Engine life 3.0 V-6

[curt]

What can I expect to see for engine life of the newer 2008 3.0 V-6 ?
What kind of costs (Major Repairs) other that oil & filters could a person expect?

I am looking into a '08 used Sprinter but have concerns about reliability. I see alot of posts of peolpe with all kinds of problems. Hopefully alot of these items have been corrected in later models.
Any words of encouragement to buy a late model Sprinter?

Thanks !

[jdcaples]

What can I expect to see for engine life of the newer 2008 3.0 V-6 ?
What kind of costs (Major Repairs) other that oil & filters could a person expect?

I am looking into a '08 used Sprinter but have concerns about reliability. I see alot of posts of peolpe with all kinds of problems. Hopefully alot of these items have been corrected in later models.
Any words of encouragement to buy a late model Sprinter?

Thanks !

There are 3.0L v6 Sprinters running around North America with more than 150,000 miles on them, and showing no signs of stopping any time soon
Major repairs are impossible to predict.
You can price filters at europarts-sd and sprinterfilters.com.

No one posts about how wonderful their Sprinter is running today. They're driving it. They post when they have problems. That's why you see all kinds of people with all kinds of problems.

Probably two things that are most common for problems - but these are not universal problems, I've never had a problem - are EGR system fouling and transmission challenges....

Transmission challenges are usually corrected by proper fluid level adjustments (you need a dipstick tool, a way to measure the temperature of the fluid and a chart)....

The EGR system on the Sprinter, just like on the Cummins, Duramax and Powerstroke 2007+ diesels, is susceptible to excessive fouling by use of wrong oils, by stale or contaminated fuel.

Problems don't happen to everyone. It happens to a minority of people that happen to be the majority of forum posters.

-Jon

[curt]

Thank for your input. This is pretty much what I figured. Look after regular mantanance and use the proper oil & fuel and most vehicles will have a long service life.

Are drivers using a fuel additive on a regular basis? Or only in winter?

[jdcaples]

Thank for your input. This is pretty much what I figured. Look after regular mantanance and use the proper oil & fuel and most vehicles will have a long service life.

Are drivers using a fuel additive on a regular basis? Or only in winter?

Many drivers are using Power Service. It's not my favorite because of a study I read by Arlen Spicer. Spicer studied the impact of additives on lubricity. A 3% blend of biodiesel soy based - not waste vegetable oil, not straight vegetable oil, I'm talking about a refined fuel that requires no fuel heater or other engine modifications - - is better than any additive for lubricity.

As for cetane improvers, people use Power Service, Howes Diesel Fuel treatment (or whatever they call it) Amsoil cetane booster and I personally use Amalgamated, Inc's TDR-S (from a 5 gallon bucket I keep in an outdoor, covered area). RedLine Oil makes RL2 and other products which are very popular.

NAFTA Sprinters are engineered to consume fuel with a rating of 40 for cetane number. People in the petroleum industry tell me that by the time the fuel hits your gas station, it may be as low as 32. This makes it harder to burn under compression; it promotes soot and fouling of the emissions equipment.

2007+ Sprinters are designed for fuel that has no more than 15 parts per million of sulfur in it. It costs close to a grand to get a sample of fuel tested, but because of the way fuel is transported around the country in pipelines, and no one tests it at the pump. Everyone relies on the refinery to test their fuel and ship it.

The impact is that we get fuel that's contaminated with extra sulphur, with gasoline, water and particles.... it's contaminated in the pipeline, in the trucks, in the storage tanks at your local candy store that sells gasoline on the side.

The transportation contamination is probably a fraction of the contamination that happens at the gas station. Diesel is fond of water and it will collect moisture in the air or in its container from condensation. Your best option is to use a cetane improver and fuel from a commerical supplier like one of the CFN member stations (you can get a CFN card from any CFN member station). Very often CFN member stations provide fuel mostly to cement trucks, construction rigs, buses and big rigs. Such stations are refreshing their storage tanks more often than that potato chip and hot dog stand down the street where your neighbors by gas.

Every CFN site I've been to has mounted water separators / particulate filters on the sides of their pumps. It's not a CFN requirement, but CFN sites are run by people that care about their product's dispensing and their customer's equipmnet (vans, busses, trucks) which can cost in the lower 6 to mid 6 figures.

CFN's not a brand. It's an association of petroleum fuel suppliers, but in 5 years, I've never had water in my fuel from a CFN site. I've had water in fuel from places that sell soda pop probably 1 in 200 times, which is way too much for my taste.

Those are my practices and I've never had any 2007 Sprinter issues: 5% soy based biodiesel (1.25 gallons per tank full) - splash mixed and the balance is number 2 diesel from a commercial fuel supplier - and 8 ounces of TDR-S from Amalgamated, Inc.

-Jon

[curt]

Thanks for the fuel additive info this helps alot !

[curt]

Can you pretty much find ULSF at most stations like Piolit,Fling J, Shell, Exon and so on? What stations you would find on most interstate hwys.
Do most of the CFN stations have this ULSF also?
I am guesing that most stations still have the "Regular" disel I'll call it and the ULSF at tha same station in differant locations?
Thanks !

[jdcaples]

Can you pretty much find ULSF at most stations like Piolit,Fling J, Shell, Exon and so on? What stations you would find on most interstate hwys.
Do most of the CFN stations have this ULSF also?
I am guesing that most stations still have the "Regular" disel I'll call it and the ULSF at tha same station in differant locations?
Thanks !

I haven't seen "low sulfur diesel" on a pump in a long time.

LSD means, "500 parts per million" of sulfur.
ULSD means "15 parts per million" of sulfur content.

I pretty much stick to the west coast. The Flying J, Shell and Exxon stations I've seen all have USLD (15ppm) on a green sticker on their pumps.

CFN doesn't own or operate stations. They are simply a network of businesses that sell fuel. They provide cardlock services (no visa, discover, mastercard or amex) so businesses can track fuel consumption. Anyone can be a CFN card holder. You don't have to be a business, but your CFN card will only work at stations that have CFN card lock equipment standing between you and pumping fuel.

... and yes, all CFN sites I've seen have only sold ULSD.

-Jon

[curt]

Thanks again for all the great info !

[bustedengine]

I have a 2.5 year old sprinter (in the shop) it ran pretty well until last week . What a great warranty! 7 years WOW and 100K miles. I had my 100k service about a month ago and was not advised of extending the warranty. At 114,000 miles one of the exhaust cams broke and sent parts blasting all over inside the engine..... $15,000 to replace it ... I'm going to replace it and sell it as fast as possible. I was told that this is an uncommon occurence, just wondering how uncommon?

[jdcaples]

I'm sorry to read of your tail of woe. Clearly you have to the best thing for yourself, but I am equally certain that it's not common.

I know that's of zero consolation to you, but really, it's not something that people post about weekly or monthly or annually.

There are 2007 Sprinters with well over 115,000 miles on 'em and still going strong.

-Jon