Service Engine Light Icon on and no MB codes at dealership yet!

About 2 weeks ago my service engine icon popped on (this is the one in the speedometer) after the "muffler" started to make a low rumble noise. It was like a light switch turning on. One second the muffler sounded normal at an idle, at a stop, and the next second there was a low rumble like the muffler was worn out. I set up an appointment immediately for the next day, they put the computer on it and showed an active problem, they had no idea what it was, it could be the particulate filter, wire harness, air in fuel system or fuel injection system. They then said they would need the van for about three days to do tests on it because MB hasn't sent them all the codes and they weren't going to just change parts. I told them I could not leave the van and the service guy assured me it was doing no harm.

There is another interesting phenomenon associated with this problem, my mileage has increased by about 3 miles per gallon.

I talked to the service manager and he said he would consider doing nothing at this point. I'm not real comfortable with the light on of the slight rumble in the exhaust, anyone have any ideas?

BTW, this van is 4 1/2 months old with 12,500 miles on it.

OK Verojohn
Which light? two weeks its on! dealer has no codes
I will speculate you have set off the DPF for a designated - self maintenance period! "However
Slight fuel increase this may be the NOx- sensor or temperature sensors rear of exhaust line,
possibly sending the wrong information back into the command ECU unit to order up a higher quantity of fuel via the piezo injection system. Thinking of High pressure fuel pump fuel distributor or fuel cooler not to mention other sensors on the engine itself.
The electronics on the sprinter are more complicated than the previous models as to emission control regulators three settings on the bar 1200, 1600 I think this is 50 state compliant. which you are on and 2000 psi, adding to a slight complexity digital and analog on line dash electronics.
Question: Which dash system do you have! The standard dash analog!this will show lights and symbols mostly, the optioned Hi-Line digital dash will show codes and error references??

The above is just a Small part of the on board diagnostics
system the tech has to deal with.
Assuming you have only used ULSD then it may be a simple electronic malfunction! If you have used a cheaper fuel then you may have caused an issue at the injection jets, these are very fine set to deliver fuel at high pressure for a hot burn if a lesser fuel quality has been used carbonation and detonation is the most likely cause of the DPF being set of.
Fuel is critical for the Sprinter. The engine has been designed for high quality fuels. to take you into 10/ppm down to 5 ppm if your running above 15 ppm then the fuel will play frequent havoc on the PDF.
If you have something that is more specific I may be able to give you more information.
noting you said the dealer has to get codes from MB! No offense meant but how long have the new generation Sprinters been on the US market now??? itakes an email to download an attachment, or buy a CD Video disk or go direct on-line in a virtual one to one world of 3D technology with Daimler AG direct, the latter may not be on-line state side yet? as to optical cable being required for high speed video resolution. I have no other information ,as to your question being limited! to give you a better guide.
Richard

It is that light and they reset the self maintenance warning as i told them to do so. There was still an active code and again, he said he was not going to just change parts without having the codes. This was the first (1st) 2007 Sprinter this dealer ever sold. They expanded their shop and went to all the schools but...I'm telling you what the Service manager told me, he did not know what the code was and that he complained to management about selling these vans before they were up to speed. I happen to be the guy that bought the first one and yes, of course I put in the best fuel. In the two states I've traveled in with this van, there are only two places I've been to that had plain low sulfur. Low sulfur is the same price as ultra low sulfur so again, of course I use what's required.
If this engine can't take Ultra Low Sulfur sold in America, it's going down the road. Ultra Low Sulfur with the standard Cetane rating is what's sold here.

Did you notice I mentioned it was making a low rumble and getting better mileage?

