Poor fuel economy and some other talk 2006 Hi-top

breakinwind

New member
Hello everyone,

I have been following this Forum for many months now. I bought my 2006 hi-top 2500 long wheelbase sprinter about 2-3 months ago with a scary 270k miles on it.

I didn't expect to keep it very long, but I just seemed to keep sinking money into it and at this point I will be buried in it.

Besides a ton of work to the body and a slight, very light build-out of the cargo area to include a shower and sleeping area.I have done the following repairs:

new shocks
Tires
Brakes/rotors all around
wheel bearings
3 injectors
harmonic balancer
serpentine and all pulley's
fuse box
ac/heat controller
transmission and rear fluid/filter change
150 amp alternator
New rear doors if that can count as a repair
Fuel filter/air/oil
umm I know there is more, but can't remember off the top of my head.


At this point I feel like I might as well keep the van.
However...I got into the Sprinters for 2 reasons.

1. I could almost stand in them (I am 6'6")
2. the fuel mileage

From what I read most 2002-2006 were getting 23-27 mpg.

I am not seeing this myself.
I can rarely break 19 on the highway. I have a scan-guage but don't trust it. I use it mainly for regulating my foot weight.
I tried a nice long drive at 55 mph (I hate driving this slow on a 70mph highway) I did manage about 20mpg.
On the next trip I decided that 55mph took way too long and I drove at 70 mph. I then got about 19mpg.
If I push it to 75-80 I am down to 15-16mpg.
At that rate I might as well go back to my maintenance free E-350. Never did a thing but change the oil(rarely) on that van. She won't quit.

The mpg thing is part challenge to see how high I can get and also a finance thing. I am planning a cross country trip florida-NY-oregon-CA-FL and I would be SOOO happy to see 24mpg. It would save me about $500 on one trip.

Is this realistic? or is something still wrong with my sprinter?

I do have a strange noise that I can not figure out and it drives me crazy. I dont know if it would affect the fuel mileage. It sound almost like an exhaust leak. I only hear the "TICKING" while under load. Accelerating from a stop and on the highway it is a fast light tick, tick, tick. I thought it was injectors so I changed 3. The other 2 did not leak and when I did the injector test they showed ok(clear hose,crank for 10 seconds).
I listened to the EGR to see if that where it was coming from, but I don't think that is it either.

I also have 2 codes. PO341 and PO380.

My tire pressure is to the max the tire will take.
I have hardly anything as a load. maybe 400lbs over empty stock weight.
No rear AC
When I let off the throttle the van quickly decelerates, unless I slip it into neutral.

Can anyone suggest anything or comment on their mileage?

BTW, I love the way the sprinter drives. Its comfortable, stops on a dime, turning radius is great. I just want better mileage.

Thanks for your help!!
Brett
 

sailquik

Well-known member
Is this realistic? or is something still wrong with my sprinter?
19 mpg in a T1N 2500 is a little low...something may be wrong still.
What rear end ratio do you have, and what tire size do you have installed?

I do have a strange noise that I can not figure out and it drives me crazy. I dont know if it would affect the fuel mileage. It sound almost like an exhaust leak. I only hear the "TICKING" while under load. Accelerating from a stop and on the highway it is a fast light tick, tick, tick. I thought it was injectors so I changed 3. The other 2 did not leak and when I did the injector test they showed ok(clear hose,crank for 10 seconds).
I listened to the EGR to see if that where it was coming from, but I don't think that is it either.
The tic..tick...tick is usually associated with an exhaust manfold gasket leak!

