Posts Tagged ‘Sprinter’
What is a Sprinter
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is built by Daimler AG in Düsseldorf, Germany and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is sold under its Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, and Freightliner brands. The Sprinter is offered to the American market as a panel van, crewbus and cab-chassis in different variants, in three lengths and three roof heights, and featuring a six-cylinder diesel.
Specifications:
- 3.0L CRD turbo diesel V6 engine
- 2987 cubic centimeter (182 cubic inch) displacement
- Power: 115 kW (154 hp) @ 3400 rpm
- Torque: 380 N·m (280 lb-ft) @ 1200-2400 rpm
- Fuel capacity: 25.0 gallons
The cargo Sprinter is built then disassembled in Germany and reassembled in the DaimlerChrysler plant in Ladson just outside Charleston, South Carolina.
Sprinters are used in the US by freight expeditors, as passenger vans and as van conversions. Many RV makers have adopted the Sprinter as a smaller high-end fuel efficient van-based Class B. The chassis cab model is used in larger Class C RV conversions. Also the current VW Crafter shares the bodyshells with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter counterparts, but the front grill styling, engine and transmissions remain Volkswagen sourced.
Many owners rebadge their Sprinters to Mercedes as the only difference between the US and European models are the logos.
wow, Wow, WOW
Sunday, September 28th, 2008 |
What a great day! I pulled into the Mercedes Club of America Starfest 2008, on Treasure Island, about 7:30 and was directed to where the officials had decided we (the Sportsmobiles) should park. Within a few minutes I was joined by Alan and Liz of Sportsmobile West and their Sprinters.At the show we had our daily drive SMB 2500. Sportsmobile had a red 4-wheel drive Sprinter there and a brand new Sprinter pop-top version with a cherry wood interior. There were also two other Spinters SMB had loaned the show for support vehicles. If you get a chance, check out all the new information and photos on Sportsmobile’s web site, here.
The show officially started at 10am so I spent the next 2-1/2 hours cleaning, polishing, staging and all the million of other things you can find to do when showing your vehicle. The visitors were basically non-stop all day even before the start. Everyone wanted to see the Sportsmobile Sprinters and everyone had questions, oohs and ahhhs. I took a few minutes off and walked around the many Mercedes that were there. Totally cool! Old, new, restored,some in great condition, some not but a great representation of Mercedes over the years. One of the hot items was the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. This half-million dollar car was beautiful. Painted a Metallic Iridium Silver, there was so much silver in the paint it was hard to photograph. The speedometer went to 220mph which most likely is low for this car when maxed out. Of course you can’t sleep, cook and camp in it so basically what good is it? Well, how about racing and lots of fun! Of course, I do think it would look good pulled behind the Sprinter. In fact there were several there I would have liked to tow away. At Alan’s suggestion, I asked the judges for a courtesy judging of the bus and that made my day! |
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The judges said our Sprinter was amazing. “What did you do to get it so clean after your trip to Alaska? How did you get all the dirt off underneath?” | |
| Well, basically work on it for a week like some kind of nut – actually being obsessive compulsive helps a lot!I heard I had only two points deducted (I’d like to know what those were for!) so I figure I was the best of the show or at least darn near close. | ||
Are you in the San Francisco area this weekend
Friday, September 26th, 2008If you want to check out a Sprinter and are in the San Francisco area, Saturday is the day!
Starfest 2008, a Mercedes Club of America event will be showing all types of Mercedes, new and old and restored, etc. Saturday 10-4 on the lawn at Treasure Island. It should be a great show for any one interested in cars, especially Mercedes.
Sportsmobile will have a couple of models there and I will have my Sprinter there for show also. Ooooh, so pretty! Now you know what I have been doing the past 3 or 4 days!
Please come by if you have the chance!
Changing the fuel filter, part 2
Friday, September 5th, 2008 |
This morning I dove right in, expecting to be done before the sun hit me around noon. Wrong! But, now I know how to do it and next time it will be a snap.You can do this at the side of the road as long as you have your tools – regular screw driver; torx 25, 27 and 30, and split ring pliers |
| The new filter (different number than the one replaced) comes with 0-rings to replace those on the WIF sensor. | |
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Disconnect the WIF (water in fuel) sensor electrical connector (connected to flat part on top) – just slides apart.Remove the in and out hoses. (careful – you’ll bust a knuckle here). You can reuse the clamps if you take them off carefully or use the Mercedes tool #9539. I used a small screw driver to release and split-ring pliers to replace. Be sure to have some back-ups hose clamps available.You can also remove the screws holding the WIF sensor in place. |
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Loosen this bolt but do not remove it. You can put your finger behind it and tell when you have loosened it all the way. (You can remove but it is just another thing to put back – you’ll see the filter is in a great spot to loose bolts, clips, small tools, etc.) |
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Slide the filter up and in doing so you will have to lean it towards the WIF tube as it is very tight. Place some rags around as you will spill diesel.Now you can remove the WIF Sensor. It just pulls out – it is tight because of an o-ring holding it in place. |
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Here the filter is out and you can see the WIF Sensor. If you want, you can reroute it now over the tube behind it instead of underneath. This will give you more slack.Replace the o-rings (put some diesel on the new ones before sliding them on). |
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Put the WIF Sensor into the new filter and slide the filter into it’s bracket. Replace the hose clamps, the screws for the sensor, tighten the bracket bolt, and plug in the WIF Sensor electric connection. |
| I did not prime the filter with fuel. I knew I’d spill most of it getting the filter in and I don’t have any fuel stored anyway (although I intend to take care of that soon).Leaving all the other parts off, I got into the Sprinter and turned the key on to the position where all the warning lights show. Listen – you can hear the filter being primed. Turn the key off for a couple of seconds and then back on. Listen – you can hear the filter being primed. I did this a third time and heard nothing. I started the Sprinter – started just like normal – and checked for leaks.No leaks so after turning the engine off, I put the rest of the parts back on as shown in part 1. | |
Changing the fuel filter, part 1
Thursday, September 4th, 2008 |
Changing the fuel filter in an 07+ Sprinter has been confusing to most. The owners manual says every 10k, others say 20k and others say don’t do anything until the water/fuel light comes on.I decided I would stick to the OM’s recommendations. |
| I have removed the air cleaner top to make it easier to see. You don’t have to do this unless you want to clean out the filter. | |
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You start by disconnecting the intake hose for the air which is located in the lower right corner of the picture above. It disconnects at two locations, where it comes in from the grill and at the lower right of the air cleaner assembly.Next you disconnect the battery jumper by pushing on the release and pulling it up. |
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On the left, loosen the hose clamp to remove the upper air hose. Slide the two electrical sensors apart and undue the attachment (shown) to the air filter compartment. |
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Pull up on the two front arms to disconnect them and then pull the assembly forward. In the rear it has two plastic forks that go over rubber spacers and it just slides off. |
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This last cover is held by torx snaps and also slides in the rear much like the air filter assembly did. Just loosen and slide out. |
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And there it is!See part 2, the next entry. |
