Oh My great Sprinter

RLENT · May 22, 2009

OntarioVanMan said:
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...

That's really great OVM - being able to actually communicate with the guy that's working on your rig is how it ought to be. He sounds like a decent, conscientious guy. They are out there - the trick is finding them.

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....

Well, as someone who grew up in the automotive aftermarket, working in the business from age 11 (our family owned a warehouse distributor and 4 retail stores ..... which I eventually ran ......

) I can tell you that certainly not all aftermarket parts are cheap - far from it ...... the Koni front struts I'm installing right now are without a doubt far, far better quality than the OEM Sachs units that I took off ...... adjustable and a Lifetime Warranty.

I've never personally observed it to be true that the quality of parts is absolutely tied to whether it's OEM, or aftermarket ..... you can get junk either way ......

DAN · May 23, 2009

The rear end was complete rebuild(was making big noise),I change the oil every 60k but some of the parts inside give up.

DAN · May 23, 2009

greg334 said:
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....

Complete rebuild!

OntarioVanMan · May 24, 2009

Rlent said

Well, as someone who grew up in the automotive aftermarket, working in the business from age 11 (our family owned a warehouse distributor and 4 retail stores ..... which I eventually ran ...... ) I can tell you that certainly not all aftermarket parts are cheap - far from it ...... the Koni front struts I'm installing right now are without a doubt far, far better quality than the OEM Sachs units that I took off ...... adjustable and a Lifetime Warranty.

I've never personally observed it to be true that the quality of parts is absolutely tied to whether it's OEM, or aftermarket ..... you can get junk either way ......

I am far removed from expert...but experience with "some" AMP's was a nightmare in the learning years...
I mentioned the Koni's to my tech and he liked them...

Also mentioned the aluminum turbo resonator ..said MB would not let stock it.

Also he's seen some inferior brakes components....premature wear and failure....you get what you pay for....

I used to work in a factory that made tranny pins ...they'd be sent out for hardening and then brought back for finishing....100,000's of these pins and every once and awhile 5 or 6 unhardened pins would get mixed in...That would account for the random failure of certain trannys...and can happen in rear ends, engines...all working parts. It is not a perfect world.

TJ959 · May 26, 2009

I spent 25 years in the automotive aftermarket and quality was not an issue on most items at that time. Lately, there is a lot more cheap import stuff out there though. You have to be careful but there are still lots of good quality aftermarket parts available for most makes. Maybe not so many for Sprinter though.

An update on my Sprinter. I sold it (as is) to a guy that exports used Sprinters to Poland. I guess you could say " that's one Sprinter that's really been around". Yup, 323,000 miles here and who knows how many in the former eastern block. I'm gonna miss the old girl.

OntarioVanMan · May 27, 2009

TJ...At least you got rid of it pretty quick....

Am here at the dealer in Rapid City...Had plans of doing rear brakes and replacing that blower motor....now at 403,000 miles...Brakes are fine(original rears)...lots left...so I had him check out pulley and tensioner.....

LO and BEHOLD! The belt was 3/4 hanging off the tensioner

Lady luck is on my side.

He checked out the other pulleys they appear to be fine...part will be in tomorrow...they set me up here at the dealer with shore power and set me up with a loaner car so I can do my groceries at wally world.

Also there was some end play in the front bearings...NO Charge.
Everything is tight in the front end and nothing looks bent or leaking. Hoses in good shape as well...

TJ959 · May 28, 2009

Same with me. I did the front brakes at about 180,000 and the rears were still good at 320,000. You can't get a lot of freight delivered if you are stopping all the time. Like the old Italian race car driver said. "Whatsa behind me, she no matter, as long as I no usa da brakes."

OntarioVanMan · May 28, 2009

The UPS plane never made it off the ground in Denver last night "breakdown" another night camping at the dealers....this week is a lose now.....oh well....so goes life....

RonJonCMC · May 28, 2009

Just want to say thanks for all the great info on Sprinters. I retired from Jeep May 1st and have been researching the possibilities of doing expedite with a van. Being a Chrysler guy I have always been looking at the Sprinter. I think I know just about all the options available. The only thing I cant decide on is the WB. Also if I should go with the aftermarket sleeper or the do it yerself option. Aftermarket my cargo capacity goes down to about 1900 lbs and can only carry two skids. How often does a van carry more that two skids, need more than nine feet or over 2000 lbs capacity?

