your Journey Today


guls

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First oil change. Did not wait for the stupid oil change indicator to come on. We've had it for 6 months and about 6000 miles. Thats about all I can stand for oil change intervals. Walmart had Valvoline Synpower on sale for $20 for a 5 qt jug, then found out it takes 6 quarts.... :doh:

Edited by jkeaton
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First oil change. Did not wait for the stupid oil change indicator to come on. We've had it for 6 months and about 6000 miles. Thats about all I can stand for oil change intervals. Walmart had Valvoline Synpower on sale for $20 for a 5 qt jug, then found out it takes 6 quarts.... :doh:

I never wait on the indicator either. I change mine somewhere between 5000 and 6000 miles and use synthetic.

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I never wait on the indicator either. I change mine somewhere between 5000 and 6000 miles and use synthetic.

Yeah, I got an app on my phone so I can track intervals. Got it set for 6000 miles or 6 months. I have 5 vehicles, so I gotta keep track of all the maintenance somehow! lol

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  • 9 years later...

I'm performing some maintenance on my in-laws' 2014 Journey this week.  The last bit of service I did on it was in 2022 (replaced LF wheel bearing/hub) while on the road at their home in IL, but this time I brought it back to my house in MI to tackle the work.

 

Journeyonthelift.thumb.jpg.1ebf19cb2a78151e369784aa2c350493.jpg

 

On the to-do list:

  • Oil & Filter Change
  • Bleed/flush Brakes
  • Rotate Tires
  • New Serpentine Belt, Tensioner and Idler Pulley
  • New Spark Plugs
  • New Air Filter
  • Remove the "wings" (large-platform running boards)
  • Install a Panavise mount for a phone holder

There's just under 57k miles on it now, so this should give it a nice refresh.

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I completed the maintenance work over the last couple of days and the 300+ mile drive back to IL went without a hitch.  I average 23.3 mpg at, let's just say *quick* speeds, (according to the Fuel Economy reading on the IC) on the last 200 miles - I reset it after my last fill-up.  That was about 2mpg better than I saw on the drive from IL to MI before all the work.  Granted, that's a small sample size for comparison.

 

Here are some pictures of what was done...

 

Old vs. New air filter.  I couldn't read the make of the old (original??) air filter, but the new one is an AC Delco.  I like the additional pleats vs the old one.

newvsoldairfilter.thumb.jpg.c7b4f193eac1018026038fd889289fcb.jpg

 

In looking at how-to videos on removing the upper intake manifold to access the spark plugs, the ones I found talk about completely removing the rear intake bellow (somewhat under the cowl, between the throttle body and the upper intake manifold) first, and having to remove coolant hoses, etc. to make room to slide it out.  I actually found it easier to move that bellows off of the TB and move it just a little back to access that last upper intake manifold bolt that is hidden by it, and then remove the upper intake manifold first.  Then that bellow comes out easily and completes access spark plugs on the rear cylinder bank.

upperintakemanifoldremoved.jpg.d7f9b9074e11ee4b68489f0f7a83974b.jpg

 

The spark plugs were the OE Champion, and I used NGK Iridiums as replacements.  Here are the old plugs, and a comparison of an old and new plug.

oldplugs.thumb.jpg.13faabb60e415b3fc174e846ff3403f9.jpg

oldvsnewsparkplugs.jpg.2c3d6f57f376681c15e29da61200823c.jpg

 

I also rotated the tires and bled the brakes.  While bleeding the brakes, I noticed the rear brake pads were getting low, so I went ahead and changed them.

oldvsnewrearbrakepad.thumb.jpg.48f71a1030d8e5a824074e39a0831ad0.jpg

 

While I had the upper intake manifold off, I took a picture down of the back of the intake valves.  They look pretty good/clean.  Again, my in-laws' Journey had ~57k miles on it at this point.

intakevalvesafter57kmiles.thumb.jpg.7441b1973337a0b935b0a4862cccc67d.jpg

 

I also removed the platform running boards they had on there (they are hurting, more than helping, access at this point of their mobility).

 

Let's see, what else...I topped off the coolant and power steering fluids.  Oh, and I replaced the serpentine belt, its tensioner and idler pulley, as well - with the car being 10yrs old and the belt being original, it was just a preventive measure at this mileage.

 

Another item - the lower seat side trim piece on the passenger side had been broken loose from repeated entry/exit to the seat.  I found a way to use a hole on the seat frame and a trim panel clip to drill a 5/16" hole and secure that trim piece.  Aside from having to live with the appearance of the trim clip, it holds that plastic piece securely and works for us.  I'll get a picture of that later today and post it.

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1 hour ago, khnitz said:

I completed the maintenance work over the last couple of days and the 300+ mile drive back to IL went without a hitch.  I average 23.3 mpg at, let's just say *quick* speeds, (according to the Fuel Economy reading on the IC) on the last 200 miles - I reset it after my last fill-up.  That was about 2mpg better than I saw on the drive from IL to MI before all the work.  Granted, that's a small sample size for comparison.

