Off Road/Overland Camper - Sprinter 4x4

[Carloz]

On 3/3/2023 at 1:54 PM, task said:

 

The 4x4 system is made by a company called Oberaigner rather than Mercedes themselves. It's a bit of an odd setup and not really true "4x4"

There's a transfer case on the back of the gearbox with a selectable "4x4" and "low range" however the system is fully open diffs so it can be run in 4x4 on tarmac is you wanted. The front axle is an unusual setup too being an aluminium casing.

In place of locking diffs it uses the ABS/Traction to lock spinning wheels and the power is a 60/40 rear/front bias split.

I wonder why this is "not really true 4x4"?

It seems it has a torque split center differential which devide torque front 35% and rear 65% which is perfect on and off road. Torque split diff are typically used in permanent 4x4 systems. When in low gear that torque split diff seems to be lockable because some sources talk about changing to 50/50% torque distribution (which can differ to 0/100% or 100-0% when front or rear loose traction completely.

Open diff's front and rear has always been the standard on Land Rovers (and lots of other 4x4's), they completely left that job to the aftermarket guys.

 

And.... I really love the camper you created! Reaaly great! Wish you many great adventures with it to come!

 

[jason110]

My mate runs VW T5 upgrades in aberystywth. I think he sells some sprinter/crafter bits

He’s on Instagram or his mobile is 07507 606600

[task]

On 3/4/2023 at 5:11 PM, jason110 said:

My mate runs VW T5 upgrades in aberystywth. I think he sells some sprinter/crafter bits

He’s on Instagram or his mobile is 07507 606600

Matt, we were out laning with him on Sunday. Nice guy.

He does sell some Sprinter parts, the Almont 4wd skid plates seem good kit.

 

[task]

On 3/3/2023 at 4:18 PM, Nonimouse said:

Theres an option with just a super low first and an overdrive fifth - no low ratio.  A lot of utility 2wd sprinters were fitted with rear difflocks . 

Was this the early 903 shape Sprinter rather than the 906? A few of the guys we go camping with have 3xlockers and low range in their 903s. I was pretty tempted by the earlier van but the creature comforts offered by the newer vehicle won me over for covering long distance in short times.

[Nonimouse]

1 hour ago, task said:

Was this the early 903 shape Sprinter rather than the 906? A few of the guys we go camping with have 3xlockers and low range in their 903s. I was pretty tempted by the earlier van but the creature comforts offered by the newer vehicle won me over for covering long distance in short times.

Yes. The various gear boxes fit (with minor mods) the Gen one and two G Wagen. In fact the low first Hi fifth is the Bundesweir spec for the early NAD military G's

[Daan]

Great camper and pictures; keep it coming!

Daan

[Peaklander]

This is an excellent thread. Thank you for posting. Your Balkans route is v v similar to ours in 2015 in our 110 but we were camping on the ground in those days so a little more limited.

I can see us moving to a setup just like this in the no to distant future. I will file this thread under extremely useful information.

[Badger110]

A very well thought out and awesome build!

It's something we've considered but we'd need to sell the Landy to fund it and therein lies the problem.

I can't bring myself to sell it at the moment 

[muddy]

Brilliant build! please keep sharing. If it is the 651 engine (313/316) I would strongly suggest you carry a fuel filter housing, when the seal lets go it dumps all the coolant out the return from the head and you a pretty much undriveable. A 1/4" drive E10 Torx socket is also a must for those engines I have found.

[task]

12 hours ago, muddy said:

Brilliant build! please keep sharing. If it is the 651 engine (313/316) I would strongly suggest you carry a fuel filter housing, when the seal lets go it dumps all the coolant out the return from the head and you a pretty much undriveable. A 1/4" drive E10 Torx socket is also a must for those engines I have found.

It is indeed the 651 engine, changing this housing is part of my planned maintenance before heading out on this years trip along with injectors (I've had off and on issues since Macedonia where I think I ran some very low grade fuel), injector seals, water pump and a few other pipes. So I'll carry the old one as a backup if it's okay.

I've got quite a spares pile now to take but still need to buy some "spare" ABS sensors, if you lose a sensor you can't shift into 4x4 or low range which would be a real problem if you're half way up an interesting road.

[muddy]

Depending on your head the new housings have an extra bolt hole to clamp at 5 o clock ish.

You will see with the new sensors but the front ones in a 2wd have a rectangular bottom despite being round at the top, meaning if you try and wiggle them to free them they break up...... 

[task]

10 hours ago, muddy said:

Depending on your head the new housings have an extra bolt hole to clamp at 5 o clock ish.

You will see with the new sensors but the front ones in a 2wd have a rectangular bottom despite being round at the top, meaning if you try and wiggle them to free them they break up...... 

I think the 4x4 front sensors are the same looking at part numbers, we pulled one a few weekends back as it failed and managed to get it cleaned up and put back in. Worst case is that I have to limp it to a garage and get it fixed but it's better than trying to source one I think. Same reason I'll be carrying a front driveshaft as they're extortionate from Merc and a special order from Germany. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by task

[Nonimouse]

On 3/9/2023 at 9:23 AM, task said:

It is indeed the 651 engine, changing this housing is part of my planned maintenance before heading out on this years trip along with injectors (I've had off and on issues since Macedonia where I think I ran some very low grade fuel), injector seals, water pump and a few other pipes. So I'll carry the old one as a backup if it's okay.

I've got quite a spares pile now to take but still need to buy some "spare" ABS sensors, if you lose a sensor you can't shift into 4x4 or low range which would be a real problem if you're half way up an interesting road.

