note to self, stop buying Sprinters!

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BULBASOR

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simpsons-homer.jpg

A revolution eh? I always knew you could never trust those Frenchies. (But they invented such tasty french fries).

Naming vehicles and ships, etc . . is not only superstition from old sailors (like my long departed dad). When someone has worked so extensivly into the deepest workings of a thing as you have the more intimate you become with the workings of it. As an operator you will be the most sensitive to minor changes in noise or vibration as the vehicle "talks" to you. You will know it's language better than anyone else.

Factory produced assembly line cookie cutter products usually don't get this right but Mercedes still claims there is enchantment at the factory, (thus the Zauberschloss picture on the VW and Diamler emblem). But your car deems a special right because it's unique.

An old sailor would not even put to sea in a ship with no name or no coin under the mast. You have already put the coin under the mast (big time), now your obligated for a name.
 
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312 diesel (closed)

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Mmmm, still not wholly convinced it needs a name, where does Bulbasor come from?

However I did a bit more today. I still wasn't happy with the brakes so I put on a new master cylinder. The brakes have now been pressure bled, vacuum bled and bled with the pedal; and guess what? They're still rubbish. I think the new master cylinder is faulty, it sinks after you pump it up, a sure sign of dodgy seals. Maybe "you bastard" will be sign written on both front wings after all!:rant:

However the Parrot is in and working, and the software is updated to it properly synchs with the phone book in my phone. Mechanically everything works, all traces of the sluggishness it had when I first bought it are gone following a good service. The EGR gasket was leaking, the boost sensor wire was damaged, but that is now all good. All the lights work, it runs at the right temperature.

The gearbox is still not great, synchromesh on third and fourth is mediocre, but I'll sort that at some point in the future. It'll runn happily the way it is, I just need to double declutch.

Some brakes would be good though!
 
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312 diesel (closed)

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I hope that truck is not trying to get your attention.
So do I, it drove well yesterday though. The brakes won't be a huge issue. I'm just fed up with playing with it now. There isn't that much left to do before it will be to my liking. I've decided not to do anything today, I'm just going to sit in the garden and have a barbeque. By sister and her family will be over later. It'll make a change from getting covered in brake fluid!
 

BULBASOR

Active member
"And the Lord looked at all He had done and decided it was good - -and on the seventh day He rested."

I hope "Adam" behaves and gets his brakes working next week.
 

baldeagle

Member
Hi mate, this is great. Unfortunately I didn't watch this from the beginning as I am just starting on mine now so will have to catch up sometime. Did you put anything like waxoyl in the panels before insulating? I am using Celotex (building stuff with silver sides) and was going to Waxoil first but someone told me it wouldn't dry and would keep seeping. Any help appreciated as I'm new to this very interesting game :idunno:
 
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312 diesel (closed)

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I didn't waxoyl the panels before applying the insulation, it'll never stick. However I will put anti rust wax in the door bottoms and sill and other box sections vulnerable to rust. It only seeps for a while, especially if you use too much. I'll probably is Dinitrol.


Hi mate, this is great. Unfortunately I didn't watch this from the beginning as I am just starting on mine now so will have to catch up sometime. Did you put anything like waxoyl in the panels before insulating? I am using Celotex (building stuff with silver sides) and was going to Waxoil first but someone told me it wouldn't dry and would keep seeping. Any help appreciated as I'm new to this very interesting game :idunno:
 

rvdriverca

New member
With the present uncertainties in the automotive world, like the bankruptcy of Chrysler and General motors, with Fiat now buying Chrysler. I would not buy a Sprinter at this time or any time again. And for for all the grief this van gave me with mechanical problems, and now, I live in a aria where road salt is not used, rust now showing up after only 2 years . The depreciation, cost of maintenance and the cost of the very expensive parts. The expense of the tow trucks to a dealer, that is now going out of business. Boy did I get screwed when I bought this thing.
 

BULBASOR

Active member
The T1N predates ALL of that stuff you mentioned. Do you have a T1N? I thought those were al the same?
 

BULBASOR

Active member
By the way, We just bought a brand new Dodge Caliber 2009 last month.

It's GREAT to feel a front wheel drive car again! Variable ratio tranny is really neat!

