Rear fresh air vents

MillionMileSprinter

Millionmilesprinter.com
'02 140" 10 pass

The other day it was raining and my wife was driving the sprinter around with the kids and she called me complaining that all the windows were fogging up. I hadn't thought about it before, but the only windows that open are the two front ones! I know that there are tons of posts about installing roof vents and slider windows (one just popped up recently), but I can't find much of anything about those vents in the rear of the van. It seems like they vent into the bumper, but I can't find any information about this in the service manual. Someone in a post mentioned they "removed the rubber flappers" from their vents, but I can't find what they are talking about. Anyone have any drawings or photos of these vents and air passages?
My thoughts are thus:
I have access to tons of old computers, and I was thinking that I could pull the 3" fans out of them and glue/screw two of them on the insides of the vents to pull air out of the van.
I really don't want to cut a hole in my roof, although I see lots of information and step-by-steps here on the forum. And putting in a new window seems to me to be pretty expensive. So that leaves me with the cheap/free solution- use the existing vents.
Any thoughts?
Joel in Philly
 

hkpierce

'02 140 Hi BlueBlk Pass
On the '02 passenger vans, there are vents located at the lower rear sides of the van, right next to the rear door. If someone pulled the panels off and put in insulation, they may have blocked these vents.

P3191808.JPG

I can't take my panels off easily, so I cannot see where the air vents to. But I do see a lot of dust from going on dusty roads - so air is circulating there. Gary J below indicates the exterior vents are hidden behind the bumper.
 
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talkinghorse43

Well-known member
The other day it was raining and my wife was driving the sprinter around with the kids and she called me complaining that all the windows were fogging up.
In many vehicles, selecting "defrost" will start the A/C to dehumidify the air moved by the fan. But, in my '02, the A/C has to be turned on as well to achieve this.
 
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autostaretx

Erratic Member
Here's the parts manual image of the Passenger Van Vent (part #19):
(it's under the vehicle, not on the outer surface.)
RearVent.gif

--dick
 
I'm not an expert on doing links but if you go to cyclevan.com under their sprinter section they have some mini-vents that go into the sides of sprinter vans
 

MillionMileSprinter

Millionmilesprinter.com
Be brave. Just cut a hole in the floor. Mentally a bit tough to do but it works. See OrtonDIY-air vent post.
Naaah. I'm brave, but I'd rather utilize the vents that are already there.
Checked under the van, but couldn't find the vents that Dick was talking about. Then I looked in the rear corner panel, directly under the tail lights, and pulled the bumper cover back. There they were. They were rubbery and had flaps. Ok, so next step is to get some small fans and see what they do when mounted inside the van at the vents.
Joel in Philly
 

GaryJ

Here since 2006
The vents behind the corner bumper covers really can't be reached from inside the van. I'm the guy that took the flappers off to let the vents act as an air intake when I run my ceiling fan to exhaust the warm air in summer. They were only taken off about a month ago and with our rain in No. California I haven't been on a dusty road yet to see if they draw any dust in. I have not smelled any diesel exhaust, but driving with open windows could change that. The fans sound interesting, but with the windows up, the heater fan should move plenty of air out the vents. I closed all the doors and windows, put the heater fan on high, and could feel air coming out through those rear vents under the bumper corners.
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
The vents are behind the back bumper side segments. Sucks air from those holes near the back speakers.
 

mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
The vents are behind the back bumper side segments. Sucks air from those holes near the back speakers.
If you compare the amount of air the fan can replace in an hour with the cubic volume of the van you'll get an indication of how successful this will be. Or, compare the cubic volume of a pc to the van body.

It's a good idea but you'll need a fan that can move much more volume than a computer one and probably of the order low hundreds of cubic metres an hour to be effective.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
I forgot: What problem are we trying to solve?

Oh yeah.

<snip>
The other day it was raining and my wife was driving the sprinter around with the kids and she called me complaining that all the windows were fogging up.

<snip>
Any thoughts?
Joel in Philly
Free: Don't drive in conditions where interior condensation is a problem.

Cheap (single (significant) digit research grant): http://www.brandsport.com/ranx-af21112.html

Double (significant) digit grant needed: http://www.5starshine.com/info-nanotechnology-anti-fog-auto-glass-treatment.html

No holes required... if none of these work, than consider engineering a mechanical solution.

-Jon
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
Also free: hit the a/c button with the defroster. turn your heat to high.
 

MillionMileSprinter

Millionmilesprinter.com
The vents behind the corner bumper covers really can't be reached from inside the van. I'm the guy that took the flappers off to let the vents act as an air intake when I run my ceiling fan to exhaust the warm air in summer. They were only taken off about a month ago and with our rain in No. California I haven't been on a dusty road yet to see if they draw any dust in. I have not smelled any diesel exhaust, but driving with open windows could change that. The fans sound interesting, but with the windows up, the heater fan should move plenty of air out the vents. I closed all the doors and windows, put the heater fan on high, and could feel air coming out through those rear vents under the bumper corners.
hmmmm :hmmm:
I think the heater or A/C fan should push more CFMs than the little 3" computer fans I'm planning on using. On the other hand, I wonder if they would help with the heat build up when I don't want to turn the A/C on.
Maybe I should just look into a roof vent... I know with the season approaching there are a bunch of threads popping up about vents.
Still more reading to do.
It's so cool that this list exists, so we CAN do a lot of reading.
Joel in Philly
 

MillionMileSprinter

Millionmilesprinter.com
I forgot: What problem are we trying to solve?

Oh yeah.



Free: Don't drive in conditions where interior condensation is a problem.

Cheap (single (significant) digit research grant): http://www.brandsport.com/ranx-af21112.html

Double (significant) digit grant needed: http://www.5starshine.com/info-nanotechnology-anti-fog-auto-glass-treatment.html

No holes required... if none of these work, than consider engineering a mechanical solution.

-Jon
1- the van is our daily driver and we are a one vehicle (the electric vw bus is parked in the garage for major repairs) family with 6 kids. Not driving isn't an option.
2- I remember trying Fog-X a few years back, but I don't remember how well I liked it. Come to think of it, I may have some left over in the bottle. Even better than cheap!
3- See #2
4- Time will tell if that's necessary or not. Going to try #2 first and tell my wife to turn on the Heat and A/C.

My Sprinter, although it's running great, is turning into a "project car". I love it, the wife hates it.:laughing:
Clarification- my wife loves the Sprinter, hates the projects. At least we can half-way agree!:hugs:

Joel in Philly
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
Many modern cars turn the AC on automatically when in defrost mode. The sprinter does not.
The AC dehumidifies the air, thus reducing fogging. For best defrosting/defogging turn the heat to max, the fan to max, the selector to up only and the AC button ON.
 

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