Sprinter Ekko Issues

[CappyJax]

Hello all,

We have had a Sprinter Ekko for four months and have had quite a few serious issues but slowly getting them fixed. One of those issues is the oil temp overheating on hill climbs longer then about 45 seconds and the engine power being reduced. Mercedes is telling me this is normal, but I can't find anyone else who experiences this on other forums. Has anyone else experienced a loss of power on long hill climbs? I put my center display on the "info" screen and it shows me horsepower, and it will drop to as low as 130HP as the oil temp climbs to 260 or 270. If anyone is going up any long grades in the near future, could you tell me if you see a similar issue? Maybe record the info screen if you could and note the outside air temp and altitude?

Thanks so much!

[Paul_D]

We have a 2018 Freedom Elite on a 2016 Sprinter chassis

Our 2016 has a 6 cylinder turbo diesel. I have only experienced the reduced horsepower once in our coast to coast trip. Fully loaded and towing a Honda Fit we were limited on a section of highway climbing the mountains from Nevada to California. I have a scanguage, but did not notice the oil temps.

If your unit is a 2023 or 2024 it has a dual turbo 4 cylinder diesel. It actually makes more horsepower and torque than the 6 cylinder.

[CappyJax]

It is supposed to make more horsepower and torque, but on every hill I climb, the power starts reducing very quickly. In like under a minute as the oil temp climbs. I have towed my car before and didn’t experience this, but MB says what I am experiencing now is normal.

[Paul_D]

On steep hills, I'm in the right lane crawling up the hill with the loaded semi's. I consider that normal. Only only once did I actually notice the hp being limited.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by CappyJax

Hello all,

We have had a Sprinter Ekko for four months and have had quite a few serious issues but slowly getting them fixed. One of those issues is the oil temp overheating on hill climbs longer then about 45 seconds and the engine power being reduced. Mercedes is telling me this is normal, but I can't find anyone else who experiences this on other forums. Has anyone else experienced a loss of power on long hill climbs? I put my center display on the "info" screen and it shows me horsepower, and it will drop to as low as 130HP as the oil temp climbs to 260 or 270. If anyone is going up any long grades in the near future, could you tell me if you see a similar issue? Maybe record the info screen if you could and note the outside air temp and altitude?

Thanks so much!

Have you asked your question at Sprintersource? Do you know if your engine is the base or the optional high output?

These Sprinters, with the 4 cyl and the 6 cyl, can reach EOT of 260F-270F on grades but it does help if you drive slower. If you are already at 250F or more when you approach the grade it doesn't take much to push it up real quick.

In the summer, with my V-6, towing a Jeep, I watch oil temps closely. We don't run the dash air but use the coach air and generator instead. I try to keep the oil temps below 230 and by driving 60 MPH on level ground I can keep it in the 220 range. Then when I get to a grade I can go quite far before hitting 260, often I can make the whole grade keeping it under 250 by not trying to push it hard and not using the dash air.

When I come up behind a slow moving 18 wheeler in the right lane I am very happy to fall in behind it and turn on my flashers.

I know the 6 cyl is not the same as your 4 cyl but high oil temps are the norm with both. The 4 cyl probably de-rates sooner due to less thermal mass in the engine construction and they don't want it to grenade while still under warranty.

These are small, hard working engines that get phenomenal fuel mileage and there is a price to pay for that in reduced power.

[CappyJax]

Originally Posted by bigb56

Have you asked your question at Sprintersource? Do you know if your engine is the base or the optional high output?

These Sprinters, with the 4 cyl and the 6 cyl, can reach EOT of 260F-270F on grades but it does help if you drive slower. If you are already at 250F or more when you approach the grade it doesn't take much to push it up real quick.

In the summer, with my V-6, towing a Jeep, I watch oil temps closely. We don't run the dash air but use the coach air and generator instead. I try to keep the oil temps below 230 and by driving 60 MPH on level ground I can keep it in the 220 range. Then when I get to a grade I can go quite far before hitting 260, often I can make the whole grade keeping it under 250 by not trying to push it hard and not using the dash air.

When I come up behind a slow moving 18 wheeler in the right lane I am very happy to fall in behind it and turn on my flashers.

I know the 6 cyl is not the same as your 4 cyl but high oil temps are the norm with both. The 4 cyl probably de-rates sooner due to less thermal mass in the engine construction and they don't want it to grenade while still under warranty.

These are small, hard working engines that get phenomenal fuel mileage and there is a price to pay for that in reduced power.

Thanks for posting your experience. It is helpful.

I am getting mixed responses. Some people say they don't see a power reduction, others do. My oil temp is around 220 in cruise, but climbs to 260F+ in less than a minute and power drops from 208 down to 130. It is incredibly disappointing to hear this might be normal. Very unimpressed with this engine. Why isn't there a larger oil cooler? The engine coolant and transmission temp never budge. Maybe someone will offer a better oil cooler.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by CappyJax

Thanks for posting your experience. It is helpful.

I am getting mixed responses. Some people say they don't see a power reduction, others do. My oil temp is around 220 in cruise, but climbs to 260F+ in less than a minute and power drops from 208 down to 130. It is incredibly disappointing to hear this might be normal. Very unimpressed with this engine. Why isn't there a larger oil cooler? The engine coolant and transmission temp never budge. Maybe someone will offer a better oil cooler.

Just to clarify I meant the temperatures are normal for these engines, but I can't say if the de-rate is.

[gglockner]

Originally Posted by CappyJax

We have had a Sprinter Ekko for four months and have had quite a few serious issues but slowly getting them fixed.

