2008 Sprinter 3500 - Service Info

[Tim Martin]

A customer called and said that he recently purchased an 08 Sprinter 3500 with a diesel engine and was asking what is the service interval for it. In looking up that info on On Demand, it is saying 10,000 miles. Now I am wondering: That long?

I am seeking any input from those of you that have these vehicles. What am I as the shop to expect as I bring these Sprinter vans in my shop?

[brianp87]

ya its a huge interval. YOu have to use the mb approved oil

[jbadenoch]

We have dealt with these before and YES, the lof interval is 10,000 on the diesels.

[Tim Martin]

ya its a huge interval. YOu have to use the mb approved oil

Is oil that meets MB specs not acceptable? Or will other oils, say something like 5/40 Valvoline Synthetic create issues?

[brianp87]

I only use onse that meet the spec. like lubro moly

[Tim Martin]

I only use onse that meet the spec. like lubro moly

I seen the list of approved oils that D/C says would be ok to use. What weight should I be using here in central PA?

[brianp87]

I use 5w30 lubromoly

[steven kiser]

good luck with the sprinter. start wearing a helmet or pad the shop walls so when you start banging your head against the wall you'll be ok. i stick with the factory oil. i purchase it through world pac. i have a few customer (more than i like) that have these and i told all of them to purchase the extended warranty so i could do the maintenance and push off all the other work. it's been my experience that when these tickers start to sputter and crap ot it's never a simple diagnosis or repair. the scene from "used cars" pops to mind (the one where they blow up a car) when one of these pulls into my lot. i know they pull in without seeing them because of the sound they make. chitty, chitty, bang, bang. at least the newer ones are built a bit better. the older ones i work on i light prayer candles when i replace the fuel filter because of the plastic hoses, seals, and pump fails when an air bubble hits it. i have one sitting on the lot because the ignition module in the steering column will on occasion not get along with the pcm and shut down. had it towed to the sprinter dealer, they sent it back with a no thanks, went to a shop i deal with (work real well with them, the only one, they specialize in foreign and ask us about domestic when they have issues and reciprocate when we need help) looked at it and said that there was no direction to go and as much as he didn't want to say it he would suggest trying another pcm and module to see if they would get along enough to isolate other issues. this is the one where we replaced the pcm and it wouldn't even crank over. the tech got frustrated and threw the old pcm against a wall. told him to put it back in so i could return the new one. he did and it started. only problem it had now was it wouldn't shift into 3rd gear. wasn't commanding it to. disconnected/reconnected battery and now we get crank, no start. even when we spray wd into intake we get nothing. it's just sitting on my lot and the customer is using it as a shed until he can afford to get a new van. ya, ya, i know i'm just rambling. waiting for it to get light enough so i can see what i'm doing when i'm fishing.

[mopwrforme]

yes every 10,000 you get a new fuel filter, rotate, bal. every other rotate, and an oil change keep in mind the dpf on the newer sprinters is very pickey about the oil you put in the engine. you can cause premature failure with using the wroung oil over time. a lot of egr failures, some throttle body issues not many, also ive done a tone of driveshafts, u-joints and carrier brgs on these vans. trans issues are few. intercooler hoses often. diag on the newer vans is better than the older ones but still can be a pain. youll run into problems with the published wireing diag. being wroung right from the factory. so if your chasing a wireing issue double check connecter pinout and wire color to make sure youve got the correct diagram. youll find the mercedes ecm logic is not like our domectics it gets interesting to say the least. ive got a lot of experence with this fine piece of equipment good luck

[Tim Martin]

To revive this thread. Customer called this AM and said he was cruising down interstate and "Low Oil Level" light came on in the dash. So he pulls in for fuel and checks the oil level. Finds it slightly low so he adds some. When I serviced it I had sent some oil along so hopefully he is putting that in. Now he says the "High Oil Level" message comes on the dash. If he keeps mph below 55 no lite or message appears. If he bumps it higher, the "High Oil Level" message appears and flashes. He is wondering how to relate to this and beings this is my first Sprinter vehicle I need to learn some things I suppose. Can he run it with the "High Oil Level" message on or should he siphon some oil out if ti actually is too high? Or might we have a bad sensor? He plans to stop in at the shop later today for us to look at it. I feel I need some input from others.

[steven kiser]

Without getting into my manuals i believe this uses the Mercedes monitoring system and it's real. I don't know if it's sensitive enough to read 1/2 quarts but if it's overfilled at all the light may trigger. Check the level switch wiring at the oil pan if the oil level is correct. I believe i ran into an issue with one of these and the monitoring system needed to be reset.

[mopwrforme]

Tim I have had issues in the past with this system what i found was the sprinter vans have to sit not running
for apx. 1/2hr for the oil to drain from the injection pump and upper engine. then you can get a correct reading
I have had good luck with letting them sit filter off for apx. 1/2hr to drain go back with the correct flid at 13qts
your done. I have yet to replace a level sensor on the newer models imo the sensor is just too accurate.


also to answer your question the problem you run into, is the oil level overfull to the point that its getting
into the throws of the crank? If it does it will airiate and cause damage. If its only 1/2qt or so i would correct it
but I dont think it will cause any damage. I would run into this problem with lube techs in a hurry to make
there $2.00 a bunch nothing serious good luck man

[brianp87]

Our ambulance company added oil and got the warnign light also. It was over full almost exactly one quart food for thought

[Tim Martin]

Soooooo evidently the owner/customer/driver is using the wrong method of checking the engine oil level. In that case I need to inform them of the proper proceedure.

[brianp87]

I tell the amb company to let us do it. They add wrong oil and wrong amounts and it causes confusion whe lights lie this come on. In our case i thought we overfiled but one quart exact when we get them in liters made me question them and found out they added