ronrus30,
I've pasted in your last post here and will respond to each paragraph.
It appears that your original posts may have mislead some of us into thinking you were the original owner and that your Sprinter RV was only serviced at authorized dealerships.
Is the maintenance log book fully filled in for the 10K and 20k services......and who did the work?
Authorized Mercedes Benz/Dodge/Freightliner dealers....or somewhere else like an RV dealer.
You raise some very good questions, something I hoped would happen when I posted it.
You're welcome on this!
It was badged as a Dodge and I intend to talk to them as well.
I was never too happy with the Dodge folks as they were notorious for putting in non-approved by Mercedes fluids.
The attitude seemed to be "if it's good enough for Dodge pickups it should work just fine in a Sprinter.
I only dealt with them a few times and it did not turn out real well when I asked for warranty repairs on my 2006
T1N 3500. At first it was great, but once they knew that Mercedes was taking over it got really bad.
What times I have talked with them about getting service in the past or finding a Dodge dealership anywhere near where I was in New York State when it broke down has not been productive. I was towed to a Mercedes dealership who said they could install the new transmission so I started there.
OK, I understand this. Mercedes really had no obligation (other than they designed and built it) as the warranty was with Chrysler Corporation/Dodge division. Your RV is way past warranty on time, even though you have very low mileage.
I bought the motorhome when it had less than 21,000 miles on it from an RV dealer. I have all of the maintenance records for the 10,000 and 20,000 services. It says the fluid level was checked.
Maybe the fluid was checked, may be not. No one will ever know at this point.
I would be talking to the RV dealer who sold you this RV....they may have more culpability than Mercedes?
Where were these services performed, and did the technicians sign off in the maintenance log book?
When it failed, I did not see any evidence of fluid leaking when I looked underneath the motorhome. I did not see any leaks when I was parked at any campground for the 2 months I had been using the motorhome. I would have noticed that for sure? When a dipstick became available before it was towed, the level was so low it did not register on it. I do not know where the fluid went, if it was actually in there in the first place.
Very good questions! Do you still have the old transmission somewhere for analysis?
It would be interesting to see if there was any damage to the trans pan.
In the 9k miles you put on the RV did you ever have it jacked up or put on a rack for any reason?
I find it very odd that there was no warning. I was driving on Interstate 87 pulling a hill when suddenly the engine starting revving for no reason.
What gear were you in when pulling up this hill? 5th overdrive or 4th 1:1?
I do not think I've ever heard of a trans fluid level sensor in the 5G-Tronic/NAG-1 transmission, so it's very possible there would not be a warning, but if 9 quarts of fluid leaked out quickly there surely would be evidence sprayed around behind the transmission and under the rear of the RV.
You would think that you would have smelled something hot if it all leaked out and sprayed on the exhaust system components.
I could barely get it over to the shoulder. The mechanic at the Mercedes dealership said what fluid there was almost black and there were a lot of metal shavings in the bottom.
If you have the failed transmission somewhere it would be interesting to send it to someone like Silver Star for an autopsy.
Since you most likely had to send to original transmission back to Silver Star as a core you might follow up with them to see if they saw any
trans pan damage, drain plug damage, was the electrical connector leaking, things like that?
I know it does not help your situation at all, and I do feel for you. You thought you bought something good and it failed prematurely....that sucks!
Perhaps the moral of this story is that if you purchase a used Sprinter or Sprinter based RV it would be smart to take it to a fully authorized Mercedes Benz Sprinter dealer (regardless of the original badging as the Sprinter commercial dealers work on all year models and badges as they
just consider them older Sprinters or newer style Sprinters) and have ALL the fluids..(I.E. engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, engine coolant,
rear differential fluid) changed out completely and the trans pan removed and the filter changed as well plus have the torque convertor drained out as well.
Yes, this would be costly....maybe $1500....but the peace of mind knowing that you have all the right fluids in all the correct amounts would save a lot of stress and $$ down the road in most cases.
Hope this helps,
Roger