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).
The intake air temperature sensor measures the temperature of the air as it is supplied to the cylinders and transmits the value to the ECM. If that sensor fails, the ECM will probably put your Sprinter into limp home mode. Changing the sensor is quick and easy.
Bleeding brakes is the process to replace the brake fluid in your van. It’s recommended to replace the fluid every two years to make sure your Sprinter stops when you need it to. The job is very easy – if you use a power bleeder you can finish bleeding your brakes in about an hour. On the 1-10 difficulty scale this is a 2.
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.
Replacing the tiny 15″ wheels that the first gen Sprinters came with from the factory will improve the look of your van. Another nice side effect is a little better fuel economy and that the speedometer now shows the real speed.
Mercedes didn’t think that a Cargo Van needs a good audio system and they clearly didn’t spend too much money with the standard audio system they put in our vans. But since you’re using it as an RV, you want decent sound when driving long distances or when camping. This post is about some options to upgrade your Sprinter loudspeakers.