Sure it wasn't the high sulphur diesel?

[task]

21 hours ago, Nonimouse said:

Sure it wasn't the high sulphur diesel?

There's a strong chance it was, I've had issues ever since then though. Rough order of events:
 

• Odd idle issue where it would hunt, sound a bit "boomy" and smell of diesel fumes from the exhaust on idle even when warmed up
• A knocky/clattery diesel noise on mid-range RPM under load
• Rough running in the morning when first started, this got so bad one morning that it was difficult to drive, usually cleared up a bit when warm. This was sparodic as the following morning it would have zero issues.

I thought it might be a blocked DPF from a lot of very slow driving coupled with poor quality fuel, however, even after several days driving on fast roads through Austria/Germany/France running "ultra diesel" the issue persisted.

I took it to a local guy once home who ran an injector re-calibration and that fixed the clattery noise issues pretty much, however, I think the injectors are now on the end of their calibration parameters. At least that's my understanding.

Since doing that I had a couple of morning where's it's taken a few goes to start and it ran lumpy until it had been driven and I still get the unusual exhaust noise/smell when it's been driven for a few hours slowly around lanes etc.

 

Although the vehicle itself has only done 130k miles a lot of the systems SPEN had wired in required the engine to be running for them to use, inverter/hand wash basin and even the interior lights turned off after 30 mins of not running the engine, so I imagine the engine has been sat idling for quite some time. I know the DPF wasn't blocked prior to the trip as I had it checked, I didn't get a warning from the vehicle to clear the DPF at any point either.

So I think it's likely to be injector related, possibly excarbated by the high sulphur fuel as I know at least one fill-up that was the low quality, the guy had filled it before I realised what grade he picked.

Any suggestions of how to mitigate this going forwards? We're off to Turkey/Georgia/Armenia this year so imagine the same problems might come up.

[Nonimouse]

There was a well documented injector issue with tis lump, but it tended to happen early on.

Have you checked the timing chain and tensioner - that's a known problem with stretch/wear. Can happen at 100k onwards and is especially prone in vehicles that sit and tick over for long periods

That's about it for rough running - it's a really good engine, almost as good as a 617

[task]

23 minutes ago, Nonimouse said:

There was a well documented injector issue with tis lump, but it tended to happen early on.

Have you checked the timing chain and tensioner - that's a known problem with stretch/wear. Can happen at 100k onwards and is especially prone in vehicles that sit and tick over for long periods

That's about it for rough running - it's a really good engine, almost as good as a 617

I'm not getting the tell-tale rattle on startup that comes with the chain issues so I think that's okay.

It's an odd issue as it's sparodic, for instance it's running fine currently and has been for a few weeks.

I'm on the fence about replacing the injectors however I think it's worthwhile with the only downside being the cost. I'll have the injector seals done at the same time.

[Nonimouse]

Sporadic doesn't sound like injectors, unless it's electrical/electronic. Injectors decline 

Not stating the obvious, but is it showing any fault codes?

[task]

33 minutes ago, Nonimouse said:

Sporadic doesn't sound like injectors, unless it's electrical/electronic. Injectors decline 

Not stating the obvious, but is it showing any fault codes?

no fault codes now or when it was acting up.

My main reason for suspecting injectors was the massive improvement when they were recalibrated, I'm not sure what else it could be?

[Nonimouse]

There is a Mercedes engine Guru in my village, I will drink cideer with him this weekend and ask

[task]

18 minutes ago, Nonimouse said:

There is a Mercedes engine Guru in my village, I will drink cideer with him this weekend and ask

That would be awesome, thanks!

[muddy]

Merc reman injectors are on parts pro at £266 plus vat each at the moment.

 Mine often sit idling with the freezers running and get the 'fuely' smell, a quick blast often sorts it although I have had it really bad before when DPF regens have failed and there must be unburnt fuel in the DPF. Get a computer on it and do two or three forced regens would be my first port of call. 

Im sure you will have already looked for the back death... also check the engine wiring loom where it runs down the bulkhead/heater pipes for chaffing, the injector harness for broken wires (merc sell a repair kit for this) and the pressure difference pipes off the DPF where they go into the sensor by the bulkhead.

[Badger110]

I have purchased a VW crafter 2014 SWB as a project, does it share the same engine as yours? 

[muddy]

AFAIK the crafters use a VW engine with a timing belt, the earlier 2.5 was quite a good engine from what I have heard from people running them in fleets.

[task]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:09 AM, Badger110 said:

I have purchased a VW crafter 2014 SWB as a project, does it share the same engine as yours? 

@muddy is right, the Crafter uses the 2.0 VW TDI, it's a good engine, had one in my previous Transporter of the same vintage.

 

What are the plans for it?

[muddy]

I couldn't be 100% as I only have sprinters, I have never dabbled with crafters. I know the 2l in the new shape crafter and TGE is not all that brilliant from what I see but having said that % failure rate is probably still quite small. I know the earlier crafters used the 2.5 4 pot and many people told me they were abit of a boat anchor however we started hiring an extremely abused and remapped example with over 300k on the clock and it went like stink, was good on fuel and the owners said they were brilliant, that particular one had only ever had fan belts and possibly a water pump and a similar story for the other 30 ish they had with that engine.

I know I need to replace one of my sprinters and I really am torn with what to buy, if I can find one I think it will be a euro 6 316 but the prices are just eye watering and I really want auto and air con with narrow the search quite considerably.