Verojohn
Thank you for your reply , I did notice what you stated ! somewhere between your original post and the re-edit the wording has changed, ?
However at least you did clarify one starting point of interest, vans sold and management not having codes up to date, that lies with upper management in the franchise out let, to have in place! for their techs beforehand, in doing so you would not have a delay in the time frame for diagnostics.as to the remedy of the fix? The reference for Low sulfur fuels was the actual limit that is set by law 15/ppm not to exceed 500 Ppm in sulfur fuel content.
The fuel being delivered exceeds 800ppm on transmix in many areas of the N/American sector.
On the last post there is a diagram that refers to the fuel charter that was implemented in 1998, this was a voluntary agreement between oil companies and auto manufactures to set and abode to the EU standards the US is part of this,, Auto Manufactures developed at great expense to design engines transmissions and Particulate exhausts to met the future fuel and emission standards, The Euro 3 mandates of which the sprinter falls under for US regulations My year 2003 states sulfur must be set to a minimum of 300/ppm and not exceed 500 pp/m if the sulfur is exceeding between 600 and 800 pp/m then you do not have ULSD fuel , We were asked by the EPA in the USA to investigate this problem , as to who was responsible, It was not an easy task as to the entire infrastructures at many different points of refining to distribution that showed where many of the fuel issues arose, Bourne out of political interference, No uniform mandates state by state and or restricted capability's by the EPA to execute their programs to to the set laws on emission standards, The European Transparency agency were the ones who had full control to investigate and over ride any US regularity authority that attempted to interfere in our investigations.riding shot gun ..in two imported sprinters from Europe with diplomatic plates caused many a contentious moment. Both the Supreme court in the USA has and senate has forced the EPA to act, they claim it is not their responsibility where it is, the reason of the EPA to fully act is [A] Funding, Staff and experience. [C] State by state politicians playing politics with their corporate sponsors who helped to fund Their election expenses. it's a hard, hard call for those who would try to attempt to execute the standards laid down for US emissions.
The low rumble you mentioned was the thought of the DPF working overtime to clear out the carbon soot that has built up , you sprinter should improve on economy as the miles go by 15 thousand miles seems to be the indicator for a Mercedes engine to be broken in .
Richard

If I edit a post, I do so in the first few minutes. If it's longer than that I'll just start a new post. Also my edits are usually for grammar or spelling, not major content.

I'm driving by the dealer this morning and will question him once more, I'm kind of sick of this ultra sensitive van and my first trip to the dealer has confirmed my fears for buying this van....parts and warranty service are going to be difficult plus, the nearest dealer is about 40 miles away and they don't offer loaner vehicle service as the local Ford dealer does on my other Ford trucks. I bought this Sprinter at twice the cost of a Ford E-250 (that's what it replaced) and was looking forward to excellent fuel economy, I have not seen that. I now get about 19 MPG with this problem, and it was getting about 16 MPG the day before the noise was first heard. I say this with certainty because, I've been the only driver of this van, and have hand calculated every tank of fuel that's been put in it since day one. I've even had it weighed at a local scale house and it's less weight than the Ford E-250 van by 1,000 lbs and it's only getting 2.5 mpg more than that van. But remember, the Sprinter cost me $35,000 +/- and a brand new E-250 costs about $18,500 +/-
I also asked them to make the "Low Tire Pressure" light go out and they think it is a bad sensor, leave the van there for days to fix???? Now I drive with two lights on.....

Thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate them and I'll report back after the dealers visit today.

Oh yes and added in edit a few minutes later: Our Ultra Low Sulfur fuels are stickers on the pump and it's exactly the same color as the Low Sulfur sticker. I watch that meticulously and all our Ultra Low Sulfur is rated at 15 ppm, certified. They also claim that's why it costs over 10% more than regular unleaded gasoline here in America. I'm 47 and remember when diesel was 40% less than gasoline!!!!

I also mainly use Chevron fuel, I don't like Exxon/Mobil and BP's are far and few in between around my area. I never use Citgo as i wouldn't support that Dictator Chavez.

verojohn said:

If I edit a post, I do so in the first few minutes. If it's longer than that I'll just start a new post. Also my edits are usually for grammar or spelling, not major content.

