I bought a 2004 Sprinter about a month ago. I found it on ebay but bought it straight from the seller. It had 152,000 miles on it and I've put about 2,000 on it. It had a refrigeration unit on it which I had removed. The nice thing about that is that the back is insulated and it stays nice and cool back there even on a 90+ sunny day. When the compressor for the refrigeration unit was removed I had a second alternator installed. That powers a separate electrical system for the cargo area. I've got 12v lighting and a 20 amp 120v inverter for my power tools.
The A/C compressor quit within 3 weeks so it's been replaced. I have filled the van with my tools and supplies so that it weights in at just a tad under 8,000 lbs. I drive mostly local at between 35 and 45 mph. It's suburbs type of stop and go traffic. I might pull a trailer once in a blue moon to haul trash from the job site. I have averaged about 8,000 miles a year on my work van in the past but this one is fun to drive and gets better mileage so I'll probably do about 10/12k miles a year or so with the Sprinter.
They said that the oil was changed, new air filter, and new fuel filter. They used 15w40 oil but I don't know what brand. The air filter is new (although they didn't put the cover back on properly) and the fuel filter looks new. The coolant looks new (bright green). I pulled the plastic cover on top and looked at the injectors (after reading about it here) and they look good but I found that the cover is missing 3 of the 7 screws. The foam inside the cover is oil soaked but it looks like it could have come from spilling the oil while filling. I looked around and I found the hydraulic control unit has a screw that's backing out (about half way). It looks like it takes 6 screws which would mean that the bottom 2 are missing.
Should I just get 2 more screws and tighten all of them or should I have someone look at it?
I've been doing a lot of reading here and I'm a little confused. Probably due to information overload. Any comments are welcome. Here are a few more questions.
I assume that I should change the oil every 12 months since I don't put a lot of miles on it although my trips are usually short. What oil should I use? My mechanic suggests Rolletta T 15w40 twice a year but that seems like a lot of oil to go through for the miles I drive. I also see that most prefer synthetic here.
I suppose that it would be a good idea to change the filter and fluid in the transmission since I have no idea when it was last done. I was thinking that I'd get the MB kit from europarts-sd. Should I just replace the fluid in the pan or drain the rest of the transmission as well? If I should replace all of the fluid then how do I do that? BTW, the red locking top for the dipstick tube is missing. The black cover is there but the red piece isn't. Is that needed?
I had a 2001 Dodge Cummins diesel a few years ago and changed all of the fluids out to Amsoil. I used a by-pass filter for the engine oil. Part of that change out was replacing the gear oil in both axels. I did notice a difference when I did that. Would it be a good idea to change the rear axel oil or is it best to just leave it alone?
I'm getting about 19 mpg. I'm going to get a scanguage to help me increase my mpg. Is there anything else I can do that will help increase the mpg?
My objective is to get this van to last a looooong time. There are a few small rust spots (like the roof seams) that I'm going to have fixed while they are small. I would love for this to be my last work van. For that to happen it would have to last 20 more years. At 10/12k a year I would think that it could be accomplished. So what do I need to know in order to attempt a run at that goal?
The A/C compressor quit within 3 weeks so it's been replaced. I have filled the van with my tools and supplies so that it weights in at just a tad under 8,000 lbs. I drive mostly local at between 35 and 45 mph. It's suburbs type of stop and go traffic. I might pull a trailer once in a blue moon to haul trash from the job site. I have averaged about 8,000 miles a year on my work van in the past but this one is fun to drive and gets better mileage so I'll probably do about 10/12k miles a year or so with the Sprinter.
They said that the oil was changed, new air filter, and new fuel filter. They used 15w40 oil but I don't know what brand. The air filter is new (although they didn't put the cover back on properly) and the fuel filter looks new. The coolant looks new (bright green). I pulled the plastic cover on top and looked at the injectors (after reading about it here) and they look good but I found that the cover is missing 3 of the 7 screws. The foam inside the cover is oil soaked but it looks like it could have come from spilling the oil while filling. I looked around and I found the hydraulic control unit has a screw that's backing out (about half way). It looks like it takes 6 screws which would mean that the bottom 2 are missing.
Should I just get 2 more screws and tighten all of them or should I have someone look at it?
I've been doing a lot of reading here and I'm a little confused. Probably due to information overload. Any comments are welcome. Here are a few more questions.
I assume that I should change the oil every 12 months since I don't put a lot of miles on it although my trips are usually short. What oil should I use? My mechanic suggests Rolletta T 15w40 twice a year but that seems like a lot of oil to go through for the miles I drive. I also see that most prefer synthetic here.
I suppose that it would be a good idea to change the filter and fluid in the transmission since I have no idea when it was last done. I was thinking that I'd get the MB kit from europarts-sd. Should I just replace the fluid in the pan or drain the rest of the transmission as well? If I should replace all of the fluid then how do I do that? BTW, the red locking top for the dipstick tube is missing. The black cover is there but the red piece isn't. Is that needed?
I had a 2001 Dodge Cummins diesel a few years ago and changed all of the fluids out to Amsoil. I used a by-pass filter for the engine oil. Part of that change out was replacing the gear oil in both axels. I did notice a difference when I did that. Would it be a good idea to change the rear axel oil or is it best to just leave it alone?
I'm getting about 19 mpg. I'm going to get a scanguage to help me increase my mpg. Is there anything else I can do that will help increase the mpg?
My objective is to get this van to last a looooong time. There are a few small rust spots (like the roof seams) that I'm going to have fixed while they are small. I would love for this to be my last work van. For that to happen it would have to last 20 more years. At 10/12k a year I would think that it could be accomplished. So what do I need to know in order to attempt a run at that goal?