 

Here are some pictures of what was done...

 

Old vs. New air filter.  I couldn't read the make of the old (original??) air filter, but the new one is an AC Delco.  I like the additional pleats vs the old one.

newvsoldairfilter.thumb.jpg.c7b4f193eac1018026038fd889289fcb.jpg

 

In looking at how-to videos on removing the upper intake manifold to access the spark plugs, the ones I found talk about completely removing the rear intake bellow (somewhat under the cowl, between the throttle body and the upper intake manifold) first, and having to remove coolant hoses, etc. to make room to slide it out.  I actually found it easier to move that bellows off of the TB and move it just a little back to access that last upper intake manifold bolt that is hidden by it, and then remove the upper intake manifold first.  Then that bellow comes out easily and completes access spark plugs on the rear cylinder bank.

upperintakemanifoldremoved.jpg.d7f9b9074e11ee4b68489f0f7a83974b.jpg

 

The spark plugs were the OE Champion, and I used NGK Iridiums as replacements.  Here are the old plugs, and a comparison of an old and new plug.

oldplugs.thumb.jpg.13faabb60e415b3fc174e846ff3403f9.jpg

oldvsnewsparkplugs.jpg.2c3d6f57f376681c15e29da61200823c.jpg

 

I also rotated the tires and bled the brakes.  While bleeding the brakes, I noticed the rear brake pads were getting low, so I went ahead and changed them.

oldvsnewrearbrakepad.thumb.jpg.48f71a1030d8e5a824074e39a0831ad0.jpg

 

While I had the upper intake manifold off, I took a picture down of the back of the intake valves.  They look pretty good/clean.  Again, my in-laws' Journey had ~57k miles on it at this point.

intakevalvesafter57kmiles.thumb.jpg.7441b1973337a0b935b0a4862cccc67d.jpg

 

I also removed the platform running boards they had on there (they are hurting, more than helping, access at this point of their mobility).

 

Let's see, what else...I topped off the coolant and power steering fluids.  Oh, and I replaced the serpentine belt, its tensioner and idler pulley, as well - with the car being 10yrs old and the belt being original, it was just a preventive measure at this mileage.

 

Another item - the lower seat side trim piece on the passenger side had been broken loose from repeated entry/exit to the seat.  I found a way to use a hole on the seat frame and a trim panel clip to drill a 5/16" hole and secure that trim piece.  Aside from having to live with the appearance of the trim clip, it holds that plastic piece securely and works for us.  I'll get a picture of that later today and post it.

the ones on the passenger side break real easy, I had one replaced under warranty and then it broke again so I just held it in place and drilled a small hole thru the plastic trim and also the metal bracket behind it and then used a small black screw worked so good I did the drivers side even though it hadn't broke yet

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Nice job! 

  Other than removing running boards {mine don't have them}, I did the same work late last summer in my DRIVEWAY on low jack stands on 2 of our 3 Journeys! One of them also got Valve cover gaskets and seals replaced too, and the other also got rear struts changed!

 

Everything would have been much easier if I had a HOIST to make things easier!......LOL

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38 minutes ago, 5rebel9 said:

Everything would have been much easier if I had a HOIST to make things easier!......LOL

Indeed 😁

 

I finally got to put one in about 2.5yrs ago and it has made a world of difference.  To be able to work on brakes while standing up is sooo nice.  The installation saga for mine is documented here .

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Here is a picture of the trim clip I used on the that passenger seat trim.  Disregard the small hole above it - my aim was off when I drilled the first pilot hole.  The trim clip is lined up with a hole in the seat frame behind it that is for a clip on the back side of the panel that cracked off (I think it was for a clip, as it's not there anymore because it was broken off).  The hole size was close enough with a 5/16" drill bit to match the hole in the seat frame and fit the panel clip.  The clip I used is one where the base is pushed in, and then the center pin is pushed into it to lock it in place (like a hollow wall anchor).  It is solidly in place, now.

passengertrimwithnewclip.jpg.58738114052156d857c33e1271f8037f.jpg

 

There is a clip on the driver's side seat trim that is broken off, too, but I don't think the panel clip solution will work over there because of the power seat switches.  When it comes time to fix that, I think I'll use a rivet nut in the hole in the seat frame, and then a bolt with a low profile screw head but either and integrated washer or wide flange to secure it.  And, I'll also put a spacer over the bolt on the back side of the trim to hold it in the proper standoff position.

Edited by khnitz
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Some other details I made note of, but forgot to add to the summary post...

 

The old spark plugs looked to be original, Champion RER8ZWYCB4.  The new plugs I used were NGK Iridium LKR7DIX-11S .

 

The air filter I removed (maybe it was original?) had 23 pleats and the extra debris (charcoal?) filter membrane.  The new air filter was an AC Delco A3618C with 78 pleats.

 

The oil filter that was removed was a Napa 2100010 with 48 pleats.  The new Mahle OX1213D has 57 pleats.

oldvsnewoilfilter.thumb.jpg.1a7948ee7223d9c751cedcce0c1c2e17.jpg

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