Isata 3 Freedom Edition - Upgrades and Modification Thread

[xrpb11a]

Two thoughts
Having the pipe short of the wall extends the aesthetic beauty of the coach. Given all the work and money put into the paint job The drain designer probably didn't want to take away from it.

Having the drain float on hangers provides some protection when driving over v shape driveways. A hard-mounted drain would probably break if it hits cement whereas one floating on hangers could give a little before busting up.

 

[Judge64]

My sewer hose storage container is already flush with the wall. I don't think it detracts from the aesthetics of the coach. Plus that is the area where all of the utility connections already mounted on the side of the coach.

At the end of the day easy of use comes into play. While I'm only 60 I find it to be a hassle hooking up the sewer drain where it is located now.


While some movement of the pipe could be beneficial, if you look at how it mounts into the black and gray tanks, I could see it eventually cracking something given how much it can move around.

I actually find that the back-end of my I3 sits pretty high and higher than the front. Almost reminds me of my '72 Chevelle w/ air shocks As I looked at the clearance and considered extending the pipe myself, I felt like it wasn't hanging low enough to hit a speed bump or other obstruction and it would be higher than the leveling feet.

 

[burtbick]

My sewer hose storage container is already flush with the wall. I don't think it detracts from the aesthetics of the coach. Plus that is the area where all of the utility connections already mounted on the side of the coach.

At the end of the day easy of use comes into play. While I'm only 60 I find it to be a hassle hooking up the sewer drain where it is located now.


While some movement of the pipe could be beneficial, if you look at how it mounts into the black and gray tanks, I could see it eventually cracking something given how much it can move around.

I actually find that the back-end of my I3 sits pretty high and higher than the front. Almost reminds me of my '72 Chevelle w/ air shocks As I looked at the clearance and considered extending the pipe myself, I felt like it wasn't hanging low enough to hit a speed bump or other obstruction and it would be higher than the leveling feet.

I agree, when I've been underneath sealing things up and anchoring cables that should have been locked in place at the factory I've looked at clearances. I've seen a few discussions about Snap pads getting knocked off the jacks when going in and out of steep driveways. But while that may be possible it seemed to me that you were likely to do more serious damage in those cases.


My concern with the sewer pipe swinging in the breeze, so to speak, is the same as yours. That is it is firmly attached to the Black and Grey tank drains at the other end and over time it may crack, or break a joint. And it is high enough that if you hit something that might damage the sewer pipe you are already in deep tapioca.



With the change I made to the Lippert hose system it's not a big deal now to connect the hose. Flip 2 latches, remove the plug from the pipe, insert the hose, flip the 2 latches to lock in place and you are good to go. No twisting, or potentially leaking seals to deal with. So in my case I don't see a need to extend the pipe. If I hadn't made that change I would likely have extended it to make it easier to access.

 

[xrpb11a]

Well they're all good points.
I'm a "youthful" 69 years young, but it is still a pain to have to kneel down on cement/gravel/stone/water to see the end of the pipe and align the hook(s). I always try to install the cap while stooping down first, twisting blindly, sometimes successfully.
I am trying to understand why the coach designer would leave the pipe short and hanging.
My sewer end cap broke last week. The single hook on the cap snapped off. I replaced it with a standard 4 hook clear cap from Amazon for 6 bucks.
I had trailers and fifth wheels in the past and they all had 4 hook end caps. I thought it was strange that the isata came with a 1 hook cap. I did not know such an animal existed. It has fallen off the pipe several times while driving in the past.
A 4 hook cap does take more twisting force to lock in place. Now I'm wondering if the 1 hook cap was chosen due to the way the drain pipe is mounted on hangers, with the possibility of cracking the connections to the tanks.
From a cost standpoint the 1 hook cap on Amazon was 6 bucks also so no cost savings there.

 

[burtbick]

Well they're all good points.
I'm a "youthful" 69 years young, but it is still a pain to have to kneel down on cement/gravel/stone/water to see the end of the pipe and align the hook(s). I always try to install the cap while stooping down first, twisting blindly, sometimes successfully.
I am trying to understand why the coach designer would leave the pipe short and hanging.
My sewer end cap broke last week. The single hook on the cap snapped off. I replaced it with a standard 4 hook clear cap from Amazon for 6 bucks.
I had trailers and fifth wheels in the past and they all had 4 hook end caps. I thought it was strange that the isata came with a 1 hook cap. I did not know such an animal existed. It has fallen off the pipe several times while driving in the past.
A 4 hook cap does take more twisting force to lock in place. Now I'm wondering if the 1 hook cap was chosen due to the way the drain pipe is mounted on hangers, with the possibility of cracking the connections to the tanks.
From a cost standpoint the 1 hook cap on Amazon was 6 bucks also so no cost savings there.

