Sprinter Virgin

Howdy folks,
I'm new to this forum and new to Sprinters, and I can't tell you how happy I am that I found y'all. I just had a very serene morning today - changing the oil, oil filter, and air filter on my Sprinter and it wouldn't have been such a nice experience if it weren't for the info and suggestions I found here.

I've been a plumber here in Houston for about a decade and about a year ago I started my own company. My faithful 2002 F-150 just wasn't cutting it as a service vehicle, so about six weeks ago I bought a 2002 Freightliner 2500 High Roof/Long Body, and I freaking love it. I am so glad that I didn't get a Ford E-series or it's equivalen. The master-licensed plumber who trained me has an E-250 and I hated working out of that van, mostly because it was so cramped that I hated climbing in and out so it was always a mess. Now, I can carry a ton of tools, equipment, and materials (neatly organized, easily accessed, safe from weather and thieves); I can load several 50g water heaters standing straight up (as their warranties demand); and when I drive up to a job the van affords me the legitimacy of the licensed professional that I am, not just some joker working out of his pickup. This vehicle makes me more efficient, more profitable, and simply better at my job. I also know that when I get around to having my company logo and phone number put on the sides that I will effectively have a rolling advertisement which will help bring in new business.

About the vehicle: she's a former delivery van for a large international shipping company which I will simply call FE (I read in another post to avoid using their name), 403000 miles, has been rode hard and put up wet. Her former owners scavenged the spare wheel and the tool set, but left some really handy shelves which I can fold up when I want more space. The shocks/springs are shot and the interior of the cab has sustained some abuse, but she drives great and gets better mileage than the pickup despite being much larger.

As I said, I changed the oil, oil filter, and air filter this morning and I plan to change the key fluids (coolant, tranny, rear differential, brakes) in the upcoming weeks. I figure this will give me a zero-point for future maintenance since there's no telling when these things were done last. It will also help me gain some familiarity with the vehicle since she's quite different from anything else I've ever worked on. I'll also repack the wheel bearings and inspect the brake rotors and pads, but if anyone has suggestions for other stuff I should check out, I'm all ears. I'm not sure how to tell if the plugs need replacing or if the vehicle will let me know when that's necessary. I'm also not sure if she has the ASSYST system, but I suspect she does not.

Again, thanks for this great forum and all the helpful folks here... I don't think I would have had the balls to take on this vehicle if I didn't have access to the information here. I realize that I've taken a risk buying a vehicle with so many miles and with a history of what was most likely pretty rough usage, but this is what my budget allows right now.

I've got a ton of questions of course, but I will try to spread them out as I continue to explore this forum. Pics to come.

Thanks

Josh

Welcome. That reminds me time to clean up my service van this weekend and get organized.

There are a few people who have 2002 Sprinters on the forum. My 2002 has less than 1/2 the miles yours does, but I put about 1000 miles a month on it (more when I am taking cross country trips). It's been very reliable, but has had its share of odd operational issues.

Use quality parts and the correct fluids, and maintain your Sprinter when it needs it - it will generally treat you very well.

Also, learn how to clean the EGR valve - I clean mine every spring. You'll be very unhappy if you don't make the effort (2002/2003 EGR valves clog up a lot).

An odd thing you may hit is the oil dipstick. Most consumer-owned US/NAFTA T1N Sprinters have a red handle, and are meant to be read hot.
Fleet Sprinters sometimes had yellow handles, and those are meant to be read cold.

The difference can be a half quart or more.

The usual owners manual (if you don't have one, you can download one from www.dodge.com) only speaks of the Red handle variety.

enjoy the beast
--dick

For your baseline - start here: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23409&highlight=maintenance
Change the fuel filter - lots of guidance on this forum - careful on the connectors.

Thanks folks,

1) I found the protocol for removing/installing the EGR, but not sure how to clean it.

2)I've got the red dipstick. I put in 9.5 qts 0W-40 Mobil 1 Syn for Euro cars and the stick reads max when hot, dead center when cold.

3)Any other ex-FE Sprinter owners around? I haven't found any threads about them. Not sure what the extent of the FE modifications. Pros: I love the jumpseat, the bulkhead with the locking door is great, the roof vent-fan is handy, and the fold-up modular shelves are perfect for now. Cons: no cruise control, no radio, I mentioned the scavenged parts and the condition of the suspension above.

4) In addition to #3, I suspect there's some sort of speed limiter on it... the truck stops accelerating at 68-70. I'm rarely interested in going faster than that, but it presents a safety issue when trying to change lanes on the highway. Any info on this would be sweet.

5)I've noticed a coolant leak. I can't seem to get it to leak when I'm watching though. It doesn't leak while idling, doesn't seem to leak when driving, and I don't see it leaking during short stops, but if it's been parked for a 30+ minutes a small puddle forms under the driver's side of the engine compartment and I can see it dripping from the firewall rail underneath where the steering column comes through. Ill get pics asap. Ideas?

6)The lights in the cargo compartment only want to come on at night. It's pretty dark in there even during the day. Is there a light sensor somewhere?

