First trip: bumps and bruises

backdoctor · 01-28-2015, 07:06 PM

We picked our new 24R up at the local dealer in Ottawa RV Canada a week ago. Had it rustproofed as we were headed south almost immediately. And good thing too, as the snow started in Pennsylvania. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first sign of trouble was the DEF inidicator and Check Engine light that went on about 50 miles into our honemoon journey. So I immediately stopped at a nearby Walmart and purchased 1 containers of DEF fluid. The unit only took about 1.5 litres and had no effect on the lights. We drove on... I stopped an hour later to add more DEF but again only a very small amount. No effect. We stopped in Hanover PA for the evening {Walmart} and in the morning we drove on to Hagerstown MD Mercedes to investigate. The DEF light went out after we parked in their lot {it's like it knew}, but being Saturday they had no Sprinter Tech on duty. They suggested a local Freightliner Dealer, but they also had no tech on for the weekend... So we arrived in Clearwater Beach with the Check Engine light still on. But no dreaded "countdown" warning and the DEF light never came back on.

I visited Crown EuroCars of Tampa on Monday. THEY ARE FANTASIC! They took me in within 1/2 hour and put their lead tech on it. He had some bad news. The DEF and CEL {Check Engine light} codes were consistent with a major problem some of the Sprinters had developed in the North American Market {never seen in Germany}. There is apparently an engineering group busy on solving this issue with the Sprinters here. There is a defect with the NOx sensors and the SRC and the software here in N.A. He said they have a "whole process" that can take up to a month to get the various issues resolved. He was reticent to start that with us here for only two weeks. So he replaced the upstream and downstream NOx sniffers and made sure our software was up to date. He couldn't have updated our software if it had been out of date as we have a Canadian chassis and they can't make changes to these as the emmision standards are apparently different. The codes are cleared and haven't come back on...we'll see. But then Crown washed the RV and left it looking terrific. These gents are great! They asked me to check back in before I headed north so I don't get stuck.

So at this point our new motorhome has had the trim fall off the rear tip out, the GPS arial isn't connected so the signal won't hold while travelling, and the subwoofer isn't working. But it drives beautifully and while crosswinds do blow you around, it's easy to do lots of miles in this baby! Normally I get to Florida in 24 hours from Ottawa {1850 miles} but it was nice to take our time and enjoy the fruits of Walmart...

Eric

MMattox · 01-28-2015, 07:16 PM

I think that is why a lot of people do the "shake down" close to home to make sure all the major bugs out, there will always be little things that will need to be fixed on new rigs. Some times there is not enough time to do it but it would be best....

Ecopco · 01-28-2015, 07:23 PM

We have about 9K miles on our 2015 Solera and have added DEF 2 times. The first time was at about 4K miles and I added it before the light came on. The second time we added DEF was at about 8200 miles and the light came on. This time we added almost 2 gallons of DEF and the light didn't go off until about 300 miles of driving over a period of several days and about 10 starts. I think this is normal from what I have read here. The Check Engine light I have no experience with so far.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

backdoctor · 01-28-2015, 09:33 PM

Hi MMatox. You're absolutely right and I would have if I wasn't headed away shortly after purchase. This is a great the of year to buy as the dealer is going to be sitting with inventory for months. But I couldn't check the function of the water systems on delivery or be around for mechanical issues.

Ecopo. I had read lots on this issue and for this reason I didn't panic when the light didn't go out right away. Several others had indicated they'd even got the dreaded countdown of starts that had then resolved spontaneously. I was hoping the CEL (check engine light) would do the same thing. But apparently there is a more serious issue in the background with the urea injection system.

Still Kickin · 01-28-2015, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backdoctor

We picked our new 24R up at the local dealer in Ottawa RV Canada a week ago. Had it rustproofed as we were headed south almost immediately. And good thing too, as the snow started in Pennsylvania. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first sign of trouble was the DEF inidicator and Check Engine light that went on about 50 miles into our honemoon journey. So I immediately stopped at a nearby Walmart and purchased 1 containers of DEF fluid. The unit only took about 1.5 litres and had no effect on the lights. We drove on... I stopped an hour later to add more DEF but again only a very small amount. No effect. We stopped in Hanover PA for the evening {Walmart} and in the morning we drove on to Hagerstown MD Mercedes to investigate. The DEF light went out after we parked in their lot {it's like it knew}, but being Saturday they had no Sprinter Tech on duty. They suggested a local Freightliner Dealer, but they also had no tech on for the weekend... So we arrived in Clearwater Beach with the Check Engine light still on. But no dreaded "countdown" warning and the DEF light never came back on.

