thinking of of bidding on a mercedes 312 sprinter van .its had an oil leak for a long time apperently ..whats the worst case scenario if i decide to buy it,could it be a new engine or nothing that drastic
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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An oil leak on any engine isn't good so, best to find out where its coming from. Also, ask why it's never been sorted if it's been leaking for such a long time?
Sprinter's of that era were the best vans on the road in my opinion, providing they were maintained properly. I drove a 97 310 one up to 200k and it only ever needed routine service parts. This was replaced with a 2001 313cdi which covered 160k in three years & up to the point I changed jobs, had only needed the same routine servicing.
Second hand engines are very expensive for these, expect to pay at least a grand if yours gives up!
Rust is their main problem, scabby sides, door bottoms rusting out & the sills to name a few.
Check it over thoroughly & look at the service history for regular oil changes & correct Mercedes parts.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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The earliest ones were the most reliable in my experience. Cdi's had injector problems but usually only at very high miles. Third generation ones seem to be the worst reliability wise, I see loads of them on ebay with blown engines.
As someone said, go & see it so you don't get shafted.  |
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thanks for all your advice ..its a long way to go see it so just waiting to hear back from the guy with some answeres.if the rest of it was qk i would be prepared to put a new engine in as its just what im looking for |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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My pleasure!
I doubt you will need to replace the engine but, if you do, there is one on ebay complete for £1599.00 buy it now!!!
How do these robbing c#*=s get away with it?  |
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"My pleasure!
I doubt you will need to replace the engine but, if you do, there is one on ebay complete for £1599.00 buy it now!!!
How do these robbing c#*=s get away with it? "
a bit more than i was expecting lol |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"One of the company's I worked for in the past used a fleet of sprinter vans, they were brilliant till they had engine issues."
Yep, sadly this is the main problem with Sprinters, excellent reliability until they go wrong & it costs a small fortune!
Best advice I can give with any vehicle is always get the best you can afford & try to get one with full service history.
One with 150k & full history will be a better bet than one with 60k & no history at all.
For example, my car has 188k on the clock, ex police & wants for nothing. I'd get in it & drive anywhere with confidence. Simply because it has always been looked after.
Good luck with the van hunt.  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I drove a 312 of about that age for MFI years ago and have to agree they are an awesome van, ours used to put up with a lot of abuse and just kept going and MFI were not the best with services, but mercs are always expensive to repair  personally I would stick with a good old ford transit. As for the oil leak it could be anything from a leaking gasket to worn crankshaft oil seals which woul mean stripping the engine down to replace them and then finding all manner of ware from being run with no oil in the engine |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I drove a 312 of about that age for MFI years ago and have to agree they are an awesome van, ours used to put up with a lot of abuse and just kept going and MFI were not the best with services, but mercs are always expensive to repair personally I would stick with a good old ford transit. As for the oil leak it could be anything from a leaking gasket to worn crankshaft oil seals which woul mean stripping the engine down to replace them and then finding all manner of ware from being run with no oil in the engine"
Yeah mine got plenty of abuse too, often overloaded, driven hard over rough B roads & probably lucky if it got a weekly wash. Both were maintained by an independent Mercedes specialist who strangely commented regularly how well I looked after the vans! It wasn't mine, I didn't pay for it & certainly didn't look after it as well as I could have.
I'd be happy with a transit too (currently building a mk6 with a turbo di engine from the smiley model) if I couldn't afford a sprinter. Easy maintenance, cheap to buy & pretty comfy too. |
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