Reliability/longevity of the 3.0 Mercedes Benz V6 In Navion

its like any diesel with proper care and matence you can expect a long life probably will have trans problems long before the motor. but when it does break be ready with the checkbook lol.

If you have not, join the View Navion forum on Yahoo Groups, it is quite large and active and lots of good info there. There are two forums, one is the tech forum and one is the regular forum, get on both of them and LEARN.

Also go to the Sprinter Forum and read, read, read. Get into the NCV3 section.

I have discovered that owning a Mercedes chassis is like owning an old English car, you gotta love it and learn all of its quirks and what to do when it breaks. The German logic in the design of these vehicles is very different (some leaves me scratching my head) and you need to understand it. One example is the electronic locking system on the doors, it was designed by escapees from an insane asylum, there is NO logic to its operation at all.

Do examine the maintenance records closely, the particulate filter in the exhaust system is about $4000 and the continued use of a non spec oil will clog and damage it, requiring replacement. Also since the transmission is on the weak side for this chassis, Mercedes originally spec 80K mi fluid changes, then reduced to 60K mi, and later to 40K mi. It is easy enough to change it, I will be doing mine at 20K intervals. It uses a unique fluid of which there are only a couple of choices in the US, so make sure the right fluid is/was used and the level properly set.

Charles

My buddy with a commercial upholstery shop has a Ram 2500 sprinter. I put a egr valve on it the other day at a little over 400K miles. Still runs very strong.

A '08 might be built on an '07 or an '08 chassis. The VIN will tell that. There have been a few early-year problems with the earlier models, 2 that I can think of offhand are an intake hose that tends to fail, and an electrical switch on the transmission that also has a failure history. Neither of these is a high cost repair (in the Mercedes universe), but puts the drivetrain into limp mode which can result in anything from a minor inconvenience to a hazardous situation depending on when and where it happens. My '08 chassis came with the revised intake hose and I don't know about the transmission switch. In 30k miles I've had no serious problems, which is the case for most Sprinter C owners. A small percentage have had serious and costly problems. Even if you're looking at an '07 chassis, it's not a first year model situation because the platform was sold in Europe for a couple of years before being offered in the US.

Your best resource IMO would be the Yahoo View/Navion forum. There are at least a few members over 100k miles. At 60k miles you should plan on at least replacing the brake and transmission fluids. Depending on how it was driven it might need a full brake job.

ron.dittmer wrote:
As everyone has heard the news this past year, VW deceived the US government and consumers with manipulative software in it's automobile diesel engines. Those vehicles will soon be reloaded with proper software to activate the emissions equipment as should have been all along, when the car is being driven which will reduce fuel efficiency significantly. Since then, the EPA is questioning Audi and other European manufactures of similar deceptive practices.

Is there any concern over the MB Sprinter? I have not heard anything and therefore assume the Sprinter is in good standing. But if it is determined otherwise, whoa to Sprinter owners for their fuel economy could drop significantly once corrected.

Mother Benz has not been implicated in pencil whipping EPA tests here or elsewhere. The MB diesels today are all BlueTec.. DPF, SCR & urea injection jobs. What VW shoulda, coulda, outta, done.

Anyway...the whinging about HP and MPG losses is goofy talk. If you lost 5 hp and 2 mpg its in the noise level of daily operations. 99.9999% of owners wouldn't notice a difference. It may be that the changes to be made may give them a little more power and economy if they use SCR and urea injection. New BlueTecs are more efficient and stronger than those made before 2013.

As everyone has heard the news this past year, VW deceived the US government and consumers with manipulative software in it's automobile diesel engines. Those vehicles will soon be reloaded with proper software to activate the emissions equipment as should have been all along, when the car is being driven which will reduce fuel efficiency significantly. Since then, the EPA is questioning Audi and other European manufactures of similar deceptive practices.

Is there any concern over the MB Sprinter? I have not heard anything and therefore assume the Sprinter is in good standing. But if it is determined otherwise, whoa to Sprinter owners for their fuel economy could drop significantly once corrected.

Julien, I owned an '09 and now a '14 Sprinter with the V6. Over the years there have been changes, largely in emission controls on these engines. As with other designs there are engineering enhancements that are unseen. Newer ones have a skoche more power and torque. Between my two, totalling 20K miles, I replaced an 02 sensor.

One problem area on early models is/was the seals on the oil cooler mounted in the valley between the cylinder heads.

On all MB OM-642 V6 with DPF....it is absolutely essential to use MB approved oil (Specification 229.51/52) to protect the emissions system and the engine. NO EXCEPTIONS! EVER! Mega $$$$$$$$ to fix..I'd take a microscopic look at maintainence records to be as sure as one can that it has been serviced properly.

I'd ask your question at the Sprinter-Forum. More experience there.

FWIW...the V-6 turbo diesel & 5 speed automagic box is a great drive train. Quiet, powerful, easy reving, and economical (our '14 View 10,000+ lbs gets a steady 15.5 mpg.

I would really like to hear some real world experiences on reliability with this engine from the owners, if possible.
Thanks!

ask for the service records ,yes they had some little problems but ,that engine at 60k is just now broke in, I have the 5 cyc a 2007 and its free of any problems. at 60k I would not be afraid of this rv. if its been serviced ,it,ll go 200k .and then some.

I'd feel better about buying it if I had a good local source of service. Someone with lots of experience on this platform.