Mercedes-Benz Peculiarities

Maybe it's just my luck...

1) Pulled into Coeur d'Alene, Idaho last night. Had just topped-off the windshield washer fluid several miles before. Got a "Check Washer Fluid" warning. Sure enough, the container was empty. Refilled it and watched it drain before my eyes. Slowly, but it was definitely draining.

This morning, I stopped at the M-B dealer in Spokane. Their schedule was FULL, but they did me right by fitting it in within the hour. Only to find out a hose came off at the bottom of the internal pump. Reconnected it. Secured it to prevent it happening again. No charge! Under Warranty!

I got free coffee, free Wall Street Journal, free Washer Fluid, and a Free Wash of the RV. On my way in an hour and a half. Cool!

But anybody ever have this problem?

2) Today, on my to Glacier. The following has happened a few times, but I thought I was imagining it.
A/C is cranking fantastic. Blowing good amount of air. Freezing me out of the cab. Glad I hung those curtains!

At one point, I turn the A/C down. Then off. Enjoying the cruise through the Scenic Byway. 75mph downhill, baby!!

Get out of thr trees for awhile. Turn the A/C back on. A/C acts like it is a Dometic refrigerator!! Fan sounds like it is blowing hard, but the cooling SUCKS! Nothing I could adjust made it perform like before - - except pulling over and turning off the engine. Restarting brought the A/C back online, full-blast. This has happened before.

Anybody know what causes this?

I do not believe it is a frozen line because I only stopped and went through the restart in a matter of minutes. It's like a circuit never gets activated.

Perhaps some weird equivalent to compressor stall?
(can happen if compressor is stopped/restarted with too short a time interval in-between ... which doesn't seem to match your conditions)
((the usual desired time delay is 3 minutes or longer))

The engine off/on "reset" speaks of confused electronics.

--dick

Sounds like condenser freeze-up and compressor short-cycle. If short-cycling can occur on a Sprinter?

May I suggest a few tips? Turn-off the A/C first and adjust fan to max to circulate outside air. Note: Outside air is filtered, inside air is not and may be the reason why the new Sprinters cabin air filter is located behind the glove compartment to provide air filtering to both inside and outside modes.

Allowing the fan to circulate air will give the condenser an opportunity to shed any condensation or ice accumulation. Additionally, open all cabin vents to maximize flow volume and minimize potential condenser icing during AC operation.

Allowing the condenser to dry out is particularly important prior to long-term storage to avoid the moldy smell.

I find it takes a couple of 3-miles for the condenser to exhaust all of its coolness and begin blowing ambient temperature.

I had a similar issue on my 2016. Drove across all of Illinois with no AC. Wife not happy at all. Worked fine the next day. I put the I-CarSoft MB code reader and it came up with an error code that said air control door not matching command (something close to that). Apparently it was just a glitch. No code light on dash and I never took it in because it never happened again. If I ever see that again, I'll write down the code number and description.

I'm going to experiment if I am confronted with a similar unfortunate circumstance.

After turning the vehicle off, I'll wait 15 minutes as described in the 2019 owners manual and then disconnect the ground battery Quick disconnect. My 2015 owners manual said 10 minutes. So apparently there is a reason to wait an additional five minutes due to a software revision???

Then I would let it sit disconnected for 45 minutes or even longer. I come up with this time resding marrying an ECU to a vehicle. Can't remember the specifics, but 45 minutes was the time for it to perform are not perform some function.

Afterwords, I would reconnect the vehicle as prescribed and the owners manual by insert afterwords I would reconnect the battery and wait 15 minutes before starting the vehicle. I would then start the vehicle and take it on a highway cruise.

This will not cause any harm to the vehicle.

There was a recent thread on this forum for a similar situation. If you set the temperature dial to maximum cooling and the fan speed to low, the unit freezes up consistently. Makes a lot of noise but provides very little cold air. Solution is to back off on the temperature dial slightly or raise fan speed after allowing unit to defrost.

