winter storage

The place where I will store my Sprinter for five months insists that the battery is disconnected. Is that ok? It will be above freezing.

That is actually a preferred storage method because the parasitic draw of the clock, radio and ECM memory etc etc are not issue or drain on the battery with it disconnected.

5 months is a long time and the battery would be low or dead if it were left connected.

Five months is a long time even when disconnected........I think some will weigh in and say......take the battery out, store it at home and charge once per month, place it on an automatic battery maintainer charger.

showkey said:

Five months is a long time even when disconnected........I think some will weigh in and say......take the battery out, store it at home and charge once per month, place it on an automatic battery maintainer charger.

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Agreed.

Battery Tender Jr. Less than $30. Nice and small. Works great for keeping batteries up to snuff while in storage, or even just sitting on the shelf.

Thanks for the advice. My only concern was disrupting or losing some codes in the brain. Also I heard from a RV guy there is a micro heater in the DEF tank and wondered if that would turn into a block of ice if I op for unheated storage.

bnova said:

Thanks for the advice. My only concern was disrupting or losing some codes in the brain. Also I heard from a RV guy there is a micro heater in the DEF tank and wondered if that would turn into a block of ice if I op for unheated storage.

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I routinely disconnect the ground cable next to the go pedal when storing mine. Only things I need to reset are the clock, outside temp/speed display toggle, and in my case, backup camera settings. Nothing else is affected.

Def heater only functions when the engine us running in any case. It will freeze but no harm done.

My 2014 Owners Manual says that I should "de-energize" the vehicle using the battery main switch if "the vehicle is stationary for a lengthy period", or if "it is absolutely necessary".

avanti said:

My 2014 Owners Manual says that I should "de-energize" the vehicle using the battery main switch if "the vehicle is stationary for a lengthy period", or if "it is absolutely necessary".

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Typical parasitic drain on vehicle battery for Sprinters is about 30-35 ma, so roughly 1 amp-hour per day, plus self discharge (low for a good AGM battery).

So you can see leaving it sit for a couple months can add up. Disconnecting the quick-release cable next to the pedal only takes seconds, and eliminates the parasitic drain. Also protects you from accidently leaving on a courtesy light or radio...guess why I started doing it :-(

You should also consider adding some diesel fuel stabilizer if you are going to store your Sprinter that long.


- - Mike
2013 Airstream Interstate on 2012 Sprinter 3500 tall & long