Bennyboy1510
New Member
Not my van (thankfully) but my brother in laws 2013 sprinter 313 with 95k that has been well serviced seized a few weeks ago.
Seizure happened on a cold morning (around -5) he started the van and left to idle to warm up, went inside to open up shop then came back to the van 5 mins later and it had stopped. Tried a few different things but soon realized the engine was locked solid. At first I thought it might have dropped the chain so took rocker cover off but chain was still tight between cams and looked to be ok. So engine came out and removed timing cover to check exactly what had locked. It was the crank and was completely locked solid. At that point he needed the van back asap for his business so got a complete second hand engine from local breaker and put that in to get it back on the road. Unfortunately the breakers required the old engine in exchange so didnt get the chance to strip it and see exactly what locked the crank.
Anyhow after a bit of searching on various different sites I have found quite a few cases of sprinters around the same age seizing at idle just after a cold start in minus temps. The oil level was perfect on the van as was the coolant and antifreeze concentration good to -35 and the others seemed to be the same. Just looking to see if anyone else knows of a sprinter that did this and found out the cause of the seizure? The 6 or 7 cases I know about would be enough to put me off buying a sprinter.
Seizure happened on a cold morning (around -5) he started the van and left to idle to warm up, went inside to open up shop then came back to the van 5 mins later and it had stopped. Tried a few different things but soon realized the engine was locked solid. At first I thought it might have dropped the chain so took rocker cover off but chain was still tight between cams and looked to be ok. So engine came out and removed timing cover to check exactly what had locked. It was the crank and was completely locked solid. At that point he needed the van back asap for his business so got a complete second hand engine from local breaker and put that in to get it back on the road. Unfortunately the breakers required the old engine in exchange so didnt get the chance to strip it and see exactly what locked the crank.
Anyhow after a bit of searching on various different sites I have found quite a few cases of sprinters around the same age seizing at idle just after a cold start in minus temps. The oil level was perfect on the van as was the coolant and antifreeze concentration good to -35 and the others seemed to be the same. Just looking to see if anyone else knows of a sprinter that did this and found out the cause of the seizure? The 6 or 7 cases I know about would be enough to put me off buying a sprinter.
