'05 Sprinter 100,000 miles, just a headsup

[Turtle]

The other day I had my mechanic do my DOT inspection. Not the Sprinter tech guy, but my regular mechanic. I had him do it because he's extraordinarily thorough. He said the lower ball joints were a little loose, nothing major, but to keep a close eye on them. I had him replace them. He repacked the wheel bearings while he was at it. Everything else was fine. That was 99,800 miles on the hit parade.

Just something to keep in mind, as when the ball joints get too loose, the tires will start cupping pretty badly. By the time you notice it, you'll need new ball joints, as well as new tires.

Other than regular maintenance the only other thing I've had done is to replace the belt tensioner and belt after it failed at 59,000. Fortunately, I wasn't under a load when it failed, and was about 1000 feet from a Sprinter dealer, so driving the remaining distance to the dealer with no water pump or alternator wasn't a problem.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

214,000 on mine now...just replaced fan belt in the nick of time it had a chunk out of it. $130 bucks including labour at a dealer of course.
2 weeks ago had all air filters replaced and fuel filter 90,000 miles on it! AND still clean!

Replaced blower fan speed control $32.00.

Had an error code cleared cost $0.00 I am smooth talker!*L* and good whiner when need be....*L*

Brake wear now at 60%

Still getting 22-24 Mpg.

Other then that runs great!

 

[DAN]

2006 SPRINTER just turn 100,000 miles.The best van I ever had,only oil and filter change every 10,000 miles and fuel filter change every 25,000 miles.Thank you MERCEDES for the best van in USA.

 

[greg334]

"Thank you MERCEDES for the best van in USA"

There you go!

 

[hondaking38]

240,000 miles 2005 today just replaced front brakes and rotors for the firast time..rear brakes are good for another 50,000 miles. replaces the belt 2 times just to be on the safe side and the tranny flushed twice, due again in a couple months. knock on wood been lucky so far... belts are 29.00 brakes are 48.00 a set and rotors 48.00 each www.rockauto.com

 

[unorthodoxneon]

Glad to hear the sprinters are holding up pretty well. I know they had some issues with a few of them but that might just be a hit and miss issue. A friend of mine is thinking about getting into expedite with a cargo van and i told him to check out the sprinter as its the best for cargo space and has a decent reputation behind them.

 

[raycal]

we bought one with 98k from kings dodge in cincinnati and had notthing but problems fuel filters turbo oilleaks trans and computer problems and a drive shaft.but i know thies are good vans this one was just beat to death.dont buy a used one unless you know the owners. we took a 10.000 lost we had to trade it in in vegas for a new one.07 sprinter a world of diffrance

 

[terryandrene]

Raycal: Could it be that some of your Sprinter problems were caused by towing 10,000 pounds across country in a beat to death van. I didn't comment on the post where you mentioned the heavy duty towing but it would be wise for our other Sprinter owners not to follow in your path of exceeding the weight rating of the Sprinter; it's unsafe and expensive.

 

[arkjarhead]

Don't most of the Sprinter O/Os usually set the max at about 2,000 to 2,500 lbs of freight? If so there's a big difference between that and 10k.

 

[RLENT]

Yeah ..... well said Terry.

Ark - there's a freakin' world of difference ..... I think the max tow capacity on pre-07 Sprinters is like either 3500 or 5000 lbs. IIRC, the '07's have a 7500 lb capacity (may depend on specific model and equipment)

I have a 1 ton Dodge RAM 3500 with a Cummins and the towing package - I have pulled 10K or 12K lbs (mini-excavator) - it is alot of weight behind the RAM - which is a way, way heavier-built truck than a Sprinter - with way, way more engine.

 

[arkjarhead]

I know a couple of guys who have the Dodge Ram dualies with cummins motors and they hot shot. They haul big air conditioner units. These things are huge. Maybe 5 fit on a 45 foot trailer. Anyway. They won't go out west into the mountains because they say everytime they do they blow an injector. They say that can get expensive.

 

[herbie]

ken i want to contact you if possible. i dont know how to pm yet. would you allow me to call you or email you. reason info load 1. seeking info. i have followed your posting for several years. i have been expediting since 2005 thanks herbie. email [email protected]910 284 6471

 

[greg334]

If you want to PM someone, click on their name and there is an option to send a personal message.

When you get a reply, there is a Member area box on the right of the page where you can click on the private message link and read them.

I would edit your phone number and email address.

 

[Doggie Daddy]

Man, I hate it when someone pulls up one of these dusty old posts from years ago.

Was just getting ready to ask Turtle how he was surviving on only driving 20k miles a year,till I noticed the date of the original post.

 

[Turtle]

I'm officially at 350,000 miles now. Looking for the transmission to go any minute.

A few months ago I had a clogged radiator, replaced that and the fan clutch. AC went goofy and had to replace the lines and condenser. The compressor will need replacing in the Spring. Couple of weeks ago I had to replace the fuel rail, and then the high pressure injector pump (save up for that one, kiddies), and replaced inner and outer left tie rods. Also, finally, replaced the rear brakes and rotors. The originals did good.

Other than a very intermittent code on glow plug heater circuit, things are fine. That's probably the glow plug control module, an easy R&R.

 

[Dakota]

214,000 on mine now...just replaced fan belt in the nick of time it had a chunk out of it. $130 bucks including labour at a dealer of course.
2 weeks ago had all air filters replaced and fuel filter 90,000 miles on it! AND still clean!

Replaced blower fan speed control $32.00.

Had an error code cleared cost $0.00 I am smooth talker!*L* and good whiner when need be....*L*

Brake wear now at 60%

Still getting 22-24 Mpg.

Other then that runs great!

 

[greg334]

Are the fuel rails rebuilt on the Sprinter engines like other MB engines?

 

[Turtle]

Are the fuel rails rebuilt on the Sprinter engines like other MB engines?

I dunno. Maybe by MB, but not by Sprinter techs, anyway. The 03's, and maybe 04's and earlier, you could rebuild them pretty easy. Don't know about the latest models. But with mine, they redesigned it, mainly to prevent some of the problems rebuilding the earlier units had. The rail itself rarely goes bad, it's one of the two sensors on the rail that goes bad. There's one on either end. One of them can still be replaced, it's a cheap replacement, but of course that's the sensor that hardly ever goes bad. The other one you can't even order just the sensor anymore, as it's integrated into the rail. Before, when you could replace it, you had to get it on there juuuust right, setting a dial properly with no tolerance. If you set it wrong, and apparently most people did, it caused more problems than not fixing it did.

Not fixing it leaves you in one of the limp home modes, very drivable, as I was in it for 2 or 3 months. No acceleration power, but you can still drive 60-65 MPH. The ECM would think you're using twice as much fuel as you really are, so it would scale back how much goes to the engine. If you improperly fix it, setting the sensor dial incorrectly, then the ECM would think you're not getting enough fuel, and the more it gives you the less it thinks you're getting. Apparently that was a real mess.

So now it's just a simple fuel rail R&R, except it aint cheap. $800 list or so. My dealer charged me $585. My dealer gives me good prices on parts, sometimes cheaper than I can get online. The injector pump online was $1350, but mine was $1205. Most dealers will charge the list price of $1700 and change.

 

[greg334]

Of course you kept the old one?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I know..thread is 3 years old...I now have 578,000 miles