This forum has been a lifesaver, maybe someone can help me out with this Sprinter-failure.
I love my 2004 high Top. But it is driving me nuts. It is stuck 250 miles away at a dealership. I am over $700 and 3 weeks into this problem and still no clue as to what is causing dangerous sporadic power failures on the highway. The dealership has a code reader and a 'Sprinter Tech' but have been unable to find the problem.
If you have the patience to get through my description of the symptoms and any insight as to what I might try next, I would appreciate your thoughts.
2004, high top 2500, about 125k miles, no previous issues except transmission shudder which was cured by accidentally slightly overfilling the trans oil. Oh also, for a few days before the problem I noticed a hissing/vibrating sound in the driver's side forward engine compartment. I looked for a rubbing fan belt or leaking hose and could not find anything. It has been quite cold, the sound was not loud, so what the heck.
About 3 weeks ago, after 2 hours at 65mph on a smooth highway, I felt an almost imperceptible skip in the power train, convinced myself I imagined it, then a minute later the ecu light came on, and I lost all power. Sitting on the highway shoulder, I could restart the engine, but no forward motion. After 10 minutes, I restarted it and could turn around. I drove at normal highway speeds for another hour, then it happened again. The ecu light was on, this time top speed was 5 mph, which did get me out of a dangerous spot. Was able to restart and resume normal speed, no ecu light, after 10 minutes. This happened once more within the next hour. I got the Sprinter into my drive, researched symptoms on the forum, and ordered a Turbo Boost Resonator Eliminator.
Said eliminator arrived, was installed, test drove around town ( no highway, < 40 mph), no problems. A longer trip at 65mph for 2 hours, no problems. But the next day, on a trip to pickup supplies for my business, after an hour at highway speeds, I got the ecu light, total power loss. I discovered at that point that AAA does not tow sprinters, the nearest tow truck was 2 hours out and wanted $600, and finally that my Tracfone was out of cell minutes. I decided to continue to the next city where I knew there was a Dodge dealership that claimed to have trained sprinter-people. This trip was punctuated with increasingly more frequent ecu-light/power-loss episodes, for the next 100 miles.
This kind of travel involves a set of nerves perhaps only sprinter owners develop. The only way over the mountains was the Interstate. I had to stay in the right lane, knowing that my only clue to complete impending power loss would be (perhaps) an imperceptible skip and a quick flicker of the ecu light. Bridges and tunnels represented a particular challenge. I had to speed up to 70-80 mph, taking whatever lane was available and praying that nobody got in my way so I could coast through to the next available shoulder if I got the flickering Yellow Engine of Death. This almost always worked. The only time it didn't, on an icy 2-lane bridge, I was headed downhill and gravity was just enough to let me crawl off the bridge onto the shoulder before the next herd of vehicles came through at 70mph.
I managed to get to The City during rush hour, which is celebrated in darkness this time of year. I plugged up an exit ramp for 10 minutes (it was uphill!) but I didn't get caught, and finally got onto the side streets. An hour of working my way through the city on little arterials at less than 40 mph never brought on the flickering death, but I could hear that hissing/vibrating sound in the engine compartment. I pulled over at one point and popped the hood and stood in the rain with a flashlight but could not find anything. The noise persisted for a while even with the engine off and it seemed to come from around the area of the drivers-side headlight. I studied the hoses and stuff but could not find anything. I do not know if it has anything to do with the power-loss problem.
I dropped the Sprinter off at the dealership and caught a bus home. They called me the next day, friendly enough, but there are several layers of organization between me and the mechanic who is actually working on the machine. I can't talk to him directly, only pass messages through intermediaries. Things get lost in translation, and all I have been able to learn is that they found 4 codes on the reader, corresponding to a cam sensor, a brake switch, and 2 internal ECM codes. The brake switch and the cam sensor they will replace for only $600 ( plus the $125 they are charging me to read the codes). After I approve another $2200 to swap out the ECM, they are going to start looking for the real problem in earnest.
I am not a easy as they think and I am already plotting the rescue. A. Bittenbinder is sending me a DAD. I am going to take a bus back to The City with an umbrella and all the tools I can carry. If I cannot fix this thing in a friend's driveway, or make it worse, at least I can drive it back home at 35mph plus some harrowing moments on the Interstate.
I love my van, but my loyalty to his majesty the Kaiser has never been more sorely strained.
I will keep you posted. I appreciate any insights.
PS. The dealer did say they tested the turbo system and air manifold and found no problems. No opinion on the hissing noise.
