Sprinter PM results

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
516,000 miles

I was just in my dealer for my regular PM thinking I must need brakes for the rear pretty darn soon....BUT I was sooo disappointed when lo and behold my tech says" would you be disappointed if I told you they were not needed yet?"

He showed me the distance to the wear sensor..and I should be good till at least the fall...These are the oringinal set of brakes.

The fronts have less then 50% wear, they were done at 318,000 miles..so almost 200K now...looking at hitting I hope 400K out of this set...

We walked around the van whilst it was up and inspected everything from ball joint. bearings, drive shaft, hanger bearings, axel...the works and found nothing out of the usual.

I told him it seemed to be running a little hot, not much just a little...took took a look and proceeded to take the front grill apart and started cleaning between the AC the turbo cooler and rad.....my Lord the crud of 5 years that came flooding out!!! It was also at this point he checked the clutch fan...lo and behold there was something to fix!! It wasn't cycling on all the time! The part is on order and i just completed a load out here and the difference just cleaning the front made was astounding..I am really looking forward to spending some money on my sprinter as not to feel left out! *LOL*
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Admittingly..thru luck and good sense and driving habits. I've been very fortunate and I know that...
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I wonder if those pads are any different than what is on the 07. I do not drive hard and try to brake slow and easy. I got front pads at about 200,000 and rear brakes and rotors at about 270,000. I did not drive it for about the first 155,000 so maybe that had something to do with it.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
I wonder if those pads are any different than what is on the 07. I do not drive hard and try to brake slow and easy. I got front pads at about 200,000 and rear brakes and rotors at about 270,000. I did not drive it for about the first 155,000 so maybe that had something to do with it.

You are a bit premature on the wear on the rear....experience has shown me a 2:1 ratio is about normal...but maybe you take on average heavier loads then me, who knows...but you are doing better then some are out here...;)
 

geo

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Retired Expediter
US Navy
most sprinter that are used by fedex ground have the brakes worked on at 37,000


had the front brakes done at 107,000
still running the rear brakes on 160,000
your doing something very right
should go to mb web site there is award you can put in for and they give you something to put on the grill
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
geo..my award/reward is NOT spending money on brake jobs...:D
I figure I'am up a thousand or 2....just on lack of brake jobs...:)
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
Congrats Ken,

Brakes are one thing I just won't pay to have done, I do them myself. Now oil changes I have done, because after all the time and effort it's just about as cheap to have it done :D
On my personal conveyance a 2005 Scion xA I have just hit 90K and have not touched the brakes, since I live in the country alot of the driving is highway driving. I figure that is pretty good for a car. I know trucks and vans have more brake material on the pads/shoes.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Congrats Ken,

Brakes are one thing I just won't pay to have done, I do them myself. Now oil changes I have done, because after all the time and effort it's just about as cheap to have it done :D
On my personal conveyance a 2005 Scion xA I have just hit 90K and have not touched the brakes, since I live in the country alot of the driving is highway driving. I figure that is pretty good for a car. I know trucks and vans have more brake material on the pads/shoes.

There was a time I did my own brakes....but not now...

The time spent jacking up the van, taking the tires off and so forth....I'd prefer to just spend the $72 and have someone else do it...I spend enough time in the darn thing without being under it as well...*L*

BTW: dealer rate is only $72 per hour not like back east...:D
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
There was a time I did my own brakes....but not now...

The time spent jacking up the van, taking the tires off and so forth....I'd prefer to just spend the $72 and have someone else do it...I spend enough time in the darn thing without being under it as well...*L*

BTW: dealer rate is only $72 per hour not like back east...:D

yeah, I understand that, once upon a time I changed my own oil and such, now I pay someone to have it done:)
 

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Brakes are one thing I just won't pay to have done, I do them myself. . .

The most imporant thing to me when driving, is the ability to STOP!;) I there for, prefer to pay the hundred bucks and know the job was done right the first time. :)
 

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
The most imporant thing to me when driving, is the ability to STOP!;) I there for, prefer to pay the hundred bucks and know the job was done right the first time. :)

That is exactly why I do brakes myself, then I know they are done right. At one time in the past I was licensed to do brakes in California.
Also, once I had my brakes done on a 69 VW Beetle at a national chain and while driving the front wheel fell off, Luckily I was in a parking lot and not going fast. The mechanic forgot to tighten the hex nut so therefore the wheel and drum came off in one piece. On a Beetle the hex nut would be like the cotter pin that holds the nut on the spindle, without the pin the nut would come loose.:eek: To this day I feel safer doing brakes myself.:cool:
 

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
yeah, I understand that, once upon a time I changed my own oil and such, now I pay someone to have it done:)

And yet you pay to have your oil changed. Interesting. The number of times i have heard that the drain plug was not tighted is amasing. Changing the oil is not rocket science and yet this happens more often than faulity brake jobs.:eek:
 

ebsprintin

Veteran Expediter
OVM,

Few days ago you said you had an odd sound from the vehicle that you were going to have looked at. Was this related?

eb
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
OVM,

Few days ago you said you had an odd sound from the vehicle that you were going to have looked at. Was this related?

eb

Turned out to be a split belt..I got lucky yet again it did not snap....When I looked at the belt I could see those small cracks on the grooves but where the belt stopped, the split was not visible...
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
UPDATE: new clutch fan and belt, had the fans cleaned out between them and had a whack of 5 years of build up between them...took it up 70 mph with the AC on and the temp was spot on..:D

and my noise is gone..:)

Yes Eddie I'll get that bug screen~~*L*
 
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