Because of its dimensions, some maintenance jobs are so much easier on a Sprinter. A great example of this is changing the rear differential oil. You just need a wrench with a 14 mm hex socket and 30 minutes time to fill fresh gear oil into the differential – which you should do every 120,000 miles according to the Mercedes service interval.
A functioning coolant sensor is your best protection from an overheated engine. The design of the warning system unfortunately is not fail safe so you should check the coolant sensor from time to time. Any person can do this test or replacing a worn out sensor in a few minutes.
There are some jobs that require you to remove the fuel tank. Luckily the Mercedes engineers made that pretty easy. It’s as simple as removing a few bolts and you can pull the tank from under your van. On the difficulty scale, this job is a (messy) three.
If you’re running larger wheels like me or if you need the space of the factory spare tire location for something else you should think about adding a spare wheel carrier to your rear door. The Surco TS-100B is made to fit the T1N Sprinter and installing it is very simple. In summary I would rate this job a 2 out of 10 on the difficulty scale.
I was surprised how quickly you can turn your headlights from yellow and hazy to almost new looking with a headlight restoration kit. If you can handle a drill, this is a quick (45 minutes) and easy job (a simple 1 on the one to ten scale).
An awning on your van is great in summer to give you some shade but also very nice to have when it’s raining and you’re not stuck inside of your van. I’ve installed a Fiamma F45S on my 2006 Sprinter van and this post is about the details. If you’re used to drill holes in your van this is a very easy job – but some heavy lifting required so find a friend or two that can help. The only downside of this is the cost: Fiamma awnings are not cheap.
This is a quick post about installing an RV style charger inlet to the Sprinter Van to plug in to a 110V power connection when we’re camping where electricity is available. Very easy installation but it requires to drill a hole in your van. On the difficulty scale perhaps a 2 out of 10.
If you have a little rust spot on your passenger side A pillar, you either have the wrong size wiper blades installed or your wiper arms are not adjusted correctly. This post describes how to adjust the wiper arms and how which blade size you need to install. This job is a 1 on the difficulty scale – might become a 3 if your wiper arms are stuck.
This post is about installing a solar system in your van. I’m describing the details of solar panels, charge controllers and the bits and pieces that connect them to your house batteries. This is not a complicated job but requires some planning ahead and some basic knowledge of electrical systems. On the 1-10 difficulty scale I think this one is a three.
If you want to carry stuff on the roof of your Sprinter Van you need a way to secure it. An easy way to do this is to install some roof rack tracks. That gives you a base for all kind of options: from a simple roof rack, a base for your solar panels up to specialized roof racks to hold your Kayaks. Once you’re over the fear of drilling holes into the sheet metal of your Van, this job is super easy. I would rate it a 2 on the 1 to 10 scale.