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Sprinter Servicing Schedule

4501 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Pudsey_Bear, 
R
My motor home is based upon a 316 Sprinter chassis and has the 2.7 litre 5 cyl. turbo engine.
In the maintenance schedule it quotes Oil Service every 20,000 miles and Maintenance Service every 35,000 miles. My annual mileage is only around 5,000 miles.
An additional statement reads 'If the vehicle mileage is very low, have the Maintenance Service carried out every 2 years'

Reading this literally it appears as if you can simply carry out the Maintenance Service every 2 years.

The chassis is out of the warranty period and therefore the servicing is purely down to me.

I have not approached the local Merc dealer as this stage as I'm sure they are going to want to carry out an oil change every year, despite the mileage. This is not just a cost issue, each service also entails a 70 mile round trip and a large part of a day hanging around an industrial estate.

Is anybody else in a similar situation, if so, what servicing strategy do you adopt?

Colin
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1
Get a local garage to do the job and save a fortune.
This is a simple task that most people can manage themselves but if you can't then any garage that can manage a van that size would manage the job. Where do you go for your MOT? Perhaps kill two birds with one stone. :?:
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A
Only service item that suffers even when parked up is the oil. It can degrade over time.
Just an oil change & filter every two years would do for me.
Would still get a service done (at a local garage) every 3 or 4 years say based on mileage.

Oh, and if there are any greasing points then get them done at the same time as the oil change for the same reason.
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S
My car and my PVC get an annual service whether they need it or not. It coincides with MOT time. Each does only about 5,000 miles a year. Longer service intervals are really applicable to those who do high annual mileages.

Mine both have had their cambelt / timing belt changes (and in the case of the VW a new water pump at the same time) on time according to manufacturer's recommendation because mileage isn't the most important trigger.

Neither consumes any oil between services and the engines are still in top condition. I want to keep it that way.

Apart from the oil, which degrades and becomes acidic over time, the brakes can suffer due to rust and absorbtion of water into the brake fluid.

Apparently there are some people who never service their car after the manufaturer's warranty expires, but prefer to "run it into the ground". Scary, isn't it. 8O

False economy IMHO not to do it annually.

SD
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Pudsey_Bear
Brake fluid is hygroscopic. This means that it will readily absorb moisture. In fact, it will absorb moisture out of the air.

Moisture in your brake fluid does two things. When the brake fluid becomes hot under hard braking, the water in the brake fluid boils. This causes steam voids in the brake system which causes a dramatic reduction in braking capability. In severe cases it can cause braking capability to be lost completely. Moisture in the brake system also causes internal corrosion of brake system components resulting in loss of braking capability. Therefore, it is extremely important to change your brake fluid at the specified intervals. Make sure you use a good DOT 4 brake fluid. DO NOT use DOT 3 or DOT 5 fluid.

Once the water content rises above 3% - brakes can fail.

Kev.
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smick
Merc servicing

I also wondered about this when I had my first Merc, and came up with the plan of Inspection Service/Oil change first year, Full service second year etc. Think it's important to have the essentials checked each year regardless of low mileage.

If you haven't got a local Merc dealer, ask a suitable local garage to do it, but check that they can do it as per the Mercedes service schedule, using genuine Mercedes parts for any filters etc - they may be more expensive but at least you know what you're getting. Also make sure that the oil complies to the Merc spec of 228.3, and ask them to make sure it's not overfilled.

Try checking with your Merc dealer before you give up on them - they may have a specific time booking regime, which means you get in and out quickly. I'v never sat about for more than two and a half hours even with a full service.

Smick
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Re: Merc servicing

smick said:
.

Try checking with your Merc dealer before you give up on them - they may have a specific time booking regime, which means you get in and out quickly. I'v never sat about for more than two and a half hours even with a full service.
Smick
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They can be surprisingly cheap for O.E. filters etc. Always worth checking out. The Star isn't neccessarily expensive.
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Pudsey_Bear
I don't know if all merc dealers do this, but the Bradford one is a 24hr place and you can book it in for a night service, and pick it up next day, they do this so that truck aren't missing a days earnings.

Kev.
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R
Sprinter Servicing Schedule - Update

Thanks for all who responded with advice and experience.
I have now discussed this with the local Merc Commercial dealer and they have confirmed that a major service at two yearly intervals is correct for the usage the vehicle gets. The only extra they carry out is to change the brake fluid every two years under this arrangement, I think that is good way to go. What I will also do is my own mini-service in the intervening year. This is basically checks only, brakes, exhaust, hoses etc.
This dealer is also on a 24 hour operation Tues-Fri so there is good scope to avoid traffic etc. if I wish.

Colin
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SpeedyDux said:
My car and my PVC get an annual service whether they need it or not.
SD
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TOOO much information. Does it not get a bit sweaty driving the car with the black shiny suit on? By the way, want to buy some handcuffs, sellthem real cheap to fellow campers, know what I mean? Nudge nudge, :wink: :wink:
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Pudsey_Bear
derekfaeberwick said:
[Does it not get a bit sweaty driving the car with the black shiny suit on? By the way, want to buy some handcuffs, sellthem real cheap to fellow campers, know what I mean? Nudge nudge, :wink: :wink:
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I thought I was warped.

Kev.
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