I also have 2 codes. PO341 and PO380.
What did you use to obtain these DTC codes?
P0341 may be "CMP Sensor" fault...
P0380 may be "Intake Air Heater Relay #1"


My tire pressure is to the max the tire will take.
What's up with this?...... how can you stay on the road with 80 PSI in the tires.
What does it say your tire pressure is supposed to be on the tire pressure
sticker on the driver's door "B" pillar?
I would not go much above that number.
I had a 2006 from new (< 12 miles on the Odo) with the 15" wheels and Conti Vanco Four Season 195/70R15C tires. When I started out from the dealer's in St. Louis, they had all the tires pumped up to 75-80 PSI like I was going to fill the back of the van with lead bricks or something really heavy.
I dropped the pressure back to what it says on the "B" Pillar sticker and the van drove better,
rode alot better, and it did not affect the mileage at all. Also, those tires lasted > 100k miles,
rotated every 10k miles.


I have hardly anything as a load. maybe 400lbs over empty stock weight.
No rear AC

When I let off the throttle the van quickly decelerates, unless I slip it into neutral.
This could be a BIG problem......something is very wrong here.
Are you sure you don't have a brake dragging or something.
When you let off the throttle pedal, the %LOD will go to zero percient (0%) and the
boost (MAP) will drop to ambient for whatever your altitudeis. The Gallons per hour will drop
to 0.00, and the van will gradually slow down.
If it's slowing rapidly, something is dragging or the transmission is not working correctly.
What transmission fluid in in your NAG1 5 speed auto transmission?
What weight engine oil are you using?
The best trans fluid is what you get from Dodge/Mopar that is "Sprinter Specific" for
NAG1 transmissions in Sprinters and Dodge Crossfire sports cars.
The best motor oil to use in your OM-647 I5 engine is Mobil 1 0w-40 European Car Formula.
Anything else may give you less mileage and more problems.
I did 10 k miles on these fluids and never had any sort of EGR/TR engine issues and never
had any problems with the transmission at all even though I was towing 4500 lb.+ trailers about 1/3 of the time.
Hope this helps,
Roger

Can anyone suggest anything or comment on their mileage?
 

obso1337

New member
You sound just like me -
1. get a beat sprinter for big cross country trip
2. neglect the idea that resale value / maintenance $$ will eradicate your "mpg" savings
3. grit your teeth and spend more $$
4. fail at being cheap [penny wise, pound foolish]
5. consolation prize of an enormous, awesome van

My 07 3500 is getting about 19 / 20 highway, NCV3's have worse MPG, and i think the duallies might take off another half-MPG.

One thing which helped was to inflate the tires up to spec, that got me out of the 18's. I know one "hypermiling" trick is to over inflate the tires to reduce rolling resistance. Haven't gotten the chance to try it though because my little compressor can't put more than 60 Psi in the tires. They were only inflated to 40 when I got the truck.
**edit, i noticed on the second read yours are inflated to the max, maybe try bringing them down a bit, there might be diminishing marginal gains on the overinflation**

I would also love to see 24mpg, but if it costs 1k to fix things till that happens, not sure it is economically rational to try.
 
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Speak of the devil... read this thread..,. https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22179
... ticking traced to exhaust gasket... or Black Death...

I only see 20 mpg or lower (measured tank-to-tank) when i'm in-city.
Highways are 22 to 27, driven at the speed limit. But i'm a short roof, short wheelbase.

--dick
yep that my sprinter with the black death

Even with the cuttent problems I'm getting about 22mpg with 2 ton in the back at all times and mine is a hi roof long wheel base duel wheel. also it is quite hilly around here so i'm quite happy the fule consumption of mine. maybe it might even get better after fixing the DEATH
 
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breakinwind

New member
Hi guys, thanks for all your replies (so far)!

I checked the tires, they are 225 75 16, they are inflated to 65psi. They are only 8ply so thats the max cold.

Black death, I don't think I have. I changed 3 injectors and checked all 5 afterwords with soapy water to make sure I didn't see any leaks.
maybe I missed it, but I checked a week later and a week after that, since the sound was like fingernails on the chalkboard.

I steered away from the dual wheel because of the mileage and here I am getting less than them. :(

i used Fuchs tranny fluid from Europarts and the oil, mobil one.

I could not find an exhaust manifold leak and I looked pretty well.
It may be my imagination, but it seems the sound is getting lighter. Maybe it was the ear plugs.