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I don't know what its cooling capacity is, but assume it's large.

Hmmm... Mine always recovers itself by simply turning off the engine, and restarting it. No lengthy waiting period. Adjusting the controls on the dash does not help, other than reducing the fan speed. I sincerely do not think it is a freezing issue.

How humid was it?

rollerbearing said:

How humid was it?

Click to expand...

Not sure. So far, humidity is something I think about in Maryland (rated a sub-tropical climate in some journals), but I have not noticed it out West. I'm not sure it has anything to do with the sudden "malfunctioning" of the climate control system - especially when a restart "fixes" it.

A/C does draw out the humidity inside the vehicle, which is why it is recommended to clear up a fogged windshield. But I've had no fogged windshields in the mornings on this trip.

I read a similar post on this and apparently all MB cars and trucks automatically open the fresh air door after a given amount of time to try to keep things from freezing up, I suppose, However this will keep the air not so cool as it is cooling outside air instead of recirculating the cab air. You can restart as you are doing or just turn the a/c off and back on again.

I tried turning the A/C off and back on, but that did not work.

Scarecrow said:

I tried turning the A/C off and back on, but that did not work.

Click to expand...

Please describe in greater detail about turning A/C on and off? Specifically, the time duration between on and off? Also describe did not work. Fan not operating?

Aren't you under warranty?

Scarecrow said:

Hmmm... Mine always recovers itself by simply turning off the engine, and restarting it. No lengthy waiting period. Adjusting the controls on the dash does not help, other than reducing the fan speed. I sincerely do not think it is a freezing issue.

Click to expand...

I do the same with my 2016 and that works the best. At least the A/C comes back on.

I waited up to three minutes. Tried rolling down the windows and traveling for twenty. Once this occurs, it does not recover until I pull over and shut the engine off. I can restart it immediately - problem fixed. It seems to get locked in a non-cooling state. When I say non-cooling, I mean the cooling level is so low as to be laughable - not that it disappears completely. The fan will go as high as it can, but the cooling is mediocre. Once restarted, the cooling is very aggressive. Next time I'm in a dealership, I will ask them.

This is not a frequent occurrence. I cannot make it repeat itself at will. It will happen on occasion.

I have tried adjusting both knobs on the dash.
Turning it off, thinking it had frozen.
Turning on the cab air recycling.
Turning off the A/C, then back on. Both short intervals and long.
Adjusting which vents are being used.
Turning the heater on and off.
Turning the defrost on and off.
Unlocking the doors.
Turning the flashers on and off.
Standing on one leg while driving.
And turning the radio on and off.
I even listened to - God Forbid!! - rap music for five minutes.
No amount of cussing fixes it.
Only a complete motor restart.

I think this vehicle is possessed.
I need an M-B Exorcist!

Not saying it is related, One thing I thought peculiar in the owner's manual was making small incremental temperature dial adjustments. I don't recall seeing it mentioned by competitors.

Intermittent issues are difficult to isolate and diagnose. Unless of course somebody has already figured it out.

Yep, you got it -- it's possessed! (For me, the "standing on one leg" trick usually works....)

Scarecrow said:

I have tried adjusting both knobs on the dash.
Turning it off, thinking it had frozen.
Turning on the cab air recycling.
Turning off the A/C, then back on. Both short intervals and long.
Adjusting which vents are being used.
Turning the heater on and off.
Turning the defrost on and off.
Unlocking the doors.
Turning the flashers on and off.
Standing on one leg while driving.
And turning the radio on and off.
I even listened to - God Forbid!! - rap music for five minutes.
No amount of cussing fixes it.
Only a complete motor restart.

I think this vehicle is possessed.
I need an M-B Exorcist!

Click to expand...

Your problem is you forgot to hold your nose just right!

You might be onto something. My Dad always said "Son, you aren't catching any fish because you aren't holding your mouth right... preferably closed."