Idle question on new Sprinter

ftp000 · Feb 13, 2006

I'm waiting impatiently for my spanking new Sprinter to return to the dealer from midway with the sleeper installed. I've been wrestleing with whether or not I am going to have the dealer slap the high idle feature on or not. The dealer (who stands to profit from me having it done) says that the EGR valves are not a problem on the new ones and that the aux battery it'll have on board does away with any issues related to charging while idling. I'm not new to this, I know there will be plenty of sitting and idling time, anybody have any experience with the new generation EGR? Should I go for the feature, or would I just be burning fuel faster for no good reason?

cargodreaming · Feb 13, 2006

I just got me a Sprinter as well. At my first oil change I asked the head mechanic at the local Dodge dealership and he also stated that the new EGR valves there was no need to worry about the idling.

OntarioVanMan · Feb 14, 2006

as Iam in the same boat as you guys..I guess time will tell. 23,000 miles now. and not even a burp so far.

ChopChop · Feb 17, 2006

Dodge quoted me 800 and change, to install the idle option...... I bought an idle stick at the J for under 10.00. Idle at 2000 rpm (which is what the high idle will run at) you'll burn .5 GPH round numbers about the same as the factory idle of 700 RPM give or take.
I have an 05 sprinter 6 mo old with 50,000 miles on it, no issues untill 36,000.00 miles. (I posted the thread Smoking Sprinter.) Since then I have had the EGR valve replaced under warrenty. Don't know why since the've fixed that issue lol....and the brake noise/chatter is normal...and the speedo is set to run 3 MPH off from the factory...... I like my Sprinter in theory and from a design standpoint but Dodge has brought the meaning of the term customer frustration to a whole new level for me.

TJ959 · Feb 17, 2006

I've had my Sprinter 5 months and 45000 miles. So far no problems. I made a stick to run at 1200 rpm because 2000 sounded like the pistons were changing holes. Anyway it works just fine. I added 2 batterys to the auxillary battery system and now they can run everything for about 12 hours without running the truck. Cooler, Wabasco heater, inverter and tv. I run the truck when I use the microwave. What ever you do don't remove the fuses that keep the headlights on all the time. They also control the auxilary charging system and the batterys will go flat. Guess how I know that.

vipra · Feb 26, 2006

Get an Espar Airtronic heater and 2 Optima Yellow Top auxilliary batteries and you'll never have to idle. I haven't idled once since I had an Espar installed last fall. It's expensive, but will pay for itself in the diesel you don't burn and lack of engine wear.

http://www.espar.com/
http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/americas0/en/config/product_info/automotive.html

talkinghorse43 · Feb 26, 2006

Did your idle stick and the new EGR valve solve your smoking problem (smoking after long idle and a smoke screen when you pulled out onto the interstate)?

ChopChop · Mar 2, 2006

Still smokes getting worse over time. On a high note I fonud a dealer I think understands the sprinters and am going to have them look at it. Think I've been at the wrong dealers when i get back thru Columbia SC I'll have them do the 60,000 mile service and ckeck out the other issues

talkinghorse43 · Mar 2, 2006

Just thinking that if you have a bad injector like I did maybe you could tell at low idle by looking at the exhaust?

If low idle is 600 rpm, that's 10 revs/sec. In a 4 cycle engine, you get an exhaust stroke from each piston every other rev. Or, an exhaust stroke from any one piston 5 times/second. The human eye's frame rate is about 16 frames/sec. So, if you have one bad injector, you might be able to see puffs of smoke from that cylinder.

But, if you have more than one bad injector, or some other problem, the smoke might not appear to be puffing. Or, there might be enough mixing in the exhaust system to erase a puff.

In any case a quick, easy and zero cost test.

bryan · Mar 7, 2006

HI
Just wondering if any Sprinter owners have had problems maintaining operating temps in extremely cold weather? Seems to me if they can't take being idled in mild weather then they should have the same problems running down the road in -40 weather.

geo · Mar 7, 2006

i would put on the new genset for sprinter , if you come to va and idle for more than 10 mins, you could be fine 20,000 as the owner and 20,000 as the driver and place you are idling at also could be fine
20,000 for you idling , at all the walmarts in hampton roads have signs to not idle on these grounds
and if you go to jfk in new york a egl driver was given a ticket for idle his truck for 700.00 for more than 2 mins

walmart in new england, new york area was fine over 100,000 dollars for idling there trucks but was able to say if we use that money to put genset on our trucks and have people not idle on grounds, they have give them sometime to start putting genset on there trucks
so a word to the wise

talkinghorse43 · Mar 7, 2006

I haven't operated in weather that cold, but no problem maintaining normal engine temp in 10 F for me if running at speed. In slow-moving traffic, the engine cools off. Many Sprinters have an Espar diesel-fired water heater as a booster for the engine. That can be used in cold weather to keep the engine at temp. I don't know whether that's enough to keep the engine at normal operating temp in -40F weather.