nanacanjo Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Journey with under 11,000 miles. Third tow to dealership. Battery completely dead. Chrysler Warrenty Tow could not charge. Dealership tells me I had a defective battery cell. (3?) even though the car ran perfectly the first 16 months. Noticed that the car would not stayed locked periodically. I thought this was because I was carrying the key in my pocket. First time it happened, all the lights flashed on dash, tried to start, then totally dead. There was a red light, not flashing over the "H" on temp gauge. Went in last night to retrieve item no indoor car lights. Car started. When turned off, the red light stayed on the temp gauge. Eventually turned off. Viola, we are being towed (4th) time to dealership. They have no idea what this light is. (I find this frightening). Have owned Chrysler products all my life. Never encountered issues like this. I love everything about this car, except for this problem. Any ideas because two dealerships don't have any. They say they have never heard of this problem, yet a very brief search online shows this dead battery is a continuing problem starting with the 209 journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Had our 09 for 4 years and 80,000 miles. Original battery when we traded it. Never had a battery issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Official Dodge Support DodgeCares Posted August 1, 2014 Official Dodge Support Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Journey with under 11,000 miles. Third tow to dealership. Battery completely dead. Chrysler Warrenty Tow could not charge. Dealership tells me I had a defective battery cell. (3?) even though the car ran perfectly the first 16 months. Noticed that the car would not stayed locked periodically. I thought this was because I was carrying the key in my pocket. First time it happened, all the lights flashed on dash, tried to start, then totally dead. There was a red light, not flashing over the "H" on temp gauge. Went in last night to retrieve item no indoor car lights. Car started. When turned off, the red light stayed on the temp gauge. Eventually turned off. Viola, we are being towed (4th) time to dealership. They have no idea what this light is. (I find this frightening). Have owned Chrysler products all my life. Never encountered issues like this. I love everything about this car, except for this problem. Any ideas because two dealerships don't have any. They say they have never heard of this problem, yet a very brief search online shows this dead battery is a continuing problem starting with the 209 journey. I am sorry to hear that the battery issue is not resolved. Has the dealer indicated they contacted STAR for technical support? Please feel free to PM your vin number and which dealer is servicing the vehicle now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4ZINGA Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 Has the battery been replaced? As cars get to be more and more electronic in nature, an inconsistent power source can cause all kinds of havoc. Each time my Chargers battery died and I jumped it, I had to drive it around and restart it before the HVAC system would work properly (driving 17 miles to my old office in 5F weather with no heat was not fun). Just yesterday we put an RB1 Navigation system into a 300M special, and in the process the battery somehow died. Had enough to turn on interior lights and lock/unlock, but not start. I jumped it, and the screen on the RB1 did work right until I ran the engine for 20 minutes and restarted a couple times. The batteries on both cars are probably due soon (couldn't care less about the Charger now, traded it for my Journey in May). Batteries do go bad and with the volume needed to support Journey production, it would not surprise me in the least if you got a bad one that passed the production line quality checks and took some time to start failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webslave Posted August 1, 2014 Report Share Posted August 1, 2014 I had an initial problem with the battery in my '13 R/T... Went out to use the car and found the battery dead. It was only 3 months old at that time. It would, however, take a charge, but, that wasn't a "cure". Out here in the country, you rely on your vehicles and the dead battery syndrome is not conducive to a warm fuzzy feeling and having the problem twice within a month was a real hit. After some investigating on the problem (nothing the dealer could find; charging system was fine, battery was fine, all systems normal) we found that where I hung my keys, right next to the door and only about 8' from the car was keeping the whole car active since it sensed the FOB. Dead of winter was enough drain in itself and keeping the unit "live" for a couple of days was enough to kill it. I moved my keys further away and haven't had any problems since...still using the same OEM battery the car came with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolman626 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I own 2009 Journey RT and had original battery die in January 2014, replaced with battery from Canadian Tire. It just died in November 2014 and they replaced, 2 weeks later it happened again. Put in shop for AVR test and it was the starter causing the problem which showed nothing on screen for indicators of problems. Right in the shop the starter went with a cloud of smoke. I thought it would be quick fix, it takes 2.5 hours to remove and replace starter. I also found out its 2.5 hours labor for a tune-up as they have to remove intake to get to back spark plugs and they recommend you change every coil pack when getting tune-up. The Journey is not expensive to buy any repairs are outrageous for labor charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I own 2009 Journey RT and had original battery die in January 2014, replaced with battery from Canadian Tire. It just died in November 2014 and they replaced, 2 weeks later it happened again. Put in shop for AVR test and it was the starter causing the problem which showed nothing on screen for indicators of problems. Right in the shop the starter went with a cloud of smoke. I thought it would be quick fix, it takes 2.5 hours to remove and replace starter. I also found out its 2.5 hours labor for a tune-up as they have to remove intake to get to back spark plugs and they recommend you change every coil pack when getting tune-up. The Journey is not expensive to buy any repairs are outrageous for labor charges. "They recommend", meaning the dealer? Of course the dealer is going to recommend a lot of things that are just not necessary, thats the way they make money, selling unnecessary services. Always, always, always consult your owners manual for recommended maintenance intervals and services. The vehicle manufacturer knows best. Learn how to work on it yourself to save labor charges. I don't use the dealer for anything other than warranty work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 When I had my 2006 Jeep Commander (bought new), this happened to me 2x. One day, everything was fine; next day nothing. Both times the Jeep was still under warranty, so no cost to me; only frustration. Each time, one of the cells failed, even though a battery check showed everything to be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slpowers Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 In January, the engine light went on and when I took it to the dealership, they said the battery needed replacing as well as a couple of sensors. In March we tried starting the car and the battery was completely dead! Had the car towed to the dealership and basically they said nothing was wrong with the battery or the car. They did say however that my portable gps which I keep plugged into the console was 'smoking' hot - not literally but it was obviously hot. I asked if it was the receptacle but was told no since it did not show up on the scope. Not sure what to make of all of this! I unplugged the gps and will plug it in as required but I've never had this problem before.- Something was obviously draining the battery when the car was off - could it have been the gps??? Any thoughts or comments are appreciated. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramfrank Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Absolutely NOT. The front cigarette lighter socket is switched by the ignition. If the navigator is getting power when the ignition is off, there is an issue with the vehicle. jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhareFred Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 My 09 has 2 sockets one battery powered, one ignition. Did they change that for 2014? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecrazyfoo4u Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 The front one under the radio is only powered with ignition ON. The other plugs in the center console and backseat are always hot...if you leave it plugged in to those, it could definitely drain the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.