Thinking maybe I should start another thread. Thanks again for all your help, maybe some day I'll be able to contribute instead of just taking.

jmoller99 said:

Also, learn how to clean the EGR valve - I clean mine every spring. You'll be very unhappy if you don't make the effort (2002/2003 EGR valves clog up a lot).

Click to expand...

Sorry, how you clean EGR?

bakejosh said:

Thanks folks,

1) I found the protocol for removing/installing the EGR, but not sure how to clean it.

2)I've got the red dipstick. I put in 9.5 qts 0W-40 Mobil 1 Syn for Euro cars and the stick reads max when hot, dead center when cold.

3)Any other ex-FE Sprinter owners around? I haven't found any threads about them. Not sure what the extent of the FE modifications. Pros: I love the jumpseat, the bulkhead with the locking door is great, the roof vent-fan is handy, and the fold-up modular shelves are perfect for now. Cons: no cruise control, no radio, I mentioned the scavenged parts and the condition of the suspension above.

4) In addition to #3, I suspect there's some sort of speed limiter on it... the truck stops accelerating at 68-70. I'm rarely interested in going faster than that, but it presents a safety issue when trying to change lanes on the highway. Any info on this would be sweet.

5)I've noticed a coolant leak. I can't seem to get it to leak when I'm watching though. It doesn't leak while idling, doesn't seem to leak when driving, and I don't see it leaking during short stops, but if it's been parked for a 30+ minutes a small puddle forms under the driver's side of the engine compartment and I can see it dripping from the firewall rail underneath where the steering column comes through. Ill get pics asap. Ideas?

6)The lights in the cargo compartment only want to come on at night. It's pretty dark in there even during the day. Is there a light sensor somewhere?

Thinking maybe I should start another thread. Thanks again for all your help, maybe some day I'll be able to contribute instead of just taking.

Click to expand...

The speed limiter can be changed with a DRBIII or DAD. The speed limit can be set up to 79 in the USA

Also remove the engine cover and inspect the injectors for Black Death

To clean a 2002-2003 EGR valve,

1) Get a spare gasket (or many, since you will be doing this every 10,000 to 20,000 miles) - http://europarts-sd.com has them.

2) Remove the EGR (remove intake hose - lift up clip and pull the hose out - check for cracks in the hose at this time). There are 5 torx headed bolts that hold it on - remove the 5 bolts. If the gasket survives this step, you can reuse it (its made of stamped metal). You don't need to unplug the cable to the EGR (I don't).

3) Get some spray cleaner (not brake cleaner - you need the EGR to be lubricated enough to easily move back and forth) and soak the inside down - you will see the black crude in there. I use 'Spray Sea Foam', others have used 'Spray Carb Cleaner'. NOTE: The 2003-2003 NAFTA models don't have an O2 sensor, all later Sprinters do - silicon spray is very bad for O2 sensors, so don't use it on anything associated with the air intake (while it won't hurt the 2002-2003 models, you really don't need to use it).

Pop the plastic cover off of the EGR valve and press the mechanisum to make sure it moves back and forth easily - do not take this area apart for any reason. Spray the area under the cover, then snap the cover back on.

4) If the gasket is ok, reuse it, if not replace it. Put the EGR back on - same 5 bolts. If you unplugged it, reconnect the cable.

5) Put the air intake hose back on (lift the metal clip to do this).

When I clean mine, my fuel economy goes up for 800 to 1000 miles (by at least 2 MPG). if yours is reasonably clean, you might not see as much change. I clean mine when I do the Sprinters oil change - usually in the spring.

It only takes about 15 minutes to do.

The process is similar for any year Sprinter. All years of Sprinter EGR valves can clog up especially if you allow the Sprinter to idle for long periods of time. The 2004-2006 EGRs are to some degree self cleaning if you drive a lot, but can still clog up. Even the 2007 and later Sprinters have related issues (there is a write up on cleaning them in the NCV3 section). Never use silicon spray at the intake - if your vehicle has an O2 sensor, it may force to get a new O2 sensor (I understand that they are costly).

I picked up my 2003 FE sprinter a few weeks ago 352,000miles. The speed was limited to 68, I went to the freightliner dealer here in Michigan today and they reset the limiter to 80mph cleared all the codes and gave me a complete printout. They didn't charge a penny, I'm assuming the first ones free to get you coming back.

JMoller: You're the man. Thanks for that concise explanation of cleaning the EGR valve. Also, thanks for the link to Europarts. I ordered a few EGR valve gaskets (at $4.20/ea, why not change it each time I clean the valve?), a spare belt, tranny filter/gasket, fuell filter, and some spare copper rings for the oil drain plug. I really like that site.

SkyDiver: Thanks for the info on the speed limitation. I think I know who I should call. Also, thanks for the heads-up about the black death. I read as much as I could find around here (Aqua Puttana's write up on the fuel injector replacement was very helpful) about the BD, and now I'm going to to be up all night worrying, lol. I don't have any of the symptoms listed, but it can't hurt to check, and it sounds like not checking could get expensive fast.

Elco Good suggestion.