I love my 2004 high Top. But it is driving me nuts. It is stuck 250 miles away at a dealership. I am over $700 and 3 weeks into this problem and still no clue as to what is causing dangerous sporadic power failures on the highway. The dealership has a code reader and a 'Sprinter Tech' but have been unable to find the problem.
If you have the patience to get through my description of the symptoms and any insight as to what I might try next, I would appreciate your thoughts.
2004, high top 2500, about 125k miles, no previous issues except transmission shudder which was cured by accidentally slightly overfilling the trans oil. Oh also, for a few days before the problem I noticed a hissing/vibrating sound in the driver's side forward engine compartment. I looked for a rubbing fan belt or leaking hose and could not find anything. It has been quite cold, the sound was not loud, so what the heck.
About 3 weeks ago, after 2 hours at 65mph on a smooth highway, I felt an almost imperceptible skip in the power train, convinced myself I imagined it, then a minute later the ecu light came on, and I lost all power. Sitting on the highway shoulder, I could restart the engine, but no forward motion. After 10 minutes, I restarted it and could turn around. I drove at normal highway speeds for another hour, then it happened again. The ecu light was on, this time top speed was 5 mph, which did get me out of a dangerous spot. Was able to restart and resume normal speed, no ecu light, after 10 minutes. This happened once more within the next hour. I got the Sprinter into my drive, researched symptoms on the forum, and ordered a Turbo Boost Resonator Eliminator.
Said eliminator arrived, was installed, test drove around town ( no highway, < 40 mph), no problems. A longer trip at 65mph for 2 hours, no problems. But the next day, on a trip to pickup supplies for my business, after an hour at highway speeds, I got the ecu light, total power loss. I discovered at that point that AAA does not tow sprinters, the nearest tow truck was 2 hours out and wanted $600, and finally that my Tracfone was out of cell minutes. I decided to continue to the next city where I knew there was a Dodge dealership that claimed to have trained sprinter-people. This trip was punctuated with increasingly more frequent ecu-light/power-loss episodes, for the next 100 miles.
This kind of travel involves a set of nerves perhaps only sprinter owners develop. The only way over the mountains was the Interstate. I had to stay in the right lane, knowing that my only clue to complete impending power loss would be (perhaps) an imperceptible skip and a quick flicker of the ecu light. Bridges and tunnels represented a particular challenge. I had to speed up to 70-80 mph, taking whatever lane was available and praying that nobody got in my way so I could coast through to the next available shoulder if I got the flickering Yellow Engine of Death. This almost always worked. The only time it didn't, on an icy 2-lane bridge, I was headed downhill and gravity was just enough to let me crawl off the bridge onto the shoulder before the next herd of vehicles came through at 70mph.
I managed to get to The City during rush hour, which is celebrated in darkness this time of year. I plugged up an exit ramp for 10 minutes (it was uphill!) but I didn't get caught, and finally got onto the side streets. An hour of working my way through the city on little arterials at less than 40 mph never brought on the flickering death, but I could hear that hissing/vibrating sound in the engine compartment. I pulled over at one point and popped the hood and stood in the rain with a flashlight but could not find anything. The noise persisted for a while even with the engine off and it seemed to come from around the area of the drivers-side headlight. I studied the hoses and stuff but could not find anything. I do not know if it has anything to do with the power-loss problem.
I dropped the Sprinter off at the dealership and caught a bus home. They called me the next day, friendly enough, but there are several layers of organization between me and the mechanic who is actually working on the machine. I can't talk to him directly, only pass messages through intermediaries. Things get lost in translation, and all I have been able to learn is that they found 4 codes on the reader, corresponding to a cam sensor, a brake switch, and 2 internal ECM codes. The brake switch and the cam sensor they will replace for only $600 ( plus the $125 they are charging me to read the codes). After I approve another $2200 to swap out the ECM, they are going to start looking for the real problem in earnest.
I am not a easy as they think and I am already plotting the rescue. A. Bittenbinder is sending me a DAD. I am going to take a bus back to The City with an umbrella and all the tools I can carry. If I cannot fix this thing in a friend's driveway, or make it worse, at least I can drive it back home at 35mph plus some harrowing moments on the Interstate.
I love my van, but my loyalty to his majesty the Kaiser has never been more sorely strained.
I will keep you posted. I appreciate any insights.
PS. The dealer did say they tested the turbo system and air manifold and found no problems. No opinion on the hissing noise.
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