CHANGING TAILLIGHT BULB ON NEWER SPRINTER
It seems if it's not one thing, then it's another. Now I have a burned out taillight on the 2011 Mercedes Sprinter. I've changed bulbs in vehicles before, but Mercedes seems to have gone out of their ...
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For those that are interested ... it's a pain the the A$$ to change the light bulbs on the rear taillight. You literally should have three hands. That would be hard to do in my case as I travel alone.
After Advanced Auto sold me the wrong bulbs ... I figured I better try the Mercedes dealer to at least make sure I got the right bulb. I asked how much to install ... NO CHARGE. Just the cost of the bulb with was $2.00 and change. So far so good.
I asked to watch the technician change the bulb. No problem. He removed the three #20 torque screws from the lens cover. Then ... with some force he pushed, slapped, forced, pried the lens to the left (right for the right side) The three plastic pins on the lens popped nicely out of the body and there was the lens.
Now ... to get to the bulbs. That's were the three hands come into play. There are 7 tabs on the bulb housing unit that need to be released from the lens cover. Three on each side and one on the bottom. It was a little tense for fear of snapping these tabs and breaking them.
In the end ... it was done and only cost me a 20 miles drive to the dealer and $2.13.
BUT ... the story is not finished. When I went to leave the interior dash warning light was still on. The tech said it should have gone off. We checked all the lights again. Even the front and rear fog lights. High beams, all directional and marker lights ... the whole shebang. Nothing else was out. He drove it into the shop and put the scanner on it.
Bottom line ... make sure you check the damn licence plate lights as well. :o
The vehicle is over engineered and the trouble to change a simple $2.00 bulb is ridiculous.
In closing I would add ,,, that the Canadian chassis of the Mercedes Sprinter has all the headlights, taillights and licence plate lights on all the time the vehicle is running. This seems a little ridiculous. Instead of having a separate day-time running light Mercedes rigged it so that all the lights come on once you start the engine. Not sure if that is the same with the US chassis.
Don't try to remove the lens in cold weather ... you are guaranteed to break the plastic pins and/or tabs. The tech told me he has broken a few over the years.
After Advanced Auto sold me the wrong bulbs ... I figured I better try the Mercedes dealer to at least make sure I got the right bulb. I asked how much to install ... NO CHARGE. Just the cost of the bulb with was $2.00 and change. So far so good.
I asked to watch the technician change the bulb. No problem. He removed the three #20 torque screws from the lens cover. Then ... with some force he pushed, slapped, forced, pried the lens to the left (right for the right side) The three plastic pins on the lens popped nicely out of the body and there was the lens.
Now ... to get to the bulbs. That's were the three hands come into play. There are 7 tabs on the bulb housing unit that need to be released from the lens cover. Three on each side and one on the bottom. It was a little tense for fear of snapping these tabs and breaking them.
In the end ... it was done and only cost me a 20 miles drive to the dealer and $2.13.
BUT ... the story is not finished. When I went to leave the interior dash warning light was still on. The tech said it should have gone off. We checked all the lights again. Even the front and rear fog lights. High beams, all directional and marker lights ... the whole shebang. Nothing else was out. He drove it into the shop and put the scanner on it.
Bottom line ... make sure you check the damn licence plate lights as well. :o
The vehicle is over engineered and the trouble to change a simple $2.00 bulb is ridiculous.
In closing I would add ,,, that the Canadian chassis of the Mercedes Sprinter has all the headlights, taillights and licence plate lights on all the time the vehicle is running. This seems a little ridiculous. Instead of having a separate day-time running light Mercedes rigged it so that all the lights come on once you start the engine. Not sure if that is the same with the US chassis.
Don't try to remove the lens in cold weather ... you are guaranteed to break the plastic pins and/or tabs. The tech told me he has broken a few over the years.