OntarioVanMan · May 28, 2009

RonJonCMC said:
Just want to say thanks for all the great info on Sprinters. I retired from Jeep May 1st and have been researching the possibilities of doing expedite with a van. Being a Chrysler guy I have always been looking at the Sprinter. I think I know just about all the options available. The only thing I cant decide on is the WB. Also if I should go with the aftermarket sleeper or the do it yerself option. Aftermarket my cargo capacity goes down to about 1900 lbs and can only carry two skids. How often does a van carry more that two skids, need more than nine feet or over 2000 lbs capacity?

Not too many loads requiring 3 skids...we get more calls for the height....also I'd build my own....aftermarket built are heavy as they use alot of particleboard which is heavier then like say plywood real wood....some carriers require at least 2,000 lbs of payload....

I was informed to-day by the dealer 09's are now the last...the Sprinter program is ending...

OntarioVanMan · May 28, 2009

OntarioVanMan said:
The UPS plane never made it off the ground in Denver last night "breakdown" another night camping at the dealers....this week is a lose now.....oh well....so goes life....

Part came in on a later flight and dealer went over and picked it up....

As soon as the tech took the tensioner off it fell apart in 2 pieces...phew..bit the bullet catching that one...now on the way eastbound.....

Dakota · May 28, 2009

Maybe in three years when I retire my straight truck, Penske won't let me keep it past 350K
i'll jump into a Sprinter

OntarioVanMan · May 28, 2009

Dakota said:
Maybe in three years when I retire my straight truck, Penske won't let me keep it past 350K
i'll jump into a Sprinter

Don't jump too hard..as I said..09 is the last production year...if you jump it'll prolly be a Fiat snubnose van...

greg334 · May 28, 2009

I'm hearing Chrysler/Fiat will not have a van ready for the '10 or '11 market year.... They may even lose the ram line with exception of the pickup. They will be cutting a lot of things to cut overhead, they may as well merge with Fiat and GM.

Ford can step in and fill the gap if they get it together with the transit but that is still up in the air. I saw one today, a pretty cool looking blue extended transit, and it had a Diesel....

What may happen is Freightliner may market the sprinter, seeing MB did build that assembly plant in SC.

Why is your parts coming form Denver? I thought we had a big warehouse here in this area with it stacked full of sprinter parts? It would be easy to ship here, enough expediters sitting around the truck stop this morning (like 15 of them).

RLENT · May 28, 2009

OntarioVanMan said:
I was informed to-day by the dealer 09's are now the last...the Sprinter program is ending... Don't jump too hard..as I said..09 is the last production year...

LOL .... really now, you don't say ?

I hope someone bothered to inform the MB folks over in Stuttgart ... too funny ......

I assume this was a Dodge dealer you spoke to ?

Ya gotta figger mebbe Daimler isn't gonna wanna give up them North American Sprinter unit sales .....

Like Greg says ya gotta wonder 'bout them folks over there at Freightliner .... given they are a wholly-owned subisidiary of Daimler .....

Personally I always preferred the Freightliner badging over Dodge or Mercedes anyways .....

greg334 · May 29, 2009

Well the nice thing about sitting at the freightliner dealer's waiting room sitting near a few smelly truckers, watching the view on a 23 inch tv that isn't working allt hat well while drinking coffee with powdered creamer and no sugar that was made 10 hours ago while trying to listen to the two mechnics who are trying to figure out how to break the news to you that they put a hole in your oil pan and they don't know if they can take it apart.

I guess it beats the MB dealers where you can have good coffee, watch HBO on a plasma screen while sitting in nice leather chairs and even in some places have a massage while your sprinter is being serviced.

Dakota · May 29, 2009

Well, I am sure if Dodge gives up the Sprinter, Freightliner will take it over. The Sprinter is too popular to just axe.
Ohhh wait Dodge, Freightliner, Mercedes are all the same company now....maybe they will axe it.
Same as GM getting rid of Pontiac and keeping Buick STUPID

Dakota · May 29, 2009

greg334 said:
Well the nice thing about sitting at the freightliner dealer's waiting room sitting near a few smelly truckers, watching the view on a 23 inch tv that isn't working allt hat well while drinking coffee with powdered creamer and no sugar that was made 10 hours ago while trying to listen to the two mechnics who are trying to figure out how to break the news to you that they put a hole in your oil pan and they don't know if they can take it apart.

I guess it beats the MB dealers where you can have good coffee, watch HBO on a plasma screen while sitting in nice leather chairs and even in some places have a massage while your sprinter is being serviced.

Sounds like you spend alot of time at the Freighliner dealer