This will be our 8th Dodge???
1964 Dodge Dart Slant Six (sold running great at 250K miles inherited from granma)
1969 Dodge Cornet 440 (High School Car sold at 321K running very fast!)
1979 Dodge Ram Van 318 (sold running great at 195K miles)
1981 Chrysler LeBaron Convertable K Car (sold at 188K with a bad computer)
1990 Dodge Dakota 4 banger (sold at 425K miles! with 1 engine rebuild at 195K)
2001 Dodge Ram Quad Cab (return lease at 55K not as great as the previous trucks)
2004 Dodge Sprinter (so far excellent)
2009 Dodge Caliber (brand new)

Now, I fully admit that these cars did not go as far as our Volvos:
1986 240 (Still have 449K miles brakes wobbly clutch is hard but she still gets me to the airport)
1987 740 (DONATED at 366K miles running like new)

Or age as well as out BMW 740iL but the Dodge cars cost us VERY LITTLE MONEY.

I could buy two or three Dodge cars for what i paid for the BMW or 2 Doge cars for what i paid for the Volvos so I am getting my money's worth from the dodge products.
 

rvdriverca

New member
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The T1N predates ALL of that stuff you mentioned. Do you have a T1N? I thought those were al the same?
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BULBASOR. Sorry yes it is a 2006 153" pleasure way camper. Don't tell me that all the thing's wrong with a T1N have now been solved. The 2007 and 08 also have problems, so at what year are all the issues solved with Sprinters. 2020????. My 2006 was not the first model Sprinter made. For years now all American made cars and vans have galvanized steel, not so with a Sprinter van, top of the line??:yell::censored::censored:
 

BULBASOR

Active member
That was another thing that I was really confused about: "top of the line" . . .

I guess I did not know that back in 04 when I bought BULBASOR.

I had my heart set on a big ford econoline van that I was going to do the 4 wheel drive thing on. The Ford Dieseltruck van 4 wheel drive was 55 grand!

The Ford Econoline diesel 2 wheel drive was 42 grand

The Ford Econoline GAS engine 2 wheel drive was 28 grand

BULBASOR brand new was 29 grand off the dealer lot at 32 grand! The Sprinter was the CHEAPER way to get a diesel. No one at Sportsmobile EVER said the Sprinter was "better" or "top of the line". I always thought I was going the usual 'Dodge Truck Cheapo' way that I have always done in the past!

I have read of many high priced Sprinters on these threads but in Germany it's just a bigger Volkwagon and is priced accordingly. I think that was the case when it first came to America too.

It's funny because Sportsmobile told me that if I waited a couple years I could get the Sprinter with a bigger GAS engine too! (That just goes to show where our heads were at in 2004!) Gas was cheap, and so were Sprinters.

Now they seem to be a bit pricy
 

BULBASOR

Active member
Oh P.S.

I asked about the T1N not because they have worked out the bugs, but because that's the original Sprinter that has been around for so long. I think the original deal was just the same as the 5 banger in the 1980's era 300d Mercedes which was a rock solid workhorse.

That basic power plant is the one you see smoking up the freeways in old 1984 300D sedans because they never die.

It's all the electronic stuff they put on the subsequent models that seems to be getting balled up.
 
3

312 diesel (closed)

Guest
I don't entirely understand your logic. At the end of the day the Sprinter is manufactured by Mercedes. I see no real reason at the moment why parts won't be available. Mine is now 12 years old and has led a fairly hard life. It's lived in an urban environment and been badly maintained. I bought, knowingly, right at the bottom of the market.

I've gone to Mercedes and bought lots of bits for it, many of them obscure and non essential to the vehicle functioning. Without exception everything I've asked for has been available, all of it there and then or the next day. The only time I've waited is when I've ordered stuff as a stock order to get a bigger discount.

As to the Sprinter being a premium price product, frankly, you're kidding yourself. You may choose to believe marketing hype but that doesn't make it fact. The Sprinter is competing head on with offerings from Iveco, Ford, Renault etc etc etc. It does it very well, it's a very competent vehicle. But it is when all is said and done a commercial. It gets bought, given to a tradesman, delivery driver or the guy in the warehouse of some small business. It gets used, abused and ragged down the road. Most of them get beaten to death long before they die of old age.

If someone paints a few stripes on it and puts in a captain's chair the simple truth is that underneath the window dressing it's still a white van. If you seriously want it to last 20 years being poddled about on high days and holidays and spend most of it's time sitting around doing precicely nothing then the owner will have to also invest in some rust proofing. The simple fact is that the market that these things are aimed at simply don't want to pay for those niceties. And Mercedes understand that all too well.


