How do you folks daily drive a sprinter with diesel prices around $8 around here in California. I see this guy almost one or twice a week on my way to and off my work and envy. Any pointers would help as I would love to take my home on wheels for nap at work or wait out the traffic. Thanks.
Is there a way to slide this entire crew bench seat back? The layout/size of the mounting tracks appear as if you’d easily be able to slide it more to the rear, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, unfortunately. Are we missing something crucial here? I can’t understand why they are so long, if they offer no mobility.
From the manual, it's seems like my numbers are fine but the TPS is giving me an alert.
We've just ticked over 12months of full time vanlife across Australia in this custom sprinter van conversion.
We started on the East Coast and are now slowly heading West (maybe via the centre - TBA). It's been an incredible journey.
I won't say it's all been glamorous or amazing - we've definitely had our tough times and challenges - but we wouldn't change it for anything right now. Here's to another 12.
Our advice to anyone on the fence - just do it - you won't regret it 🙂
Hi everyone,
I own a 2016 Sprinter that had the BlueTec update performed in 2022. I'm currently getting a P20E8 code (reductant pressure too low).
I've technically aged out of the extended warranty by two weeks and am about 3,000 km over the limit.
Has anyone had success getting Mercedes to cover a repair under 'goodwill' when you're just slightly past the warranty expiration?
Thanks for any insight!
I got a used Sprinter van a year ago. My first diesel with Blue Def. Shortly after, I picked up a box of Blue Def knowing that it would need some eventually.
Every now and then, I would open the hood to check the Blue Def level, and it had not consumed any, I could clearly see the blue fluid at the MAX level. After a 1000 mile trip, I checked it again and once more no change in the fluid level. I found this odd, but shrugged my shoulders.
Then, the dashboard threw up a message 'check blue def level'. Finally, I thought. I opened the hood to add some, but once again the reservoir of blue fluid was still at the MAX level.
LOL, by know you probably know where this is going, but when did anti-freeze coolant turn BLUE? I had been looking at the coolant reservoir thinking it was Blue Def!
When adding the Blue Def, I then discovered that it has no color.
Hope you got a chuckle!
Looking for help diagnosing a no-power issue.
The van suddenly has:
- No dash lights
- No interior lights
- No crank
- Only a faint module noise when opening the door or pressing start
I initially replaced the battery thinking it was the issue, but nothing changed. The problem existed before and after the battery swap.
What I’ve checked:
- New AGM battery installed and charged
- Terminals cleaned and tightened
- Main fuse strip near battery (80A / 60A / 150A) visually inspected
- Interior fuse box under passenger footwell checked
Still getting zero electrical activity.
At this point it seems like power is not getting into the vehicle at all. Possibly main fuse block, prefuse unit, or power distribution issue.
Has anyone experienced a complete loss of power like this on a Sprinter?
Any direction would be appreciated.
Very slow acceleration from start, but then once the van gets too 1600-2000rpm it’s totally fine and has the same power as my other van. It’s just difficult for it to get going from a stop, reverse is the same thing. Engine revs to 4000rpm in park or neutral. No engine light or any codes from the engine. The only code I get is from the transmission “D40C” (in picture). I’ve replaced all ABS speed sensors thinking it’ll fix it, but that code still came back after I erased it. When I erased the code I drove the van for a bit and before the code was able to get stored, whenever I would press the brake even just a little bit the ABS pump would activate all crazy like I was slipping on ice. Then shortly after, the code comes up in the transmission and my ABS and ESP lights are on. At this point my brakes work great and no interruptions from the ABS pump. The transmission shifts without issue up to 3rd gear (fastest I can go on my road I will test more later). when I look at the front and rear axle speeds on live star diagnostics, the speeds are both the same and working properly. So clearly the speed sensors are fine, where do I find the control module for the canbus and sensors? Do you guys think this would cause the weird limp mode? Ive also checked compression and its well within tolerance and even tested better than my current van. I’ve replaced the entire transmission including the torque converter and valve body already. I installed a new turbo with actuator, cleaned out all intake manifolds and intercooler + hoses, new throttle body, new egr and I even swapped my other sprinter ECU into it it didn’t change anything. The bad vans ECU was even put in my current van and it drives totally fine. Ive swapped out the TCM from my other van and still nothing changed, I would like to find something else related to the speed sensors that I can try to swap out and see if that'll do anything. I’m suspecting a wire has been chewed somewhere.
