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Sprinter Engine issues !!

R

rmctt2

Seasoned Expediter
Hi;
Anyone know of any problems with Sprinter Engines ?
Especially Mercesdes Benz's vers any othes ?
2003 to 2006 Sprinters !
Looking at 2003 with MB 4 speed auto , a good friend who who is a 40 plus OTR driver says to stay away from M.B 's Engines..
Anyone with opinions or expierence with thios..
Thanks
 
DAN

DAN

Seasoned Expediter
Sprinter is Mercedes,is no Sprinter with Mercedes engine.I have a 2006 MERCEDES and I am very,very happy,22MPG,smood 5 cil.diesel engine,lot of space,in my opinion the best cargo van on the market.My last van was 2005 Ford 350 diesel,6.0 engine=JUNK.This is only the way I feel about this van so......:9 :9 :9 :9
 
LDB

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I don't have one so I can't answer however I do know there are many threads on Sprinters. Do a search as well as reading back through the archives and you should find quite a bit on them.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
Do I know of any problems with Sprinter engines ?

Well, sure. Would any of them keep me from buying one ?

No - since none of them (the problems) are really significant.

We have three in the family - our 2006 and my son's 2004 and 2006. Their respective mileages are 11K, 60K, and 150K I think. Our 2006 had one of the air intake sensors go bad @ around 1500 miles - replaced under warranty. My son's 2004 had an air intake sensor (not sure if it was the same one as ours) go bad - since it was over 100K it was out of warranty. He choose to have the dealer replace it and it cost him around $700. He probably could have done it himself and sourced the part for less ... but it was cold out .;)

Other than those two items the engines in all three vehicles have required nothing but oil and filter (oil, fuel, and air) changes.
 
R

rmctt2

Seasoned Expediter
Thanks guys for the help on this.
I do not know anything really about engines, etc..
This friend wants to purchase 2 Sprinters to do Expediting. I will be driving !
He has over 40 yrs OTR expierience and does most , if not all his repairs on his trucks ( 6-18 wheelers, 2-Strt trucks ).
He states that the MB engines are not dependable for long haul mileage.( too many repairs, and / or rebuilt engines ).
I know he speaks from 18 wheeler knowledge, I am not sure about Sprinters. I think he wants to purchase new, not someone elses used one with high mileage..
Does Sprinter have different engine types ??
If they do, which are the more dependable ones ?
Again Thanks..
rmctt2
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Just want to throw something in here.

Mercedes have been building Diesel engines a lot longer than most of the truck engines out on the market, except Cummins and Cat.

The Sprinter engine is based on a very reliable design and has had billions of world wide milleage under its oil pan.

Mercedes, like many other German products, need regular maintanance. The issues that the Sprinter has is the dealer support system is rather poor by my standards. A lot of Dodge dealers don't have the mechanics who understand how a diesel works and they lack any ablity to care about the customer - hence the poor support. By the way, I know this first hand.
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
geo and ontario van man also have sprinter so you might pm them.

greg is correct in the history on the engine. basically it has been around since the mb diesel cars of the late 70's. they continued to refine them and they are very reliable. any engine can get a bad part. i have read that mb takes good care of the people with the vans.

do a search on sprinter/sprinter van etc.

there is also a sprinter van owner forum on the net to furthere research your issues.



Jack Berry
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
OVM,
I understand what you are saying but D-C suffers from a serious lack of properly trained Mechanics in many of the Chrysler group end dealerships.

My experience is not as an end user, I used to work on M-B, Rolls and other high end cars. I had some of the old M-B training on the M-B diesel cars and Unimogs and have some of the Sprinter (and Cummins driver train) training material and there is a huge difference between the two.

Personal expierence with the leading 5 star dealership of the state of michigan has led me to going to Cummins to get all the problems fixed, including fixing the nearly impossible task by a 'highly trained' D-C diesel specilist of cracking injector pump housing trying to adjust the idle after replacing the throttle cable.
 