That reminded me that the end cap on ours had one of the hooks brake a while ago and I replaced it as well. That was before I changed to the new Lippert system that we use now.

 

[dcheyne]

I notice that you have a cable connected to the “GPS” port on the router. Is that part of the winegard cabling from the 360Air+ ?

I had the Winegard ConnecT 2.0 in my Super C and it worked reasonably well as a 4G Hotspot and Router. I had hopes that the Winegard 360 Air+ 5G and 4G Gateway would perform as well and then I would consider their 5G Swap Program. I had thought Winegard was a little over the top wanting $1000 for their 5G Gateway when there were far superior products available at that price point. The $350 Trade-In Program made it somewhat worth considering at least.

Even though I have Starlink, I won't activate it if we have decent cell coverage certain months so I wanted a solid 5G solution.

After a couple months I decided the 4G Gateway was terrible; especially compared to my older ConnecT 2.0 system. It booted so slow it must have an old 386 processor in it. It would not automatically reconnect to saved WiFi networks; even after updating the firmware. It would also drop connections and reboot sometimes. That was enough to eliminate any consideration of sticking with Winegard and spending money for their a 5G HotSpot and 5GHz WiFi.

I ended up purchasing the Basecamp 2.0 Enclosure that would allow me to utilize the Air 360+ 5G Antennas on the roof. I found a Peplink MAX BR1 Pro 5G Mobile Router on eBay for only $650 instead of the $1000 normal price and rolled the dice. It truly was a plug-n-play solution.

So far I like the setup. The Peplink software and hardware is far superior to WineGard and the Basecamp 2.0 Enclosure makes it a pretty clean.

I did manage to sell the 4G Gateway for $85.

Here are a few pics....

 

[Judge64]

I notice that you have a cable connected to the “GPS” port on the router. Is that part of the winegard cabling from the 360Air+ ?

The Winegard Antenna does not include a GPS wire. The Peplink came with the GPS antenna. I just put inside the opening in the ceiling.

How well it is receiving the signal is debatable. The PepLink is reporting a fairly accurate location but that could also be from the cellular signal.

It wasn't worth drilling a hole in the roof to install the antenna on the roof and run the cable down to the Peplink for my purposes.

 

[Judge64]

Agile Offroad Sprinter Horn Upgrade and Hood Strut Upgrade.

Over the weekend, I upgraded the RoadRunn Cartoon Horn with the Agile Offroad Sprinter Horn Upgrade and I also installed the Hood Strut Kit to eliminate the hood support rod.

Both the horn kit and the hood strut kit were plug and play for the most part. I think I installed both in about an hour. They weren't cheap but they were quality parts and done right.

Now the horn is pretty lound and can be heard like a normal vehicle. It will also help with a feature on my next upgrade!

And when you raise the hood it stays in the place and closes easily.

 

[Judge64]

MidCity Engineering Remote / Auto Start, Alarm & High Kit

I completed what will probably my last major / expensive upgrade for the coach today.

I installed the MidCity Engineering SmartKey Starter Remote / Auto Start, Alarm & High Idle for 2019-2024 Sprinter and Compustar Drone 4G Smart Phone Control X1 LTE.

I installed this kit for four reasons.....


- The ability to start the coach with the key fob when I need to move the slide without having to get behind the wheel to do it.


- The ability to fast idle the engine if I need to charge the house batteries.... or even if I am stuck in a traffic jam and traffic isn't moving. While the Xantrex eGen does not need a fast idle for charging, it is bad to idle a diesel below 1000RPM for any length of time. It will cause the DPF to clog with soot from the low operating temps of idle. It will also cause wet-stacking, which will cause premature cylinder wear and also dilute the oil requiring oil changes in 3000 - 5000 miles from unburned diesel washing down then cylinder walls at idle.


- This system also enables the factory alarm and with the Agile Offroad Horn Upgrade I installed, now the alarm is loud enough to scare someone away.