I got my codes from the scan guage.
 
Are the tires wearing ok? A poor wheel alignment can cause issues. You said you have had wheel bearings and brakes replaced. I would check there, make sure your wheel bearings aren't too tight or loose. Too tight will cause resistance and premature failure. Too loose will tilt the wheel make the brake drag a little. Check the brakes. With lifted up they should spin pretty easily with one hand. If you have to grab with 2 hands to spin it, I would make sure the brake lines aren't kinked like when someone put the caliper on the wrong way.
 

+drive

Member
I run a 2004 140 wheel base, low roof, rear a/c and get 20 mpg highway and 21-22 mpg city. As one would expect, if I'm running over 75 and not minding LOD then the highway mpg drops to 18/19. Perhaps I should expect better as well....
 

surlyoldbill

Well-known member
I run a 2004 140 wheel base, low roof, rear a/c and get 20 mpg highway and 21-22 mpg city. As one would expect, if I'm running over 75 and not minding LOD then the highway mpg drops to 18/19. Perhaps I should expect better as well....
I average 22 in the city, and get 22-28 on the highway. Staying below 65 is the key to good mpg, best mileage is at about 45.
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
I get 19 in urban traffic. Get on a few country roads and I get it up to 22. If I hit freeways and set the cruise to 60, I get 25-27.
I purchased with 297k miles and was confident it will get me 100k more.
 

breakinwind

New member
Are the tires wearing ok? A poor wheel alignment can cause issues. You said you have had wheel bearings and brakes replaced. I would check there, make sure your wheel bearings aren't too tight or loose. Too tight will cause resistance and premature failure. Too loose will tilt the wheel make the brake drag a little. Check the brakes. With lifted up they should spin pretty easily with one hand. If you have to grab with 2 hands to spin it, I would make sure the brake lines aren't kinked like when someone put the caliper on the wrong way.
Tires are wearing fine so far.

I don't think there is the bearings or brakes are rubbing. After I did them I took it for a drive and jacked it back up to check for resistance. Also if I drop it into neutral on the highway I can coast forever.

Thanks for the tips though.
 

breakinwind

New member
I get 19 in urban traffic. Get on a few country roads and I get it up to 22. If I hit freeways and set the cruise to 60, I get 25-27.
I purchased with 297k miles and was confident it will get me 100k more.
And this is why I wanted a sprinter. 25-27!!!! OMG, I would be so happy to get that!
 

david_42

Active member
If your tires are rated at 60 psi, then they aren't the correct tires and that could be a problem. The stock tires are 80 psi. I don't have any additional suggestions, but coming back from Las Vegas we cruised at 70 and made 24 mpg; so it is possible.
 

JAM

New member
when you let off the gas in drive does it feel like engine breaking? Mine does that. Like it has an exhaust brake or something. I was getting 23 mpg's loaded with tools and supplies and after I added a ladder rack and ladders it dropped to 20 mpg.
 

talkinghorse43

Well-known member
when you let off the gas in drive does it feel like engine breaking? Mine does that. Like it has an exhaust brake or something. I was getting 23 mpg's loaded with tools and supplies and after I added a ladder rack and ladders it dropped to 20 mpg.
It does have an exhaust brake, the turbo does it. Wind resistance kills mpg and ladders, etc. provide lots of wind resistance.
 

icarus

Well-known member
^Not to mention a 18/1 compression ratio compressing each stroke. Downshifting gives tons of compression braking,, that why I was wondering if it is shifting into too gear.

Icarus
 

autostaretx

Erratic Member
Not to mention a 18/1 compression ratio compressing each stroke.
But since the Sprinter doesn't have a compression-release system (jake brake), you get most of that compression energy back as it expands during the "power stroke"... plus a little bit, since the residual heat of the engine block is slightly expanding it, too. (but most of that heat is from the earlier compression stroke, so it's (again) a wash...)
Most of a Sprinter's "engine braking" is ring friction... plus whatever blockage the turbo is willing to contribute.

--dick
 

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