C

Crazynuff

Veteran Expediter
>OVM,
>I understand what you are saying but D-C suffers from a
>serious lack of properly trained Mechanics in many of the
>Chrysler group end dealerships.
>
>My experience is not as an end user, I used to work on M-B,
>Rolls and other high end cars. I had some of the old M-B
>training on the M-B diesel cars and Unimogs and have some of
>the Sprinter (and Cummins driver train) training material
>and there is a huge difference between the two.
>
>Personal expierence with the leading 5 star dealership of
>the state of michigan has led me to going to Cummins to get
>all the problems fixed, including fixing the nearly
>impossible task by a 'highly trained' D-C diesel specilist
>of cracking injector pump housing trying to adjust the idle
>after replacing the throttle cable.
Since Daimler/Chrysler stockholders are voting to change the name back to Daimler/Benz and are trying to find a buyer for the Chrysler group , I expect to see Sprinters go back to being serviced by Freightliner and not Chrysler . More info on Sprinter http://www.whnet.com/4x4/sprinter.html
 
S

sprtrste

Seasoned Expediter
I am on my second Sprinter (395on 1st), 216on 2nd. The first blew a turbo - sold for scrap. The second developed serious injector leak somewhere around 184k. When the tech pulled the cover off he said the motor was gone! went to second tech- same opinion. Paid $1,131 to an injection specialist in Dayton, Oh- he said same thing. They put the motor back together, and, it was running on 3 cyl. Bought a rebuilt from Gollings Arena Dodge for $7,559 (running complete). Motor DOA!
The $1,283 injector pump not working right. The dealership won't replace motor without Mother may I from Dodge. I am out another 6 days so far(and counting). Am pacing in motel room.
If there was an alternative I would dump Sprinter in a second. Mercedes is crap for reliability. The dealers charge mostly $10.50 for a quart of oil whereas Freightliner charged $7.50 for same oil.
I hope you don't find out that the motor is a throw away. Once it develops serious trouble it can't be worked on because everything locks up in the motor.
Only Dodge could make Freightliner look good !!! Mercedes is crap!
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Quote" Bought a rebuilt from Gollings Arena Dodge for $7,559 (running complete). Motor DOA!"

Why buy used when a new one is only about 10-11,000 out of the crate.
complete with new injectors, turbo, water pump all new elect. connectore the works! And fully warranty.
Old one comes out complete, new one goes in and your away. 2 days tops.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Found this interesting Service bulletin from Dodge

2005 Dodge Sprinter
Bulletin #: 06001
Sequence #: 10019268
Date: 01/11/2006
Component Name: 110000 electrical system
Make: Dodge
Model: Sprinter
Year: 2005
Summary: Malfunction indicator lamp (mil) illumination due to intake air temperature sensor. *tt

What they are saying is t's the lamp malfunction not the air inteake that so many people have had replaced??

and another

2006 Dodge Sprinter
Bulletin #: 1100305
Sequence #: 10018684
Date: 11/10/2005
Component Name: 063000 engine and engine cooling:exhaust system
Make: Dodge
Model: Sprinter
Year: 2006
Summary: Turbocharger, change air cooler, and exhaust gas recirculation systems diagnosis on om647 engines. *nm

my source
http://www.dodgeforum.com/recalls-and-tsbs/browse.htm
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
No - I think what they are saying is the malfunction indicator lamp illuminates as a consequence of a failure of the air intake temp sensor.

If you know otherwise please refer me to the source of the data.
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
No problem. My son had to have that sensor replaced at around 140K on his 2004 ..... so I'm trying to figure out whether or not that since there is a TSB on it that it would/should/could be covered by DC. He had to pay over $700 to have it replaced by the dealer.

I had to have it replaced on our 2006 @ 1500 miles but it was covered under warranty.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
I had this issue way back in 76" with my Duster...the 318 in almost every other model was on recall for a bad Carberator gasget, and was stalling Dealer said mine was not recalled wrote Dodge a registered letter got a response 2 weeks later and apoligized for the dealer and told ne to go in and have it fixed on them!

your sons was on 04 that coulda been the beginning of the problem sensors and they missed it. I'd question it. They can find out when the van was built especially if it was the end of 04's production run.
 
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