- The Compustar Drone will allow me to connect to the vehicle via LTE Cellular and will alert me if the alarm goes off. It will also allow me to remote start the vehicle from the phone. There is a subscription fee for the app but it is fairly nominal.



This kit was very expensive but it is a quality system and works as advertised. The installation is fairly straight forward and took me about an hour or so. The most difficult things were removing some a couple trim panels and cutting some zip ties to move some of the wiring around to access everything.


You do need to use on of the factory Sprinter key fobs with this system, which was not a big deal since I received four with my coach. The key fob installs in a special box to keep the unlock button depressed and the battery is replaced with a customer power source from the system.


The system works as advertised!!! I can start the coach from the key fob and the the high idle works great. The alarm also works well. There is another module you can install that will detect glass breaking or towing to enhance the factory alarm. I may opt to install it since it is less than $40.

All of the settings can be adjusted from the keys on the steering wheel and the instrument cluster. For example, the High Idle default is 1500RPM but you can change it to 1250, 1750 or 2000 RPM's on the dash. You can also initiate the high idle when you start the engine normally by using the high beam controls.... just like the factory high idle option that Mercedes used to offer before the EPA cracked down on them.

You can also set how long you want the engine to run when you use the remote start. And even the temperature the heated seats will come on when you remote start it in colder climates.

It also has a hood pin to prevent remote starting when the hood is open as a safety feature.

This kit also has the ability so that it can be wired into a battery monitoring system such that it will also start the engine automatically when the house batteries need recharged. That is a very cool feature but at this time I don't think I will need to use it. I have shore power where the coach is stored so I don't have to worry about the house batteries getting discharged when I am away from it.


Anyway.... this is a very cool system and I highly recommend it if you want or need these features.


MidCity Engineering claims it will not cause warranty issues and they work with several Mercedes dealers. But I will caution that Mercedes I have been reading about Mercedes cracking down on third party systems being plugged into their systems. Brian has also posted about this before as well.

The kit does include a couple of bypass connectors if Mercedes has to do any firmware updates. Depending on how you route the cables and modules, you can unplug the modules easily, remove them from the vehicle and install the bypass plugs before taking it in for service. Their wiring harness will still be installed but you would really have to look at everything very closely to notice it since they are using Mercedes connectors and color coding.

 

[bclemens]

Over the weekend, I upgraded the RoadRunn Cartoon Horn .

This is the worst upgrade by far.

I greatly enjoy honking the MB horn, while simultaneously raising my hand in the air and pretending to pull an M2 air horn. Gets em every time!

 

[dcheyne]

Any concern with MB warranty?

I completed what will probably my last major / expensive upgrade for the coach today.

I installed the MidCity Engineering SmartKey Starter Remote / Auto Start, Alarm & High Idle for 2019-2024 Sprinter and Compustar Drone 4G Smart Phone Control X1 LTE.

I installed this kit for four reasons.....


- The ability to start the coach with the key fob when I need to move the slide without having to get behind the wheel to do it.


- The ability fast idle the engine if I need to charge the house batteries. While the Xantrex eGen does not need a fast idle for charging, it is bad to idle a diesel below 1000RPM for any length of time. It will cause the DPF to clog with soot from the low operating temps of idle and it will also cause wet-stacking, which will cause premature cylinder wear and also dilute the oil requiring oil changes in 3000 - 5000 miles from unburned diesel washing down then cylinder walls at idle.


- This system also enables the factory alarm and with the Agile Offroad Horn Upgrade I installed, now the alarm is loud enough to scare someone away.


- The Compustar Drone will allow me to connect to the vehicle via LTE Cellular and will alert me if the alarm goes off. It will also allow me to remote start the vehicle from the phone. There is a subscription fee for the app but it is fairly nominal.



This kit was very expensive but it is a quality system and works as advertised. The installation is fairly straight forward and took me about an hour or so. The most difficult things were removing some a couple trim panels and cutting some zip ties to move some of the wiring around to access everything.


You do need to use on of the factory Sprinter key fobs with this system, which was not a big deal since I received four with my coach. The key fob installs in a special box to keep the unlock button depressed and the battery is replaced with a customer power source from the system.


The system works as advertised!!! I can start the coach from the key fob and the the high idle works great. The alarm also works well. There is another module you can install that will detect glass breaking or towing. I may opt to install it since it is less than $40.

All of the settings can be adjusted from the keys on the steering wheel and the instrument cluster. For example, the High Idle default is 1500RPM but you can change it to 1250, 1750 or 2000 RPM's on the dash. You can also initiate the high idle when you start the engine normally by using the high beam controls.... just like the factory high idle option that Mercedes used to offer before the EPA cracked down on them.

You can also set how long you want the engine to run when you use the remote start. And even the temperature the heats will come on when you remote start it.

It also has a hood pin to prevent remote starting when the hood is open as a safety feature.

This kit also has the ability so that it can be wired into a battery monitoring system such that it will also start the engine automatically when the batteries need recharged. That is a very cool feature but at this time I don't think I will need to use it. I have shore power where the coach is stored so I don't have to worry about the house batteries getting discharged.


Anyway.... this is a very cool system and I highly recommend it if you want or need these features.


I will caution that Mercedes has been cracking down on third party systems being plugged into Mercedes systems. MidCity Engineering claims it will not cause warranty issues but that may not be the case. The kit does include a couple of bypass connectors if Mercedes has to do any firmware updates. Depending on how you route the cables and modules, you can unplug the modules easily and install the bypass plugs before taking it in for service. Their wiring harness will still be install but you would really have to look at everything very closely to notice it since they are using Mercerdes connectors.

 

[Judge64]

This is the worst upgrade by far.

I greatly enjoy honking the MB horn, while simultaneously raising my hand in the air and pretending to pull an M2 air horn. Gets em every time!

Now that would be funny to see driving down the road!




When I blew the factory horn a friend asked..... "What the hell was that? Did you run over a duck?"

 

[Judge64]

Any concern with MB warranty?

If I have to take it in for service, I plan to remove the MidCity modules just to be on the safe side in case there are any ECU firmware updates, etc. and to prevent them from making noise about the warranty.


I did read a post where I guy took in his Sprinter for service and didn't install the bypass connector.... or it was before they had this feature. The Mercedes tech couldn't get an ECU update to flash. He found the system was causing the problem. The dealer charged the guy labor for troubleshooting and removing the system and handed it back to him to reinstall himself.

 

[Judge64]

Extending Sewer Connection

Two thoughts
Having the pipe short of the wall extends the aesthetic beauty of the coach. Given all the work and money put into the paint job The drain designer probably didn't want to take away from it.

Having the drain float on hangers provides some protection when driving over v shape driveways. A hard-mounted drain would probably break if it hits cement whereas one floating on hangers could give a little before busting up.

The Service Team at Dynamax did a nice job extending the sewer connection on my Freedom Edition and they added another mount at the wall to better secure it from bouncing around.

It is much easier to access.... it is secured well..... and it looks just fine. So I am pleased with their work on it.




On a side note...... I also had them add the front gutter spouts that they used to have on the coach. I know Brian said they stopped adding them because people complained about the water running down the mirrors and staining them. Well.... be careful what you ask for.

I found that even though they plugged the front ends of the gutter with sealant, water would still come out of the gutter and run down the side of the front cap. The problem is as soon as you open the door the water would immediately run into the window and seat electronic controls on the door. After having it happen a few times with rain and A/C condensate, I could easily see it becoming a problem and shorting out the controls. It also left black streaks down the white paint on the front cap.


I'm just applying RainX to the mirrors to help the water bead and run off to keep them cleaner. Plus it is easier to clean the mirrors than throw a ladder up to clean the sides of front cap. I can also open the door enough to get in and out of the coach without water running down inside the door.

 

[dcheyne]

can you provide a picture of the sleeve and the mounting as i would like to do this modification on my own as my dealer is clueless

 

[Judge64]

can you provide a picture of the sleeve and the mounting as i would like to do this modification on my own as my dealer is clueless

Here you go.....

This is a simple mod. I was going to do it myself if they weren't able to do it for me but they kindly made the change so it was easier to access the bayonet fitting and also secure the pipe more so it doesn't bounce around.

 

[xrpb11a]

The Service Team at Dynamax did a nice job extending the sewer connection on my Freedom Edition and they added another mount at the wall to better secure it from bouncing around.

It is much easier to access.... it is secured well..... and it looks just fine. So I am pleased with their work on it.