With the present uncertainties in the automotive world, like the bankruptcy of Chrysler and General motors, with Fiat now buying Chrysler. I would not buy a Sprinter at this time or any time again. And for for all the grief this van gave me with mechanical problems, and now, I live in a aria where road salt is not used, rust now showing up after only 2 years . The depreciation, cost of maintenance and the cost of the very expensive parts. The expense of the tow trucks to a dealer, that is now going out of business. Boy did I get screwed when I bought this thing.
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
1964 Dodge Dart Slant Six (sold running great at 250K miles inherited from granma)
1969 Dodge Cornet 440 (High School Car sold at 321K running very fast!)
1979 Dodge Ram Van 318 (sold running great at 195K miles)
1981 Chrysler LeBaron Convertable K Car (sold at 188K with a bad computer)
1990 Dodge Dakota 4 banger (sold at 425K miles! with 1 engine rebuild at 195K)
2001 Dodge Ram Quad Cab (return lease at 55K not as great as the previous trucks)
2004 Dodge Sprinter (so far excellent)
2009 Dodge Caliber (brand new)

Now, I fully admit that these cars did not go as far as our Volvos:
1986 240 (Still have 449K miles brakes wobbly clutch is hard but she still gets me to the airport)
1987 740 (DONATED at 366K miles running like new)
Are those all your miles? I'm going to have to start driving more just to catch up! :wtf:

Did you get a good deal on the Caliber? :smirk:
 
3

312 diesel (closed)

Guest
Great work on the Sprinter, 312! :thumbup: Those brake rotors are the worst! :wtf:
It actually went out on a public road today! Even better it returned under it's own power and didn't dribble any vital liquids anywhere.

I still have some stuff to do, finish the bunk, finish the interior panelling in the back. It only did about 100 miles today, tomorrow it'll be about 300, Sunday I may go 600 or so to go and get a 1928 Austin, when will I ever learn?

After that it is all the way to Sweden.
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
It actually went out on a public road today! Even better it returned under it's own power and didn't dribble any vital liquids anywhere.

I still have some stuff to do, finish the bunk, finish the interior panelling in the back. It only did about 100 miles today, tomorrow it'll be about 300, Sunday I may go 600 or so to go and get a 1928 Austin, when will I ever learn?

After that it is all the way to Sweden.
OMG Austin power's the first Noddy:eek: I have to see this!The dam things are still on the road down under. Heck you can park them in the sprinters glove box ! well almost>:lol:
Richard
 

BULBASOR

Active member
My friend likes the bug eyed Sprite.

No, SEEK, not all my miles - Only cars I bought new are the LaBaron, Dakota, Caliber, and BULBASOR.

Everything else was used or in the family for years prior to getting to me (like the Dart).

All Dodge cars - Dodge is for poor people so that's why I bought Dodge!? What else? A Caddillac?

People who can't afford a Chevy or a Ford buy a Dodge. (That's old school):idunno:312 is right - I never got the impression that the Dodge cars were top of the line anything - even die hard Mopar guys will tell you that. They are stripped down - only the essentials.

I mean they are decent strong cars but NEVER as nice as a Lincoln or a Buick or Oldsmobile, (wasn't the Chrysler the poor mans Caddillac?)

Oh well, for everyday abuse the Dodge cars have been cheap for us, and we keep a pampered BMW in the garage for going out on the town or weddings and formal stuff, but that's about it.
 

rvdriverca

New member
I guess I'm wrong by what you say, I drove a Chev express as a expediting van for 3 years or 355k miles. The ONLY things I replace where tires, brakes, spark plugs, light bulbs and one alternator. oil changes fuel cost $37, transmission service $85, done at a dealer. cost of the van new
$33k in 2004 in Canada.
2006 Sprinter van, 60k miles hydraulic steering unit, IAS 5, engine head, drive shaft bearing, front brakes, total cost in parts and labour around $22k (halve the price of a new Chev. express. oil filter fuel filter $450, transmission service $756 done at a dealer .price of a new Sprinter in 2006 in Canada $52000, +$2000 shipping charges. so where should I be happy. I'M physically impaired to do any work my self. and now with the only dealer in 50 mile area closing I'm also done what you do with a screw driver.:censored: If I had a Chev express I in stead of a Sprinter would not need a dealer. So tell me again I'm better of with a Sprinter?????????
 
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