I see this is a pretty common problem... I have a Journey that began to have intermittent no-start with I hit the push button. It doesn't try to crank, it just clicks through to RUN. In the past I just needed to wait a few minutes and it would start up. It got progressively worse until it would only start once every couple of days. I took it to the local dealer thinking it's a specific issue they would be more suitable to troubleshoot. After $900 they said it was running and I picked it up. It worked for about a week and now it no longer starts. The dealership said the Radio transmitter (I don't have the paperwork in front of me) was "dropping out" and that's what they replaced. Another mechanic agreed that that's the most common issue and said that would be a good first step. But, I'm afraid I'm just bleeding money into this. The dealer agreed to continue diagnosing it if I can get it to their shop.

It won't start at all and right now the brake is hard to push. Does that mean it's the anti-theft? I have left it overnight several times (trying each day before and after work). I've read so many posts about different things to do (unlock and relock, push the start 5 times, etc., etc., but I have tried so many of those sequences that I wonder if they are for different models or years. If it is an anti-theft that is stopping me now, then no matter what I do it's not going to run. If I get it towed to the dealer it's just adding more money...

1. Is the hard brake a sign of the anti-theft? Is there a true "anti-theft reset" sequence that I can do?
2. Is there anything more I can try before towing it to the mechanic? The fuses look fine, no corrosion on the wiring that I can see, the terminal wires look clean and I believe both wires are pretty new (they look clean and flexible). I have tried to jump it with no luck. I will double-check the battery but it is a new battery (2 years old) and because it was intermittent I suspect the battery is either bad or good, not sometimes bad and suddenly becomes good to start it. I haven't tried pulling out the battery to charge it because, well, I have to jack up the vehicle and remove the wheel, and it's stranded at my office, not my house- but I can certainly do this if it makes sense. Again, jumping it did not work.
3. I am guessing it's an obvious "no" for security, but is there any way to just bypass the start button or put in a physical key? I am guessing it's not worth even thinking about but I just can't get over the issues that all the electronics create when they don't work.

Thank you so much for any insight.
-Stephen

 

UPDATE.
After a week of trying it throughout the day every single day I finally called a tow truck. Before they came to pick it up I figured I would try plugging in a code reader to see if anything came up, and of course, this time it started! It was very rough to start but I took it directly to a mechanic who was recommended for their electrical work. The mechanic found a charred wire on the starter and replaced it. $250 with labor. Who knows if the wire was always bad or somehow started after the expensive radio module was replaced, but I'm thankful that it's running!