Looks OK!
It is a pain to put on the sewer hose. I first squat down and fumble with the connections for awhile. If lucky I get it clamped at this point. Sometimes I do have to kneel down so I can get a visual on the hose alignment to secure the deal.
I don't foresee having to drive 2000 miles to Dynamax for repairs before the warranty expires, so I'll have to figure out the parts needed to do this myself.

 

[Judge64]

MidCity Engineering Remote / Auto Start, Alarm & High Kit

I installed the Compustar Firstech FT DAS II Dual-Stage Shock-Glass-Tilt Sensor to the MidCity Engineering Kit. About a 5 minutes installation of the module.

To test the alarm is functioning properly, they recommend putting some nails or screws in a glass jar and shaking it 30 seconds after the alarm has been set with the Sprinter key fob. There are different sensitivity settings so you can test as part of this process.

This video demonstrates the alarm going off with glass breaking. I don't have it set too sensitive during this first test as I don't want to many false alarms.

There are also setting for shock (someone hits the vehicle) and tilt, someone tries towing the vehicle.

 

[Judge64]

Sprinter EIS Protective Boot Modification

Over the past several months I read about several 2019 - 2023 MY Sprinter owners who had issues where the the vehicle wouldn't start (dead)..... or the transmission would be stuck in park.... or various error messages would display on the cluster. In most cases they had to be towed to a Mercedes dealer.

Some people were attributing this to the chassis battery being weak or completely discharged. Its one of the reasons I installed a permanent battery maintainer. But after doing some more research, the real issue was moisture getting into the EIS Module. I found posts on several different forums (Sprinter and RV forums) about this particular issue.

I originally thought the module in question was the ECU under the hood since it is fairly exposed..... but it turns out to be a module under the driver's side kick-panel inside the vehicle. In some rare instances someone had a drink on the dash that they spilled and it ran behind the dash and into the EIS Module shorting it out.

In many other cases it was caused from condensation forming on the windshield and running behind the dash..... especially when sleeping in the vehicle in cooler climates... and especially with window shades installed.

Unfortunately the engineers in Germany never thought about people sleeping in the Sprinter in colder climates where moisture could build up inside the cab..... or people that live in humid places like Florida (not sure the Germans know what a humid climate is.....). As a result they installed the EIS module in a way where moisture can drip directly into the EIS or even run along the wiring and into the connector. At the very least corrosion occurs in the connector causing intermittent issues but in many cases moisture gets into the EIS...... and after a flatbed tow to the MB Dealer and a $2500 repair bill, you have the privilege of driving out of the dealer and being on your way.

There is no recall for this issue since it is not widespread but there is a TSB for applications where moisture could be an issue in the 2019+ Sprinter. Mercedes developed a $20 vinyl boot to go over the EIS Module to prevent moisture from getting into it and they also can loop the wiring harness so moisture running down the wires drips away from the connector.

I read about one guy who paid a Mercedes dealer $150 to install the vinyl boot incorrectly..... such that water would actually collect in it with the EIS module sitting inside the boot!


When I was installing the MidCity Engineering Remote Start / High Idle Kit the other day I was working with the EIS Module and another Control Module that could be subject to the same problem. I decided to be proactive and develop my own solution to protect both modules under the dash on the driver side of the coach.


The first picture is the Mercedes $20 EIS Protective Boot. I found several pictures online along with a few videos of it being installed.


The second thru fifth pictures are the protective covers that I fabricated. The first two are for the EIS Module and the next two are for the second CM. I added grommets like the Mercedes boot so I could use zip ties to secure them in place. The white rubber side faces out where water could hit it and the black felt side faces down towards the modules.


The sixth picture shows the cover in place on the second CM and the last two pictures show the EIS Module covered before and after I installed the kick-panel.


After eyeing everything up after the installation, I think I have protected both modules from water intrusion as best I can.

If you don't do much cold weather camping or live in an extremely humid climate, I doubt you would ever have a moisture problem causing issues with the EIS. But if you do, then this may be something worth exploring to prevent a costly tow and repair.

 

[Bearii-FRF]

Here you go.....

This is a simple mod. I was going to do it myself if they weren't able to do it for me but they kindly made the change so it was easier to access the bayonet fitting and also secure the pipe more so it doesn't bounce around.

That looks great. I added this to the end of mine before the Alaska trip as a part of my mod with the compost toilet to combine both waste tanks: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BGHYJS/. That added just enough to get it nicely positioned now. I'm at Dynamax this week and will get them to better anchor the drain line like you did.