2017 Dodge Journey Electrical Problems

Which parts fail

• Horn
  1

Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  729%
• 25k–50k
  729%
• 50k–75k
  729%
• 75k–100k
  14%
• 100k–150k
  14%
• 150k+
  14%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2017 Dodge Journey owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owned a 2017 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the instrument panel began to behave erratically, after which the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power, prompting her to attempt to quickly veer to the shoulder of the roadway. As a result, the contact was sideswiped by another vehicle on the driver's side. The air bags did not deploy. All warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. A police report was filed, and injuries were reported. The contact transported herself to an area hospital and was treated for a nondescript injury to her right shoulder. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V332000 (Electrical System, Vehicle Speed Control), and the VIN was included, and parts were available. …

In April 2025 I was driving and the abs light came on and windshield wipers went off sporadically. Dodge dealer found nothing wrong. It happened again in June 2025. Dodge dealer had car for 1 week and stated they could not find problem but car was safe to drive. They said to return when problems were more constant. On the morning of 8/14/2025, I dropped someone off at the dr and went to Starbucks. Went inside for order. While driving back to drs windshield wipers went crazy and car started to stutter. I pulled over .4 miles from Starbucks. When I stopped I saw smoke so got out of the car and could see flames. I went to open backdoor for my purse but door would not open. Drivers door was not fully closed so was able to retrieve to call 911. Fire department arrived quickly but front of car was already engulfed in flames. Fire department was able to get Fire out. Car was a total loss.

The contact owns a 2017 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the electrical system warning message was displayed and the vehicle inadvertently decelerated. The failure nearly caused a collision. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal five times for seven seconds to reset the vehicle; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who performed an oil change but could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.

Initially, the component that was failing was the rear wiper blade. The wiper blade would not perform a proper rotation. It wouldn't move at all when I would turn the switch, but anytime the car was unlocked or locked. The door was open or closed the blade would move. A few days later, one reverse light was out. The rear wiper doesn't really pose any risks but with my reverse lights, failing and any other lights in the rear could be a safety issue. My partner being an elevator mechanic knows electrical like the back of his hand., so he did the process of elimination, realized that it was the wiring at the back hatch. The wiring is shot brittle breaking burning.. which could possibly start a car fire which would put me my child. My boyfriend in danger.. the problem has not been confirmed by a dealer have not taken it to an independent service center. …

I took my car in for an engine knocking noise and was told that my motor needs to be replace. I was told that they have recalled all the other motors that were made during this time period but mine is not part of the recall. They have attempted it is a known issue with the cylinder that were put in the 2.4 L motors but will not help me in fixing the issue because they don't have my motor on recall. My is the E5 and the motors that they have recalled are the E4 and E6 motors that were put into the Jeeps and the Chrysler but they have not recalled the Dodges motors. Consumer have found out that these motors in fact have two recalls on them. The recall number is W80 and W84. They have found that the cylinder O-rings are bad, and this is confirmed with the with the notice that was sent with NHTSA ID # 10138863 with the manufacture communication number 9003357. …

As I was driving in March 2023 every light on the dashboard came on in the car. The car started shaking, the engine was very loud, the car speed slowed down than stopped, as I pressed the gas the car would not accelerate. After the car was parked overnight it started than I drove it to a Dodge dealership for repair, after being at the dealership for 7 days nothing was found by the technician to be wrong, the problem never happened while it was at the dealership, so I took the car. While driving the car for 7 months after the issue when I would drive up hills, I would have to completely press down on the gas to make it up the smallest hills. I didn't have any other issues until November 3, 2023, I was driving down the street and the same thing happened again. All the dashboard lights came on the car started shaking and the car speed slowed down eventually stopping.

The vehicle shuts off while driving. It has occurred 6 times over the course of a year. It results in a total loss of power, steering, brakes creating a very unsafe scenario. It has happened 5 times while doing above 35 mph and in one case above 50 mph and resulting in one missed stop sign. This creates a tremendous level of anxiety. I have taken it in on four occasions to reputable repair facilities Christian brothers automotive for repair three times soon to be four times and CarMax once. Three times I was turned away with no help only inspection fees. The fourth time Christian brothers replaced cam shaft sensors only to have another incident while driving 40mph down the road. Thankfully I was able to stop safely and now I have another appointment scheduled for service. I feel like there is a safety miss on this vehicle.

The vehicle wouldn't start, just kept idolizing. After trying for 10 minutes then getting a new key battery, the vehicle started then engine light was on. A code for crankshaft was on. But then check engine light went off by time I was home. Car broke down in middle of road. Wheel and breaks locked up which was very unsafe with my kids in car and I was unable to move it till tow truck came. Vehicle started working once it was at the auto repair shop. So we had him change the fuel pump because nothing else would show was wrong with the vehicle. Then 5 days later it broke down again. It is now back at the auto repair with no code showing.

So on 7/1/24 our vehicle started overheating some. And then we had the check engine light to come on along with another light that looks like a lightning bolt inside an inside out parenthesis. So I research the symbol and it came back as an issue with the Electric Throttle Control which is also means there is a problem with the electric parking brake. And then a mesage came on that said OIL TEMP HIGH SPEED MAY BE LIMITED. And then it started smoking really bad under the hood. So i researched some more and found out back in 2018 there was a recall on the same issue that was completed on September 23rd 2018.

The ETC warning light came on, then the car slowed down then stalled out and would not crank back up. Upon running a diagnostic, the following error codes displayed; P0420, P0340, P0197, P0117, P1D83, P2181(several codes showing up more than once showing permanent, pending). This also happened before but was taken to the dealership to be repaired but the problem is back again but worse. Me and my family were on the highway at the time of this happening and when this happened previously, I begged Carvana to take this car back as it not safe and it has happened again.

Related recalls

Electrical complaints in other Journey years