I visited Crown EuroCars of Tampa on Monday. THEY ARE FANTASIC! They took me in within 1/2 hour and put their lead tech on it. He had some bad news. The DEF and CEL {Check Engine light} codes were consistent with a major problem some of the Sprinters had developed in the North American Market {never seen in Germany}. There is apparently an engineering group busy on solving this issue with the Sprinters here. There is a defect with the NOx sensors and the SRC and the software here in N.A. He said they have a "whole process" that can take up to a month to get the various issues resolved. He was reticent to start that with us here for only two weeks. So he replaced the upstream and downstream NOx sniffers and made sure our software was up to date. He couldn't have updated our software if it had been out of date as we have a Canadian chassis and they can't make changes to these as the emmision standards are apparently different. The codes are cleared and haven't come back on...we'll see. But then Crown washed the RV and left it looking terrific. These gents are great! They asked me to check back in before I headed north so I don't get stuck.

So at this point our new motorhome has had the trim fall off the rear tip out, the GPS arial isn't connected so the signal won't hold while travelling, and the subwoofer isn't working. But it drives beautifully and while crosswinds do blow you around, it's easy to do lots of miles in this baby! Normally I get to Florida in 24 hours from Ottawa {1850 miles} but it was nice to take our time and enjoy the fruits of Walmart...

Eric

Eric, thanks for your input on the DEF/CEL issue. Does/will a local Sprinter dealer back home plan on doing any further fix, or is it only if the DEF/CEL issure triggers again.

Still Kickin · 01-28-2015, 10:12 PM

Backdoctor, from what I have learned on this topic, and assuming it is similiar to a friend of mine unit, there is a software glitch between the main engine computer and the emissions computer. His was resolved only after the computer was replaced, along with Nox sensors. Whats interesting is that was an '11 chassis. So, my guess is that the problem is still popping up, and the MB engineers havn't quite isolated the problem. Thats assuming the issues were the same.

Still Kickin · 01-29-2015, 08:59 AM

Found this portal into MB information database. Unfortunately it requires a subscription. But,it's something to mention to the dealer (i.e. does EPC have anything on this?) if owners run into a problem. MB's system is called EPC. https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/login.jsp

**bclemens** · 01-29-2015, 05:54 PM

and the subwoofer isn't working.

Define "not working". Have you tried turning up the bass? Sub gain on the head unit? I've had some in the field that were "humming" terribly. The gain on the head unit was turned way up (kids) and the sub level on the sub was turned way up.

Have you tried it with the radio? or just streaming music?

backdoctor · 01-29-2015, 08:23 PM

The subwoofer doesn't seem to have power. I have the bass up, and the subwoofer cutoff is set at 160 Hz. When I crawl under the sofa there is no illumination on any of the lights on the right side of the box. In addition Brian, we got mouse visitation last evening. Chewing up under the shower behind the vanity cabinet. When I investigated the closure of the openings to the water tank and winterizing controls, there is expanding foam on the front half of the openings, but they are open at the rear half. You can't see it from looking but if you take a picture from behind the opening, or reach in with your hand, you can feel the opening isn't closed up. So I bought stainless steel wool and jammed it in. I've bought some "great stuff for pests" expanding foam and plan to close up any spaces I can find... And mouse traps.

As I said, bumps and bruises. Nothing earth shaking.

**bclemens** · 01-29-2015, 08:28 PM

Ah, gottcha. If i recall there may be an inline fuse on that. I'm in Calgary this weekend, so I won't be able to confirm until I get back on tuesday or wednesday.

Ealbay · 01-30-2015, 09:30 AM

Are you going to be at the Calgary RV Expo?

**bclemens** · 01-30-2015, 10:23 AM

I'll be there Saturday & Sunday. In Lethbridge today.

backdoctor · 02-10-2015, 08:02 PM

More on the DEF and CEL (check engine light). We got to Tampa before we found a Sprinter tech. The dealer we saw ( Crown Euro cars) indicated that the DEF issue was likely related to freezing of the DEF fluid in the cold Ontario winter temps, but the CEL was a more serious problem. He indicated there was an entire task force at Mercedes-Benz Germany dealing with the issue. He indicated some of the sprinters they had dealt with had been stuck in service bays for weeks to get the problem resolved. It seems to be related to the NOx sensors before and after the particulate filter and trouble with the software for the DEf injection system (SCR, selective catalytic reduction). They replaced the two sensors, cleared our codes and we haven't had a had a problem since. Crown even washed the motorhome and asked us to check back the following week before heading home to make sure there were no problems on our return trip. I can't say enough about how well they treated us. Adam, their tech, was very personable, courteous and helpful.

Just thought others may want to hear about this issue and see if its a problem in our community...

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