Starting issues?

2013 DODGE JOURNEY
180,000 MILES • 2.4L • 4 CYL • AUTOMATIC
Avatar
FAPRILH
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
My vehicle listed above will mostly only start from a neutral gear position and randomly it won't start no matter how our if you have it connected to jump battery you just have to wait and that sometimes is only minutes and other it's been hours. What could be causing this?
Jul 9, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Advertisement
Avatar
STRAILER
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 53,854 POSTS
By "start" I assume you mean crank over, correct? It sounds like the gear range sensor is going out, but there is a starter control solenoid that maybe getting weak or you have a bad starter motor. We need to see if the starter trigger wire is getting power when the engine is cranked over. Use a test light connected to ground and test the wire/terminal while in the crank position. You can even remove the wire for ease of testing. I added an image below for you with the marked wire.

This video can help as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YRW8fyNudY

If you upload a short video of the problem, I can see what is going on to help guide you better. :) Let me know.
Jul 9, 2025 at 8:12 PM