alanedwin Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 My van is based on a sprinter 316 cdi. Great engine, never given any problems, only done 64000, well serviced etc. Driving up to the Air Balloon roundabout which most of you will know is a long steep ascent, I got stuck behind a lorry in the outside lane who would not pull over and lost momentum so pulled in and changed down to 4th but no power all of a sudden. I ended up in 2nd gear to get to the top. Now I take this route often and the van normally kills this hill, I don't have to get out of 5th. So for the rest of the trip if I drop below 2800 rpm it feels like the turbo drops out and I'm crawling up moderate inclines that it didn't even notice before. I have checked what pipes I can see and all seems fine. Has anyone had similar symptoms with this or any other engine? By the way there are no warning lights showing, no smoke, no noises or anything unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Hi Alan, It certainly sounds like you have lost boost pressure. Do you have a scanner or any means of reading 'Live' boost pressure? If not get someone to put it into reverse and load the engine by revving against the handbrake, slipping the clutch, and listen to all the turbo hoses for a leak. Note to use reverse in case the brakes let go! Failing that get it scanned for codes with a Sprinter specific code reader. Note again An 'ordinary' OBD code reader will be unable to read your 2003 Sprinter as it does not have an OBD socket. It has a 14 pin Benz CV-14 socket below the glovebox on the LH side of the dash. Keith. PS I have an Autel MD802 scanner which can successfully read Sprinter codes but am in Birmingham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 Thanks Keith i will do that tomorrow. Just got back from down south and symptoms persisted. Ok as long as the revs were kept up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Alan, Some very good reading on Sprinters here... http://www.mercedes.gen.in/mercedes-sprinter-turbo-limp-home-los-diagnosis-fault-finding/ Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I had a similar problem on my T4, although not as bad. Turned out to be air mass sensor and something else, which I can't remember. I do remember it was not as expensive as I was dreading because I thought it was the turbo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 A simple test for turbo boost pressure is, squeeze the turbo outlet hose with your hand, whilst someone revs the engine. You should feel the pressure building up as the turbo cuts in. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 Thanks for the replies. I have spent the morning sorting out my RAV4's brakes, I will get to the motorhome as soon as possible. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaman Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Greetings, hope that it's sorted by now. I had 2 problems with the loss of power with my sprinter. The first was just a clogged fuel filter, just a couple of pounds to fix. Second problem. My van has a sprintshift gearbox, in automatic mode the speed sender on the back wheel was giving incorrect speed info to the control unit , it wouldn't therefore change gear when it was supposed to, I stalled on a hill near Bath thinking I had an engine problem before I realised that I could continue in manual mode. Apart from that the van is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted December 22, 2016 Author Share Posted December 22, 2016 I am having it looked at in January when the MOT is due. It runs ok as long as I don't go up steep hills. Will post when sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjmike Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Alan have a look to see if the turbo inlet pipe has collapsed. It happened on my 2007 sprinter a few years ago and we have carried a spare ever since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 Thanks for that. I will check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 Just to close this thread the van had its usual service and the turbo looked at by my normal garage. They could find no fault with the turbo and suggested that the fuel and air filter replacement may cure the problem and it did. It's back to its best now so alls well that ends well. Thanks to everyone for their advice as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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