120k miles, we don’t beat it up much, just carries remodeling tools and pulls a trailer a couple times a month
Last month we had the turbo hose leak and was spraying oil all over. They repaired for like 2k
This month, the engine started shaking pretty bad when you let off the brake and it crawls forward. Check engine light was diagnosed as misfire all cylinders and they said the timing was off all cylinders. It’s fine when driving but crawling it’s like pretty bad vehicle shaking up front with the engine and the belt seems to screech on and off.
Mercedes of course tried to say small repairs over time don’t make sense and suggested new engine which at that point I’ll just get a new sprinter.
Any advice if this might be a smaller fix or perhaps I need to move sooner on a new vehicle as it can die any day? Thanks!
I almost bought the super single set from Reika (over $2,000) just to fit some 35s, but I was watching other people convert there f450, ram 3500, etc to super singles and some were just by banding the steelies. I have some scrap metal and an old slip roller and gave it a shot. I noticed the 3500 sprinters don’t have tpms and the track widths don’t line up front to rear stock. Front wheel width outside to outside is 75” and the rear is 80” that’s why I banded the wheels with 2.5”. This makes the front 80” wide just like the rear. All the wheels are the same and only need one spare to fix any flat. I’ve also replaced my rear hub seals and noticed the wheel bearings are extremely beefy and sit pretty far out inside the hub. That still puts the load safely inside the super single wheel (I’ve also messaged reika about the wheel bearing for the rear when I almost purchased there set. They said the wheel bearings are not to worry about at all with the new load characteristics. Apparently in the UK it’s very common to band steelies for wider tires that they have banding shops all around. I don’t think it’s legal, but these wheels will do great when I go camping. Also I’d like to specifically point out I do not want to lift my van. I really don’t like how the lifted sprinters look and you’re not actually gaining ground clearance, just lifting the subframe/body. I’m cutting a couple inches off the fender flares (might even roll them outward), but the wheel well still has plenty of room even when the axle is hitting the bump stops. They sell a bunch of the 3500 rims on ebay extremely cheap. The 3500's are most swapped out wheels and I got six rims for $170. I was surprised steelies are made from just mild steel grade metal. The extra bands i welded are a little higher grade structural steel with a bit more carbon content. There should be no issues with deforming as the back side of 3500 rims protrude far more than the 2.5" I've added in front of the center. I forgot to mention the new tires are 315 75 r16. It was actually super easy to band the steelies. The wheels run true and i tested them on the van with it free wheeling in drive (disable ESP). Making sure to weld opposite sides and cool down before doing other side of the band. The scrap metal I had is the same thickness as the wheel (1/8"). This is what the new 2024 and 2025 3500 sprinter super single version is. In fact you can buy just the rear set and put them on the front of a 3500 (not the newer front's because they run a normal 2500 front hub now). But the rears are basically exactly what mine are now (16 x 8.5") 8.5" is the bead width not the actual rim width. I had to use brake cleaner and a torch to seat the beads. The rim is too wide for even my air powered bead seater. after seating with fire and filling the tire to seat fully I purged the gasses and any smoke by refilling a couple times. The front tire is about 1/4" away front the sidewall hitting the strut. This is just like how my 2500 is with 265 75 r16 tires. They work fine and no rubbing, The van drives smoother now and i really like the matching wheel widths front to rear. It completely changed the look of the van. the brakes still feel great and locks the front wheels no problem on pavement. The best thing about the 3500's is the insane brake upgrade Mercedes added. Bondo and repainted the van with single stage urethane gloss black.
Successfully installed a full set of Ineos Grenadier 1924 edition wheels and tires. They were new take offs from a Grenadier getting bigger wheels and tires. The only mod needed right now was changing from spherical to conical seat bolts.
Tires are BFG K02 LT265/70r16 118s
There is mild rubbing when turning on the front mud flaps but I’ll address that tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ve stretched her legs on some mild trails around my house and there is no other rubbing.
Coming from white steel wheels, I’m loving the premium look and not just another cargo van.
The van is a 2019 2500, 2wd, 170, 3.0 fully built out as a camper.
Well, the tire looks unused. But the rim is severely rusted. (The sprinter is ex firebrigade vehicle on a small island...)
Its not a common size, hard to get. So I will see how deep the rust goes. But I suspect its gone.
If anyone has one of these laying around, I'm interested. (Based in The Netherlands)
6J x 16H2 (Südrad-Nr. 161402),
5 holes, 130 mm,
ML 84mm,
ET 63mm,
Radlast 1150kg
