Stuck on the road with a flat battery?
Get the car as far off the road as you safely can and put the hazard lights on. Everyone waits well away from the traffic, on the side away from it. Ring your roadside cover if you have it, and call 111 if anyone is hurt or in danger.
Where the Journey battery is, and why it's awkward
Dodge's 2013 Journey manual says the battery sits between the left front headlight assembly and the left front wheel splash shield. So it's tucked into the front corner of the car, behind the bumper, rather than in the engine bay where most people look.
What has to come off to reach it can vary with the year, so let the mechanic deal with that on your car. It isn't a job for the side of the road.
Jump-starting a Journey
For a jump-start, the manual points to remote battery posts on the left side of the engine bay. It also warns that jump-starting can be dangerous if it's done wrongly, so follow the steps in your own manual, in order, or leave it to roadside help.
AA New Zealand adds two cautions. A jump pack connected the wrong way round can damage the car's electronics. And once the engine's running, the car still needs checking to find out why the battery went flat, since the alternator only keeps a charged battery topped up.
Getting the right battery fitted
Ask for the battery and the charging system to be tested before anything is bought. A battery that has gone flat once isn't always finished, and a tired alternator will drain a brand-new one.
Have the battery's type and its warranty written on the invoice. A mobile mechanic may be able to fit it where the car is parked, but ask first, given where it sits. There's more on the job itself in car battery replacement.
The Journey, and other Dodges here
The Journey was built in Mexico for model years 2009 to 2020, in left- or right-hand drive depending on the market. Engines included a 2.4 L four-cylinder, a 3.5 L V6 to 2010, the 3.6 L Pentastar V6 from 2011 and, outside North America, a Volkswagen-sourced diesel. Fiat sold the same car in Europe as the Freemont.
Tell the mechanic which engine yours has, because the parts follow from it. With the Journey out of production, a garage that knows American cars is usually the practical choice.
A smaller number of American-brand cars reach New Zealand as used imports from Japan, built in right-hand drive for that market. If your Dodge arrived that way, ask what service history came with it, and treat the first service as a full check.
What you can do on a Journey
You can
- Note whether the car clicks, cranks slowly or does nothing when you turn the key.
- If you jump it, use the engine-bay posts and follow the manual's steps.
- Keep the battery invoice, so its age and warranty are easy to find.
Leave to the mechanic
- Battery and charging system tests.
- Taking out and refitting a battery behind the headlight.
- Tracking down what keeps draining the battery, if it goes flat again.
If it were our Journey
We'd get it started from the engine-bay posts, or let roadside help do it, then head straight to a mechanic for a battery and alternator test before buying anything. We wouldn't strip the front corner at home. And we'd want the battery's type and warranty on the invoice. Tell us the year and what the car did when it wouldn't start. A local mechanic who specialises in your car.