2010 Dodge Journey 2.4L 200k miles
My family's car began having issues about a month ago with the check engine light flashing, and it's driving us all insane. We took it to one shop initially, which said all spark plugs and coils were good, and told us to go to the dealer for a computer reflash, as they couldn't find out what was actually wrong and didn't want to replace random parts. Went to dealership, made an appointment for them to look at it, and they quoted a month+ delay(which still isn't here yet).
Symptoms got worse(I'm not the primary driver of it), because my family was forced to drive it for a couple weeks while waiting, which made them take it to another place. They replaced spark plugs, a coil, the camshaft sensor, and some gasket. Apparently the light went off for a couple days, and just returned(and flashing again). Took it back to the last place, apparently the ignition coil they used went bad already and they replaced it, flashing remained after they tested it. They are now suggesting a catalytic converter replacement to solve the problem. Does this sound right? I'm asking here because it's another thousand on top of the first.
Now let me explain the issue leading up to this. Flashing check engine came on randomly a month ago. It would keep turning from flashing to solid occasionally with no noticeable effect. Sometimes it would have the effect of loss of power and sputtering out. Would pull over and restart the car and it would drive fine again. The car would otherwise drive fine except for these situations where you had to pull over. While waiting for the dealer appointment, the car began exhibiting another problem. The traction control light would go on which hindered the car's ability to accelerate/sputtered, and would sometimes stall it out. Restarting the car would also fix this, sometimes. If the traction control was still on when restarting, the car would take a few seconds trying to start then turn on. Like the other part of the problem, the car would run fine after a successful restart. You could go a long way with zero problems(just the flashing on and off) then it just decides to act up. During the winter(cold), there would be throttle body light problems for years, requiring a restart if the car hasn't been driven often enough. But we're not seeing the throttle body light come up during all of this(and it never has during the summer). Car was previously throwing codes for things like camshaft position sensor, low voltage, and misfires on multiple cylinders.
After the first repair, I haven't had a chance to drive it myself yet, but it's suggested that it feels like it's running fine, but the check engine flashing came back on.
No. Replacing the catalytic converter doesn't sound right unless they did an exhaust back pressure test and determined that the catalytic converter is clogged and causing the problem.
https://youtu.be/qJTmddbOxMk?t=23
Maybe buy a cheap scanner for $50 bucks and look up the codes. Make sure to check Pending Codes. I've seen times when the CEL is blinking without setting a code but the problem is displayed in "pending codes".
Also, with that Journey, go to Live Data and look at the fuel trims to see if the computer is adding or taking away a lot of fuel in the Long Term Fuel Trim (more than +10% or -10%).
That would be a clue that maybe the problem is with the Intake Manifold Runner Control Valve getting stuck. That can fool guys because it causes misfire codes and crankshaft and camshaft position sensor codes. The computer sometimes sets a code for it, but not always
I have no idea if they checked the back pressure. I watched the video. I wasn't there when the car was brought, but apparently my family said the car was in the air at the shop, if that makes any sense.
I wasn't able to get a scanner, since I wasn't sure what one to get. Do you have any suggestions that can be found locally at that price, that shows that sort of thing? We had our codes read again today, and it said P0301 (Cylinder 1 misfire). They already replaced the spark plugs, and the coils.
The first shop(who didn't know what was wrong) said in their notes that it had P0315, P0300, P0301, P0335, P0700, and P0562. They wrote that they checked the spark plugs and coils and they looked good, and injectors were working fine. The 2nd shop that did the work did the following - of spark plug replacement, fuel system service, fuel/induction decarbonization, one ignition coil change(I believe on cylinder 1), crankshaft position sensor replacement, intake gasket.
The code now as of today is PO301.
Flashing check engine light means "stop driving ASAP to avoid engine damage". What specific code(s) come up when scanned?
The only code that was found today after a couple days of driving is P0301.
When the first shop looked at it a few weeks ago, before any repair, they saw P0315, P0300, P0301, P0335, P0700, and P0562.
about a month ago with the check engine light flashing
Why are you driving for a month with a flashing CEL???
Check what the trouble codes are and post them here.
I posted the codes above in reply to the other comments. My family had no other choice, they have no other car, and renting for over a month is not reasonable cost wise. They tried to get other means of transportation, but it wasn't possible . We went to get it checked soon after it began, then got sent to the dealership who booked us an appointment more than a month out, who told us to just try not to drive it too fast until then(they just joked saying not to take it on any race tracks haha). We got tired of waiting so we had to get it checked elsewhere before it worsened as mentioned in my original post.
When you get a check engine light you plug in a scanner the same day and begin troubleshooting asap.
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A missfiring engine can send unburned fuel into the cat destroying it, it can also destroy the piston, it also completely messed with the computer system and can cause random codes to pop up.
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What I recommend is clearing out the codes and seeing which ones come back.
I highly doubt that the CAT
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diagnosis is right, nowadays they blame the catalytic convertor for any hard to diagnose issue
See the Scotty video on actually testing it out:
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As far as the misfire, see FAQ for troubleshooting:
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/misfire-4/
(See the “testing your ignition system” and the part about fuel injectors)
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Also try disconnecting the O2 sensors and see if the car still acts up without them (to check if they’re the issue - if they are, replace with oem only since it’s a Chrysler)
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You may need to perform a dry/wet compression test, the engine maybe just flat worn out and it may just not have enough compression to achieve normal operation in cyl 1.
You might want to do compression and leakdown tests to assess the internal health of the engine. If that's not OK then nothing done externally is going to help.
Does this have the 3.6 liter pentastar engine? If so check the oil filter housing... mine was leaking oil did same crap urs is doing... went thru a bunch of parts and finally found out what was wrong. Apparently they got a cheap oil filter housing made of plastic and they tend to leak oil.
