Heads up for Roadtrek RS owners. I recently purchased a 2008 RS Adventurous from American RV in Grand Rapids MI. On the day of pickup, after I took it for a test drive it wouldn’t start. It was towed to the local Sprinter dealer (Hoekstra Specialty) and they found a loose connection between the ECU and TCU and could not reproduce the problem after reseating the connector at the TCU. I had driven it for about a month and 1500 miles with no issues and then had the same problem occur again. The Hoekstra facility in Troy MI had it towed in and found the same problem with the connection at the TCU. Their assessment is that the installation of the coach wiring/inverter under the drivers seat by Roadtrek resulted in stress on the wiring bundle at the TCU which resulted in the problem. They relocated the TCU to relieve the stress. While not an issue in this case, they also decided to move the ECU (under the hood) from where Roadtrek had relocated it when installing the second coach battery (down low where it is exposed to road spray) to a location higher up that is not exposed to road spray.
In my case, a key indicator of the source of the problem was the lack of a gearshift position indication on the dash display, indicating that the gearshift position was not being received from the TCU. This prevented engine start, the starter is not engaged. Just a heads up if you see this happen on your unit.
Kudos to American RV and Hoekstra, both have been great to work with and they have both provided great service to get the problem resolved. Hoekstra consistently gets good reviews as the place to go for Sprinter service in Michigan and I agree.
Greg McHugh
2008 RS Adventurous
In my case, a key indicator of the source of the problem was the lack of a gearshift position indication on the dash display, indicating that the gearshift position was not being received from the TCU. This prevented engine start, the starter is not engaged. Just a heads up if you see this happen on your unit.
Kudos to American RV and Hoekstra, both have been great to work with and they have both provided great service to get the problem resolved. Hoekstra consistently gets good reviews as the place to go for Sprinter service in Michigan and I agree.
Greg McHugh
2008 RS Adventurous