Turtle: You took a big chance letting your fuel level dip that low in your Sprinter. Anybody who has ever run a diesel out of fuel once (I did it to a forklift truck-- don't ask) learns to never do that again. I started looking for fuel along about the time my gauge showed a quarter-- sometimes earlier if I was in unfamiliar country and suspected I could be in a "fuel desert". Maybe you'll get lucky if you run out, but-- you may need to call a mechanic to get re-started. Bleeding fuel lines on the road isn't exactly my idea of fun.
Actually in an 04 and later Sprinter it's not a big deal. The 03s and earlier don't have a fuel pump in the tank and are really picky about air in the lines. You have to bleed the lines completely and make sure the filter is well primed. For 04s and later, the filter is self-priming. I rarely even dump any fuel from the old filter into the new one when I change the fuel filter anymore. Just turn the key to the ON position for 40 seconds and it circulates the fuel, bleeds the lines and primes the pump. When changing the filter, turning the key to ON for just 5 seconds is usually more than enough to prime the pump.
Just one more reason why it's important that when you get a Sprinter you need to assume nothing that you think you already know about maintenance and operations, and pretty much start from scratch.
As for taking a big chance letting the Sprinter run that low, twice it's happened where it got lower than I wanted, that one time in Iowa when there were no gas stations where I thought there were, and one time in New Mexico where there were no gas stations at all. In New Mexico I pulled into a town of about 125 people (Corona) and the gas station (and the rest of the town) closed at dark. Fortunately, they had pay-at-the-pump and had left the pumps on.
But I routinely let it run down to the orange triangle (it's not so much taking a chance as it is knowing the vehicle), except in the winter, especially if I'm running the Espar while driving (under 1/8 of a tank and the Espar fuel line runs empty). One important factor is keeping fuel treatment in the tank, to keep moisture low and keep gunk from accumulating. The Sprinter's fuel recirculation system is sufficient to keep the fuel well agitated, but you need a treatment in there to keep it from collecting while the engine isn't running.
I will say that I have changed things somewhat since changing carriers, however. At Panther and getting fuel via Comdata at the TA, I routinely ran it down to where I'd put in 25 gallons or so, in order to get the required 50 gallons for the shower. A couple of fillups and there's yer shower. At Load 1 using the FleetOne card at PFJ, I tend to fullup at or just below the 1/2 tank mark, because all it takes is one 15-gallon fillup to get one full shower. So anymore I rarely let it get even down as far as 1/4 tank. Moot is pleased.
