Isata 3 Maintenance Guide from Mercedes-Benz

bclemens

Senior Member
Industry Pro
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
19,871
Location
Bristol, IN
They just created this document and sent it out.

PS: PLEASE play close attention to their section on the Diesel Particulate Filter, starting on page 8. They seem to be very adamant about this.
 

Attachments

  • RV Maintenance Brochure_7.17.24.pdf
    6.6 MB · Views: 80
Last edited:
In the manual for the 2022 sprinter, there is an driver initiated method for regenerating the filter while parked. Page 116
https://www.mbvans.com/content/dam/mb-vans/us/owner-manuals/MY22_MB_OM_NoMMS_w.pdf

The engine revs up for about 25 minutes to clean the filter.
Of course you have to be in a safe place on cement outdoors keeping people away from the exhaust pipe.

This kinda implies that you can idle the engine to charge the batteries, both house and chassis, without driving as long as you are monitoring the Diesel Particulate Filter display in the cockpit to make sure you don't go over 100%.
If/When you go over 100%, just engage the automatic filter regeneration without setting a grass fire or waking the neighbors with the high rpms..

However, I have not verified all of the above on the Isata Freedom as my rig is at the dealer having the levelling leg repaired.
 
The engine revs up for about 25 minutes to clean the filter.
Of course you have to be in a safe place on cement outdoors keeping people away from the exhaust pipe.

This kinda implies that you can idle the engine to charge the batteries, both house and chassis, without driving as long as you are monitoring the Diesel Particulate Filter display in the cockpit to make sure you don't go over 100%.

Forcing the REGN per the manual might be something to do when there is no other viable option but if your SOC is down to 10%, a 20 -0 25 minute run will only get you so far.

There is a reason why Mercedes offered a High Idle option for applications where the engine had to idle over long periods of time or idle repeatedly. They offered it as a simple ECU programming update up until the EPA and some individual state regulations were too restrictive to keep offering it.

It's not just monitoring the DPF Level. Idling a diesel under 1000 RPM's for more than a few minutes and / or doing it repeatedly causes excessive soot build-up because exhaust temperatures do not get hot enough. Done enough REGEN's may not be as effective and it can prematurely clog the DPF. MB can deny an Emissions Warranty Claim from excessive idling as stated in Brian's document.

Wet Stacking will also occur as unburned diesel washes down the cylinder walls. Besides premature cylinder wear, the diesel will mix with the oil and reduce lubrication that can cause bearing and other lubrication-related failures. To prevent oil dilution that could cause premature wear and failures the 20,000 mile oil change interval will drop down to 3,000 - 5,000 miles.


I am considering two after market High Idle Options for the Sprinter in case I am in a situation where I can't get the batteries charged. Not sure I will do it but I have done the research and there are two options available.

One option is from Mid City Engineering, which specializes in Sprinter RV's. Some Conversion Companies install their High Idle Option as a standard offering. They are the most expensive but they offer three flavors of the High Idle Option. Their most expensive option also adds the factory Remote Start capability with the key fob and also the factory alarm capability. The High Idle works exactly the same way it did when Mercedes offered it.

The second option is from I/O Pedal. It is primarily a pedal tuner that simply plugs into the accelerator wiring harness and an app allows you to select your Idle RPM like 1400RPM, when Regens will occur.

Neither solution re-flashes the ECU to void the warranty but Mercedes started cracking down on the Mid City Option because it prevented ECU updates from occurring properly and it added labor time to resolve the issue at dealerships. Dealers were taking the system out and charging owners for the labor. Mid City has since come out with a way to enable a bypass for their system so it won't interfere with ECU updates if you take it into the dealer.

I would remove either system before going in for any Mercedes warranty work. The I/O system can be removed in two minutes while the Mid City solution takes a little more effort.


https://www.midcityengineering.com/sprinter-rv/


https://agileoffroad.com/product/iopedal-throttle-tuner-with-high-idle/


I have a Banks iDash SuperGauge I pulled from my Super C. I was in the process of trying to sell it but I may now install in my Freedom Edition. It just plugs into the ODBII port and provides a lot of user-configurable information at a quick glance on a small display such as DPF and REGEN Status, Exhaust Temps, Turbo Performance, etc. After doing some research it looks like it is compatible with the OM642 engine but not the VS30 or new I4.


