rustdogbrown
Member
Hello,
My rooftop AC leaks rainwater from the outside and I wanted to share my frustrations/experience. I bought a 2016 Sprinter 144 Passenger van in mid-November (2020) from a MB dealership in St. George, Utah. I picked it up in SLC, Utah and drove it back to Washington. At the time the odometer was just shy of 50K miles and after driving it home I had exceeded 50K miles (no more factory warranty). The vehicle is certified preowned (CPO) and comes with a 12 month CPO warranty.
In mid-December I noticed rainwater coming in from the rooftop AC. The water was coming out of a removable vent panel where a cabin filter is located. I would describe the amount of water in terms of a few "cups" of water after a hard rain. I contacted the sales person I dealt with and they said that the leak should be covered under the CPO warranty and it should also be covered under an extended warranty associated with this rooftop AC unit. The sales person acknowledged that this leaking was a common problem and that is why it has extended coverage. Based on this statement I took my van to a local MB dealership with a separate Sprinter/Metris only service center. They told me that the extended warranty exists but that my Sprinter is not covered. They did not give me a reason why - all they know is that their computer system says that the CPO warranty does not cover this leak.
The statement from the sales person about warranty coverage is partly true and is associated with a lawsuit addressing leaky rooftop AC's on NCV3's made between 2007 and 2014. Here is a thread on the lawsuit: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/45771/
My van is not covered by this lawsuit presumably because it was filed in 2014 (before my van was built). As far as I can tell, my 2016 van has the same AC unit as the 2007-2014 model years and the location of the leak is the same.
The service writer told me that the leak is the same common leak that affects the early model years and that they keep "kits" in stock for warranty repairs. My quoted repair price was around $2600. Needless to say, I was frustrated and called the Mercedes Benz CAC (customer assistance center??). They told me that all they could do was provide $750 in financial assistance and the service center also gave me "discounts" which brought my quote down to $1200 dollars. This does not include the $190 dollar diagnostic fee.
I had reviewed a video where someone did a DIY fix of their leak roof and in hindsight I probably should have done that. But the timing of this leak, my temporary work schedule and input from my better half drove me to just pony up the money and have the service center accomplish a repair they had done many times before.
Their fix was to remove and replace the plastic evaporator pan and install a new seal. For those that are unfamiliar with the evaporator pan it is a large plastic pan that locates into the large hole in the roof for the AC unit. The pan has a flange with a seal that goes between it and the exterior of the roof. There is a rectangular frame on the inside that attaches to the pan with a lot of screws. The idea is that when the screws are tightened the pan and seal are pulled down against the outside of the roof. I think they also might have applied some kind of sealant in addition to a new seal during the repair. I say this because I have noticed some sealant residue on the new plastic evaporator pan. Applying sealant seems like a departure from an OEM specification because the old pan did not have any sealant on it.
When I got my van back I requested the old parts so that I could see for myself where the leak would have been coming from. The service writer told me that the leak was related to a warped evaporator pan. This did not make sense to me because the pan did not looked warped I could clearly see that the seal on the pan was out of place in at least two corners. This is consistent with testimonials I have heard about leaks coming from the corners. I am speculating that the seal might have been seated properly at one time, but shrank over the last 4 years because of the Utah heat.
After getting the van back I started on phase 1 of my van build-out which involved removing the headliner and of course the interior plastic AC ducting/cover. What I noticed is that the service center had reinstalled my AC with all of the original factory hardware. There are at least 2 torx head screws that were replaced with phillips head screws, one flanged spacer what was missing and a broken wire bundle retainer. I have informed the service center and they have ordered the correct hardware.
Today (January 2nd) I noticed a few drops or water coming from perimeter of the AC cutout where the pan comes through. It appears that the leak repair may not have worked. This is a few drops after a few rainy days and it has not had time to collect in the ducting since I have the headliner down. This repair comes with a two year warranty and I will be taking it back to the service center this week.
Questions:
1) Does anyone know of an effort (like another lawsuit) to get the 2015-2018 model years covered by the extended warranty?
2) Has anyone successfully worked with MB to get their repair paid for?
3) Has anyone had an success with simply tightening the screws common to the rectangular frame?
***Updated this thread with pictures of my old evaporator pan and out-of-place seal.
Buyer Beware Advice for 2015-2018 Sprinters:
1) A leaky rooftop AC unit is covered by a certified preowned (CPO) warranty.
2) Get a service writer to verify any warranty coverage claims made by a salesperson.
(Sidenote: I just installed my Maxxair vent two days ago and it is not leaking)
My rooftop AC leaks rainwater from the outside and I wanted to share my frustrations/experience. I bought a 2016 Sprinter 144 Passenger van in mid-November (2020) from a MB dealership in St. George, Utah. I picked it up in SLC, Utah and drove it back to Washington. At the time the odometer was just shy of 50K miles and after driving it home I had exceeded 50K miles (no more factory warranty). The vehicle is certified preowned (CPO) and comes with a 12 month CPO warranty.
In mid-December I noticed rainwater coming in from the rooftop AC. The water was coming out of a removable vent panel where a cabin filter is located. I would describe the amount of water in terms of a few "cups" of water after a hard rain. I contacted the sales person I dealt with and they said that the leak should be covered under the CPO warranty and it should also be covered under an extended warranty associated with this rooftop AC unit. The sales person acknowledged that this leaking was a common problem and that is why it has extended coverage. Based on this statement I took my van to a local MB dealership with a separate Sprinter/Metris only service center. They told me that the extended warranty exists but that my Sprinter is not covered. They did not give me a reason why - all they know is that their computer system says that the CPO warranty does not cover this leak.
The statement from the sales person about warranty coverage is partly true and is associated with a lawsuit addressing leaky rooftop AC's on NCV3's made between 2007 and 2014. Here is a thread on the lawsuit: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/45771/
My van is not covered by this lawsuit presumably because it was filed in 2014 (before my van was built). As far as I can tell, my 2016 van has the same AC unit as the 2007-2014 model years and the location of the leak is the same.
The service writer told me that the leak is the same common leak that affects the early model years and that they keep "kits" in stock for warranty repairs. My quoted repair price was around $2600. Needless to say, I was frustrated and called the Mercedes Benz CAC (customer assistance center??). They told me that all they could do was provide $750 in financial assistance and the service center also gave me "discounts" which brought my quote down to $1200 dollars. This does not include the $190 dollar diagnostic fee.
I had reviewed a video where someone did a DIY fix of their leak roof and in hindsight I probably should have done that. But the timing of this leak, my temporary work schedule and input from my better half drove me to just pony up the money and have the service center accomplish a repair they had done many times before.
Their fix was to remove and replace the plastic evaporator pan and install a new seal. For those that are unfamiliar with the evaporator pan it is a large plastic pan that locates into the large hole in the roof for the AC unit. The pan has a flange with a seal that goes between it and the exterior of the roof. There is a rectangular frame on the inside that attaches to the pan with a lot of screws. The idea is that when the screws are tightened the pan and seal are pulled down against the outside of the roof. I think they also might have applied some kind of sealant in addition to a new seal during the repair. I say this because I have noticed some sealant residue on the new plastic evaporator pan. Applying sealant seems like a departure from an OEM specification because the old pan did not have any sealant on it.
When I got my van back I requested the old parts so that I could see for myself where the leak would have been coming from. The service writer told me that the leak was related to a warped evaporator pan. This did not make sense to me because the pan did not looked warped I could clearly see that the seal on the pan was out of place in at least two corners. This is consistent with testimonials I have heard about leaks coming from the corners. I am speculating that the seal might have been seated properly at one time, but shrank over the last 4 years because of the Utah heat.
After getting the van back I started on phase 1 of my van build-out which involved removing the headliner and of course the interior plastic AC ducting/cover. What I noticed is that the service center had reinstalled my AC with all of the original factory hardware. There are at least 2 torx head screws that were replaced with phillips head screws, one flanged spacer what was missing and a broken wire bundle retainer. I have informed the service center and they have ordered the correct hardware.
Today (January 2nd) I noticed a few drops or water coming from perimeter of the AC cutout where the pan comes through. It appears that the leak repair may not have worked. This is a few drops after a few rainy days and it has not had time to collect in the ducting since I have the headliner down. This repair comes with a two year warranty and I will be taking it back to the service center this week.
Questions:
1) Does anyone know of an effort (like another lawsuit) to get the 2015-2018 model years covered by the extended warranty?
2) Has anyone successfully worked with MB to get their repair paid for?
3) Has anyone had an success with simply tightening the screws common to the rectangular frame?
***Updated this thread with pictures of my old evaporator pan and out-of-place seal.
Buyer Beware Advice for 2015-2018 Sprinters:
1) A leaky rooftop AC unit is covered by a certified preowned (CPO) warranty.
2) Get a service writer to verify any warranty coverage claims made by a salesperson.
(Sidenote: I just installed my Maxxair vent two days ago and it is not leaking)
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