Still looking for my perfect sprinter 1997 140" 412d manual

Ive been looking for the perfect sprinter to convert for about a year now. Ive got a lead on on for 10-12k with 240k kms (150 miles). From the research I've heard people say the 2006 is the best t1n because they had time to iron out any defects. This year, engine, and manual transmission I'm not as familiar with, and I would really appreciate things to look for or stay away from. Overall its in very good shape exterior wise, just replaced turbo and recently replaced cracked head gasket.

I'm in Canada and the van is a 15 hour drive away and will have to deal with out of province inspection. Which I'm ok with if everything works out.

Would appreciate any insight about this van and if i should pull the trigger!

Thanks a lot!

I think the same. 2006 is the best. But I'm biased.
I purchased with 300,000 miles and drove it home 17 hours.
Manual trans?
I'd definitely go look if it checks all your boxes.

What province are u in? Inspections have different criteria in different provinces. R u sure it is a manual? Rare beast in NA. Personally if it has a Sprintshift (semi auto manual) I would avoid it, but that is probably forum bias, as people rarely write in complaining about how great something is.

A 1997 412d T1N is a different beast than the facelifted 2000-2006 CDI T1N. That is very early in the run I think they changed to CDI in 2000. It will have the om602 which is old skool 2 valve with direct injection and basic mechanical fuel pump with electronic dump valve. Some say they are the most reliable engine ever produced in any vehicle.

In terms of the T1N it will be a bit less refined than the CDI T!N. Much more squared off dashboard and the headlights are rectangular rather than teardrop like in the CDI. The engine will be more agricultural and will use more fuel than the CDI. But it should run forever with whatever you throw at it.

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A ‘97 would probably be a gray market vehicle, which in itself isn’t a problem but finding parts and information will be more challenging. My grandpa bought a gray market ‘84 Mercedes 280CE as his last car many years ago and we could only get manuals in German, had to cross reference everything not bought from Mercedes directly to federalized models, and special ordering some parts direct from the German manufacturers and having to wait weeks for them to come on a slow boat. If you’re prepared for this headache on top of the normal Sprinter headaches, go for it, otherwise a later NAFTA Sprinter would be a better option

But nafta didn’t have the pussy magnet option (4wd)

Gabe Athouse said:

But nafta didn’t have the pussy magnet option (4wd)

Click to expand...

That’s very true. A manual 4wd Sprinter is universally known as the sexiest vehicle of all time. Simply too sexy for us Americans

Thanks for the insight. Yes it is manual as far as I know. The guy bought it in Germany and bought it over and now is moving back. I live in Alberta and the van is in Manitoba. I have no experience with out of province inspection unfourtunatly. Thanks for the heads up about getting parts and manuals, is it really that differnt then the newer nafta t1ns? Guess I was optimistic that every thing would be Interchangeable.

If you can get the vin you can check the build sheet. If you post it on here then someone can probably tell you about parts availability for the engine and transmission. There’s another guy on here who recently got an older gray market Sprinter, so the two of you could become good resources for each other

You would need to source most engine/trans parts from Europe. Though there are likely some parts which are common across other MB vehicles (clutch for example). The axle, suspension, and brake parts may be interchangable with the T1N.

If it is not rusty it should pass inspection, and any fails would need to be addressed anyway so it is good policy. I used to run a 5cyl non turbo diesel van with a mechanical fuel pump, very reliable (tuning can be difficult but worth the challenge). Frankly for me the price is too high, but if it is in very good condition it may be right for you. I have traveled to buy vehicles before, it is impossible to negotiate when you have traveled far, if you want to knock down the price do it in advance, or make it very clear that you will be subtracting the cost of flaws etc.. a manual sprinter would be pretty tough and the fall off in performance due to the older engine tech might be balanced by the manual transmission and reliability of mechanical fuel injection.

I've double checked it is a manual transmission, So pretty excited about that. the guy who is selling is moving back to Germany and is offering to source and send parts back to canada which would be very helpful it that is the case. Probably would still take 3 weeks.

For differences:
AFAIK apart from the engine and trans, the rest of the running gear brakes and suspension should be interchangeable with a CDI T1N. And by "Interchangeable" I mean you could bolt on whole parts on like front hubs and diff, not interchange stuff like brake pads.

The rear doors will have non-bonded windows, and the aforementioned headlights, bonnet and grille. Apart from that I think the body is identical.

The front seat pedestals are different, and front seats as well. No idea if they can be interchanged. And the dashboard and all electronics are different. Electronics are different in terms of there not really being any on the 312d.

So in summary it is a really good reliable option. As long as you keep a supply of the correct spares on hand it would be fine. Things like glowplugs, filters, injectors etc.

Did you guys get the om602 in any MB cars over there? that would be a great source of engine/trans parts.

Code:

Model indication	              Year	            Engine no OM602...	Power
OM 602.xxx (5-cylinder diesel)
W201 190 2.5 D & W124 250 D	04/1985 - 06/1993	.911 & .912 & .930 & .931	66 kW (90 PS; 89 hp) (<'89) or 69 kW (94 PS; 93 hp) (>'89)
G-Class 250 GD 4x4	.938 & .939
T1 210 & 310 & 410 2.9 D.	10/1988 -> 1995	.940 & .942	72 kW (98 PS; 97 hp) or 75 kW (102 PS; 101 hp)
G-Class 290 GD 4x4	.946 & .947
W201 190D 2.5 Turbo & W124 250D Turbo / 300D 2.5 Turbo	01/1987 -> 1996	A.961 & A.962	90 kW (122 PS; 121 hp) (<'88) or 92 kW (125 PS; 123 hp) (>'88)
Sprinter 2,5 Turbo-D.	A.963
212D & 312D & 412D & Sprinter 2.9 TD	02/1995 -> 04/2000	A.980 & A.986	90 kW (122 PS; 121 hp)
G-Class 290 GD turbodiesel 4x4	07/1997 -> 09/2000	A.983	88 kW (120 PS; 118 hp)
W210 E290 turbodiesel	03/1996 -> 07/1999	A.982	95 kW (129 PS; 127 hp)

Click to expand...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_OM602_engine

You guys seem to be the ones to ask my question.

My goal is to change my dually to a single wheel and get better mpg. A knowledge sprinter owner told me he thinks the best way to do this is to get 2500 donner van swap out
- rear differential
- ecu
- ignition and immobilizer
- Possibly the TCM

From what you guys are saying would it just be possible for me to switch the rear axel and the TCM box from a donner 2500?

OR if the ecu needs to be changed could I do this

- Swap out rear axel and TCM from Donner
- Use a green diesel tune with their additional Immobilizer delete package to remove any issues with the immobilizer and ignition switch.
- Swap Ecu from same 2500 donner that I got the ecu

OR even better

- Swap out rear axel and TCM from Donner
- Then maybe Green tune can just flash my ECU to match my new rear axle gear ratio and all is good. I probably get the immobilizer delete option anyways so if the ignition and immobilize won't be an issue regardless. I just want the ability to swap out my ignition switch for a used one if it starts going bad without paying the dealership my life savings.

Any thoughts? How would you guys switch the sprinter from a dually to a single axel? That's the main goal.

A secondary goal, that is not a must, is higher gear ratio for fuel economy since I never ever have a heavy load. So what do you guys recommend?

You should probably start a new thread, also contact GDE about tuning /programming changes.