The funny thing is I just ordered a new ODBII Scanner that is supposed to be compatible with my 2022 Sprinter Chassis. I've read enough about quirky error codes on the Sprinter that I decided it was worth having in case something happened out in the middle of nowhere and I need to clear or read a code. I believe it can also force a REGEN, so that could be handy if it shows the DPF Level is over 100%. Hopefully I can use it to scan for an interrupted REGEN as well if my Banks iDash won't display it.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CMG7Q7YP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2024-07-19 at 6.50.17 AM.jpg
    Screenshot 2024-07-19 at 6.50.17 AM.jpg
    276.8 KB · Views: 11
Last edited:
It's not just monitoring the DPF Level. Idling a diesel under 1000 RPM's for more than a few minutes and / or doing it repeatedly causes excessive soot build-up because exhaust temperatures do not get hot enough. Done enough REGEN's may not be as effective and it can prematurely clog the DPF. MB can deny an Emissions Warranty Claim from excessive idling as stated in Brian's document.

Wet Stacking will also occur as unburned diesel washes down the cylinder walls. Besides premature cylinder wear, the diesel will mix with the oil and reduce lubrication that can cause bearing and other lubrication-related failures. To prevent oil dilution that could cause premature wear and failures the 20,000 mile oil change interval will drop down to 3,000 - 5,000 miles.
[/url]

Thanks for the information!
Looks like i'm back to my emergency recharge plan of a 2 hour sunset cruise if I'm lacking an AC recharge source.

What do you think of the information in the link in post#2, where they talk about:
* Regen starting automatically at 100%
* 3 interruptions during one Regen cycle will cause a Check Engine Light
event which requires dealer intervention(?)
* Interruptions include
- Rapid accelleration
- Low fuel light coming on
- Turning off the engine

Seems like it pays to know when the Regen cycle is active if all that information in the link is correct.
 
MB just felt it necessary to provide this info recently. That leads me to believe maybe they got rid of lots of those things on the 4 cylinder chassis. (high idle, manual regen, etc)
 
MB just felt it necessary to provide this info recently. That leads me to believe maybe they got rid of lots of those things on the 4 cylinder chassis. (high idle, manual regen, etc)

I found it interesting that they now allow B20 on the '23+ chassis. Although it is tough to find B5 in some parts of the country and Canada so they may have had to move in that direction.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the information!
Looks like i'm back to my emergency recharge plan of a 2 hour sunset cruise if I'm lacking an AC recharge source.

What do you think of the information in the link in post#2, where they talk about:
* Regen starting automatically at 100%
* 3 interruptions during one Regen cycle will cause a Check Engine Light
event which requires dealer intervention(?)
* Interruptions include
- Rapid accelleration
- Low fuel light coming on
- Turning off the engine

Seems like it pays to know when the Regen cycle is active if all that information in the link is correct.


I knew it was not a good practice to interrupt a REGEN from my previous diesels and I tried to be aware of it..... but I did not know that 3 interruptions would kick-out a CEL and require dealer intervention with the Sprinter. I agree with the author of that article that it should be stated in the manual somewhere. It is crazy a full throttle event will interrupt it.

Now I'm glad that I purchased the ODBII Scanner so I can reset the CEL and force a REGEN if necessary.

Unfortunately, my Banks iDash Gauge won't display the REGEN Status and DPF Level for the Sprinter. It does provide some general data but not what I would want to see. I just tried hooking it up and when you do a manual configuration for the Sprinter, you loose the DPF and REGEN Status capabilities. Unfortunately Banks does not support the Sprinter as a standard configuration and they don't plan to do so.

My F-550 Super C would quickly display that a REGEN started on the dash but it could be easily missed so I installed the Banks iDash so I could see the all that information easily on one screen. If a REGEN was in process or I saw the DPF was reaching 100%, I would keep driving until the REGEN was completed.

I'm just going to have to keep an eye on the DPF Level and plan to keep driving once I see it approaching 95 - 99%. At least I'll have the code reader if I need to clear it a force a REGEN if I somehow interrupt a REGEN 3 times in a row..... which does seem unlikely.
 
Last edited:
Has anyone checked to see if that auto regen option is even available? First response is that the manual could be global. Europa has that, we may not.
 
Has anyone checked to see if that auto regen option is even available? First response is that the manual could be global. Europa has that, we may not.

Good call!

I'll go out to the coach in a few minutes and try the procedure listed in the manual and report back the results for a 202 Chassis.
 
So confirming this is not as easy as it sounds.

One of the requirements is that the DPF be at 100%. Mine is at 42% so when I held the OK button for 3 seconds nothing happened.... not even a message on the display.

We are taking a short trip Tuesday - Thursday this week so if I get to 100% and the opportunity presents itself, I will pull over and try to start it manually.

My new ODBII Scanner arrives tomorrow. I am going to hook it up and make sure the Force Rgen option is present as advertised. If it works as advertised, I will have a way to clear a CEL and force a REGEN if needed if it can't be manually done from the dash.

I'll report back once I know more.
 
I wish I had steering wheel buttons on my 2016 to monitor all this. I used an UltraGauge OBDII monitor for a couple years but it stopped working with the big MBS Class action suit and MBS Firmware Update. All I have now are the basic idiot lights. Will be following this closely.
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom