B
Brian T
Guest
Hello All, Here's a Story For You
We have a 2007 2500 long and tall and were half way through a 23,000 km trip across Canada and noticed the brakes acting up. Initial brake application was normal but after a couple pedal pushes they got hard and braking was reduced. If going down a slight incline at idle the beast became difficult to stop.
It was over an extended period of time and driving and unfortunately I was getting used to it. Was thinking my dear wife had packed too much stuff and the van was really heavy. (Not very bright I must admit !) Finally it got much worse and was obvious what been happening. A gradual loss of vacuum to the brake booster followed by a major loss of vacuum.
The white plastic fitting on the front of the brake booster has a short length of 3/8 rubber hose which accepts a small vacuum line, approx. 1/8" which heads over to the right side of the engine compartment. (More about that to follow.) Over time the rubber hose was slowly separating from the plastic fitting with a partial vacuum leak and finally broke away completely. (See the hose hanging loose in the picture.)
With the vacuum leak the brake booster could not be fully charged and there was only enough boost for one brake pedal push. Relax your foot and push down again and there was very little braking. At highway speed the vacuum pump could provide enough for the first brake application but at idle the pump could not overcome the leak and no brakes.
I did a "bush" fix which lasted till we got to a dealer. We replaced the plastic fitting with a new and improved version. The new fitting has a black plastic male nipple that the rubber hose goes over. Check and see what type of fitting you have. Make sure you have the small black plastic nipple !
And now for the "and then some" part.
The small line to the right side of the engine compartment provides vacuum to control the regeneration of the particulate filter. With our slow leak over a long time there wasn't sufficient vacuum to allow the regeneration to complete. The engine got a bit cranky with some burps and farts and the oil consumption spiked at 8,000km. Added half a liter and it went quickly. Must admit I was really beginning to wonder what was going on. Talked to a great Sprinter man in Ottawa and he said it was all related. Engine check light came on just as we arrived at the dealership. We repaired the vacuum leak, checked the engine over, the filter was 100% plugged, did a manual re gen. and everything is good. The last 8,000 km have been problem free.
For those of you in the Ottawa area go see Diesel Dave at Southbank Chrysler. He eats sleeps and breathes Sprinters and thinks they are a great vehicle.
Brian T
We have a 2007 2500 long and tall and were half way through a 23,000 km trip across Canada and noticed the brakes acting up. Initial brake application was normal but after a couple pedal pushes they got hard and braking was reduced. If going down a slight incline at idle the beast became difficult to stop.
It was over an extended period of time and driving and unfortunately I was getting used to it. Was thinking my dear wife had packed too much stuff and the van was really heavy. (Not very bright I must admit !) Finally it got much worse and was obvious what been happening. A gradual loss of vacuum to the brake booster followed by a major loss of vacuum.
The white plastic fitting on the front of the brake booster has a short length of 3/8 rubber hose which accepts a small vacuum line, approx. 1/8" which heads over to the right side of the engine compartment. (More about that to follow.) Over time the rubber hose was slowly separating from the plastic fitting with a partial vacuum leak and finally broke away completely. (See the hose hanging loose in the picture.)
With the vacuum leak the brake booster could not be fully charged and there was only enough boost for one brake pedal push. Relax your foot and push down again and there was very little braking. At highway speed the vacuum pump could provide enough for the first brake application but at idle the pump could not overcome the leak and no brakes.
I did a "bush" fix which lasted till we got to a dealer. We replaced the plastic fitting with a new and improved version. The new fitting has a black plastic male nipple that the rubber hose goes over. Check and see what type of fitting you have. Make sure you have the small black plastic nipple !
And now for the "and then some" part.
The small line to the right side of the engine compartment provides vacuum to control the regeneration of the particulate filter. With our slow leak over a long time there wasn't sufficient vacuum to allow the regeneration to complete. The engine got a bit cranky with some burps and farts and the oil consumption spiked at 8,000km. Added half a liter and it went quickly. Must admit I was really beginning to wonder what was going on. Talked to a great Sprinter man in Ottawa and he said it was all related. Engine check light came on just as we arrived at the dealership. We repaired the vacuum leak, checked the engine over, the filter was 100% plugged, did a manual re gen. and everything is good. The last 8,000 km have been problem free.
For those of you in the Ottawa area go see Diesel Dave at Southbank Chrysler. He eats sleeps and breathes Sprinters and thinks they are a great vehicle.
Brian T
Attachments
-
24.9 KB Views: 589