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Oh My great Sprinter

TJ959

TJ959

Veteran Expediter
I don't think my Sprinter likes me. Every time I brag it up it does something to me. Just after I posted my last post the transmission just flat went out. Won't stay in gear (slips after two or more upshifts and then disengages) and won't shift to any gear other than drive and reverse. Managed to limp home by shutting it of and restarting it but it would only go about 50 yards before it began to slip and then I'd coast in neutral as far as I could. I was only about 10 miles from home so I managed to get there in 45 minutes or so. I could back it into the driveway with no slippage after it cooled off for a couple of hours. I'm really bummed.
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
TJ,

One thing to keep in mind is that this is an electronic transmission - electronics on the fritz can cause alot stuff that looks pretty bad ... but might be relatively easy to fix .....

When I troubleshot my transmission problem, the 1st thing I did was check all wires in the wiring harness from the transmission control module to the transmission, for both continuity and shorted to ground or another wire.

Be interesting to see what codes it's throwing if any ....
 
F

FIS53

Veteran Expediter
Yeah Sprinters require a lot of tlc. Unfortunately mine has taken some what of a beating filling in for a customers route drivers. This definitely is hard on the tranny and other components.

The buggy has around 270,000 miles on it and due for another tranny change, ball joints, belt and such goodies along with glow plugs. Also time to replace the battery before next winter.

I hoping it'll do the 1/2 million the gm van gave me without any major component replacement.
Rob
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
TJ...yup....i blew it by bragging...think the blower motor went out yesterday...not the speed control...I heard a whirl and then a dumpa,dumpa, dumpa......

So goes life eh? :eek:
 
DAN

DAN

Seasoned Expediter
Congrats Ontario van man for the very good post and the good Sprinter you have.This is the info we need from the Sprinter owners to learn how to operate and maintain our Sprinters the best way.
My Sprinter is a 2006 with 230,000 k and I did the regular maintanance plus:
*SERPENTINE BELT 110,000K
*EGR VALVE 151,000K
*TURBO RESONATOR 160,000K
*FRONT BERINGS 180,000K
*WATER PUMP 190,000K
*REAR END 190,000K
*1 GLOW PLUG 200,000K
I hope I will drive 300,000 more with no major problems!!
Please let us know when you will hit the big 500,000k!!
 
TJ959

TJ959

Veteran Expediter
Mine sorta went Brrrrrrrrr, Thump, screech, Rev, Rev, Rev. The technical term for that is, "the transmission is all boogered up".
 
TJ959

TJ959

Veteran Expediter
The tranny is toast, dead, wheels up, she no go no more. I retired and now the Sprinter has done the same.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
DAN said:
Congrats Ontario van man for the very good post and the good Sprinter you have.This is the info we need from the Sprinter owners to learn how to operate and maintain our Sprinters the best way.
My Sprinter is a 2006 with 230,000 k and I did the regular maintanance plus:
*SERPENTINE BELT 110,000K
*EGR VALVE 151,000K
*TURBO RESONATOR 160,000K
*FRONT BERINGS 180,000K
*WATER PUMP 190,000K
*REAR END 190,000K
*1 GLOW PLUG 200,000K
I hope I will drive 300,000 more with no major problems!!
Please let us know when you will hit the big 500,000k!!
Click to expand...

Congrats...I see 2 things on your list....

Front bearings and rear end....ya gotta keep them serviced...repacking the bearings and servicing the rear end...rear end is cheap to service...

Everything else appears to be normal wear parts..

Do you take it in every once and a while put it up on the hoist and do an under carriage inspection? Lift and pull on the front end and check for any looseness?. anything out of range?
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
It is amazing that many forget that these precision German machines are not meant to be treated like American slop buckets. They are made precisely to have precise maintenance at precise times otherwise they will precisely fail.

I am wondering about the rear end, did you have PM, oil change or complete rebuild done to it?

Congrats by the way....
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
OntarioVanMan said:
Front bearings and rear end....ya gotta keep them serviced...repacking the bearings ...
Click to expand...
One thing that is equally important to repacking the front wheel bearings, is checking and/or adjusting front wheel bearing end play.

If there is too much end play, the bearings will be loose and this will cause premature wear. It is fairly easy to do - and probably should be done every 100K miles (along with repacking the bearings) ... and should be done even if the bearings are not repacked.

My local dealer wanted to charge me around $600 for this "service" (they musta been smoking crack), so I opted to do it myself (my local dealer recently made "the list" and is no longer a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealer - so there is some measure of justice in this world :rolleyes:)

The spec range (for an '06 at least, and probably all T1N Sprinters) is fairly narrow: 0.000787 to 0.00158 in.

Measurement of end play requires a dial indicator and magnetic mount. I picked both up at Harbor Freight for about $20 to $30 .... not exactly Brown & Sharpe quality, but the dial indicator is graduated in, and is accurate to, thousandths of an inch (0.001")

I set the end play on mine to 0.001".

Greg: Well said.
 
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RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
TJ,

Sorry to hear of your outcome.

Did whoever was working on it provide you with detailed description of what exactly failed in the transmission ..... and did they have any take on why it failed ?
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
gee tj that is too bad. i had a dodge caravan do that close to 100k. it was just a valve but when the tranny left 1st it went whirrrrrrrr. coast to a stop and shut down and start again. it was a long 7 mles back to the house.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
600 bucks?? those are some cheap drugs!! My tech did it whilst he did the front brakes...no biggee....wasn't even on the work order!!:D
 
RLENT

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
OntarioVanMan said:
600 bucks?? those are some cheap drugs!!
Click to expand...
I might have gotten the amount confused with what they wanted to do the front brakes ..... regardless, it was something as nearly outrageous ..... I had to keep myself from laughing when he gave me the price .....

My tech did it whilst he did the front brakes...no biggee....wasn't even on the work order!!:D
Click to expand...
Yeah .... they weren't ever going to see that work ...... brakes are just too easy to pay someone else to do .... I did it myself and paid about 1/4 of what they wanted.

Besides I really am not fond of having someone I don't know (and trust) work on my vehicle (probably why I'm in the middle of changing my own ball-joints right at the moment :D)

At this dealer you couldn't actually talk to the techs, just the service writer .....
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Well here in Rapid City.....my tech is Dave....I spend a lot of time in the shop with him and he shows me everything he does and why....we talk about what he sees everyday, The parts that are failing and why.....trends...and the good stuff...He's not a big fan of after market cheap parts...he's seen too much premature wear and faulty installs. And then people fault the sprinter itself when it fails....
 
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