I'm driving by the dealer this morning and will question him once more, I'm kind of sick of this ultra sensitive van and my first trip to the dealer has confirmed my fears for buying this van....parts and warranty service are going to be difficult plus, the nearest dealer is about 40 miles away and they don't offer loaner vehicle service as the local Ford dealer does on my other Ford trucks. I bought this Sprinter at twice the cost of a Ford E-250 (that's what it replaced) and was looking forward to excellent fuel economy, I have not seen that. I now get about 19 MPG with this problem, and it was getting about 16 MPG the day before the noise was first heard. I say this with certainty because, I've been the only driver of this van, and have hand calculated every tank of fuel that's been put in it since day one. I've even had it weighed at a local scale house and it's less weight than the Ford E-250 van by 1,000 lbs and it's only getting 2.5 mpg more than that van. But remember, the Sprinter cost me $35,000 +/- and a brand new E-250 costs about $18,500 +/-
I also asked them to make the "Low Tire Pressure" light go out and they think it is a bad sensor, leave the van there for days to fix???? Now I drive with two lights on.....

Thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate them and I'll report back after the dealers visit today.

Oh yes and added in edit a few minutes later: Our Ultra Low Sulfur fuels are stickers on the pump and it's exactly the same color as the Low Sulfur sticker. I watch that meticulously and all our Ultra Low Sulfur is rated at 15 ppm, certified. They also claim that's why it costs over 10% more than regular unleaded gasoline here in America. I'm 47 and remember when diesel was 40% less than gasoline!!!!

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Good call I remember when it was 1/6 a gallon 16 cents Diesel was cheaper than Kero as to being the dregs of the fuel left overs from producing petroleum products now it's as expensive as 100% octane rated fuels Funny ULSD coasts the same as LSD I agree with your thoughts there are issues we have them too but both of my vans have been 100% fault free never been near a dealer yet, so What can I say. I hope you get your Sprinter going right , but 23 MPG is the best you will average on the V6 the way the bar is set up and it depends on the length and axle ratios and to weight, Oh and don't forget Urban CBD and hi-way Makes you want to go back to the days of horse and cart
Have a great day Richard

Here is a link to a diesel price guide to all of Flying J stations in the USA and Canada. I've been to the FL., St. Lucie Flying J and that's one of the two places in the two states I've traveled in where Low Sulfur was available. In North Carolina (up by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park) the clerk looked at me like I was speaking another language when I asked if their fuel was Ultra Low Sulfur. I left that station when they couldn't answer and said it was diesel and would work in any truck. It was an Exxon station in Graham Co., North Carolina.
Anyhoo...the link:
http://www.flyingj.com/fuel/diesel_CF.cfm?state=ALL

BTW, I went down to the dealer and bottom line is, I'm out of the vehicle for at least two days starting tomorrow. I'm really starting to regret my decision in buying this van. It's 4/5 months old and I can't drive it and need to rent a truck to get by while I leave it for those animals to get all dirty, just like they did last week just plugging in the computer! I realty don't want to start with the demanding customer but I guess I'll have to. It's the very reason I bought a Sprinter, reliability and the thought that if I spent the extra money, I'd have a MB quality vehicle and great mileage to boot, both not happening....

Let us know what the out come is ! some days things just go Bling others and in between
Richard

Richard, BTW, I have a good friend in Western Perth, Ray Freeman...do you know him? Just kidding, I know he's far away but he's my only friend in Australia.
Reminds me, I'm going to have to wake him up one of these day with a phone call

verojohn said:

Richard, BTW, I have a good friend in Western Perth, Ray Freeman...do you know him? Just kidding, I know he's far away but he's my only friend in Australia.
Reminds me, I'm going to have to wake him up one of these day with a phone call

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Verojohn WA Perth is yonk's away from my state an Island Tasmania But you have an on-line friend with the other pond , Just a straight between us, and a lot of miles , so there now you know two, any more and that could be worry
Richard

First question for altered - Why have you got a picture of a Sprintshift gearbox in this post? Just plain confusing.

second question to Verojohn - Has the vehicle had a oil change yet? If so what oil was used? Was it Low ash?

It sounds like the DPF is carrying out a re-generation too often, due to the function of the CDI Control unit more fuel is dumped into the exhaust to burn off the build up of soot in the DPF, this would explain your fuel consumption concern.

Just a thought?

Guru point taken however the sprintshift does has euro v compliance same set up with sensors as the auto 5 speed. with the DPF.
Richard

Altered. The only thing the same between a 722.6 (Auto) and a 716 (Sprintshift) gearbox is that they both fit behind a engine.

A gearbox doesn't have to comply to any EURO exhaust emission standands???

Just a thought?