CappyJax, can you elaborate on the other "serious issues"? We have a Sprinter EKKO on order.

[CappyJax]

Originally Posted by gglockner

CappyJax, can you elaborate on the other "serious issues"? We have a Sprinter EKKO on order.

We had a lot of electrical issues such as the solar panels never gave us more than 200W which appears to be a result some bad wiring, (Which wasn't a huge concern as I replaced the panels, the controllers, and the wiring). In addition, we constantly had the inverter cutting out for no reason, the battery would register "overload" frequently and shut off, the battery got stuck on 100% charge and restricted charging, the battery configurations changed randomly, and finally, the battery just died. It took Lithionics 8 days to get us a new battery and it was installed last Wednesday. Since then, we have had none of the previous issues. But Lithionics is not proactive in any way. They will always try and fix the issue no matter how many issues you have. Our problems went on since day one and they wouldn't replace the battery until it died.

Now we have an issue where at idle, the RPM drops to about 500 and the vehicle won't accelerate. Mercedes is completely blaming the second alternator, however, we had this occur after the battery died and before we replaced it, so no load should have been on that battery! A short time after they gaslit me and we left, I got a P0742 code which is torque converter stuck on. I think the torque converter is the problem and Mercedes is blaming Winnebago and Nations. Mercedes does state that no extra load can be applied to the engine above 1,200 RPM, and rumors on Sprinter Source is that they may stop all warranty claims if this isn't remedied.

We also have a problem were the oil temp climbs rapidly on hills and the power drops. I have seen it as low as 130HP, but Mercedes says this is normal. Other owners aren't seeing a power loss.

Our awning has been an issue since day one and we are now starting to have it work properly after I messed with it one time it wouldn't retract. Carefree is very proactive and they called me after I complained to Winnebago. The dealers aren't very good at adjusting them.

The rear camera allows water in and gets distorted every time it rains, but Mercedes says that is a Winnebago issue and Winnebago says it is a Mercedes issue.

A lot of little issues as well such as the heat vents not working, weather seals in on the storage compartment doors coming off, and other fit and finish issues that I have been fixing myself.

The worse part of this is that a lot of Winnebago service centers are months out and Mercedes dealers as well. We had the chassis issues in Denver but had to drive to Albuquerque to get appointments at a Mercedes dealer and the Winnebago dealer was able to get us in for the Battery swap. They were both about 5 days out. We have been waiting here in the area for 10 days now for a second Mercedes appointment to get the TCC issue looked at.

Between the battery and the Mercedes issue, we have been unable to fully use our Sprekko all but one of two days in the last 2 and a half weeks of our trip.

It is been a huge nightmare.

[gglockner]

Thanks for the details. Sorry to read about your troubles. I am not an attorney, but your issues seem bad enough that it's worth asking one if your vehicle is covered by lemon laws.

I've read enough bad news about house electrical in the EKKO that the first thing we will do upon delivery is replace the house electrical with Victron, similar to our travel trailer. We are also getting the EKKO configured without any awnings, and getting a Fiamma manual awning. The upfitting will be done by FreedomVanGo in Jacksonville FL.

Mercedes' passing-the-buck on chassis problems is also irritating. Probably worth getting opinions from several mechanics.

The seals are a nuisance but that seems like normal RV problems that an owner has to deal with.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[J_Lambert]

We have a 2017 View on a Sprinter chassis and pull a Jeep Sport. On climbs that are steep and long we absolutely feel a slowdown. I do shift manually both up and down to help the engine. We usually slow down to between 35 - 40 depending on grade. I am referring to grades of 6-8٪ 3 or more miles long. With the new 4 cylinder I am not sure you can compare to the older models since the engine, turbo configuration and transmission are completely different.

[Fanrgs]

We have never had any of the mentioned overheating/power loss problems in our 2020 Navion, which should be heavier than the EKKO unless the 4wd adds a LOT of extra pounds. It's the new chassis with the V-6 and 7-speed and we drive it on long 6-10% grades on every trip because we live in Colorado. I too use the paddle shifters both uphill and down and have watched the horsepower graph on the MBUX screen in the past.

I just brought the RV over 11,300' Monarch Pass on Sunday afternoon in the "heat of the day" (75 degrees) with no problems. But I also keep my speed at ~62-63 mph on rolling 65 mph US highways in the mountains and we don't have a toad. I'll be going back over Monarch tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to switch to the graph and watch the HP. I don't expect to see a HP reduction, but I'll post the results after my trip.

[CappyJax]

Originally Posted by Fanrgs

We have never had any of the mentioned overheating/power loss problems in our 2020 Navion, which should be heavier than the EKKO unless the 4wd adds a LOT of extra pounds. It's the new chassis with the V-6 and 7-speed and we drive it on long 6-10% grades on every trip because we live in Colorado. I too use the paddle shifters both uphill and down and have watched the horsepower graph on the MBUX screen in the past.

I just brought the RV over 11,300' Monarch Pass on Sunday afternoon in the "heat of the day" (75 degrees) with no problems. But I also keep my speed at ~62-63 mph on rolling 65 mph US highways in the mountains and we don't have a toad. I'll be going back over Monarch tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to switch to the graph and watch the HP. I don't expect to see a HP reduction, but I'll post the results after my trip.

You can maintain 60+ MPH going up the passes?

[Doug_T]

Originally Posted by CappyJax

Hello all,

We have had a Sprinter Ekko for four months and have had quite a few serious issues but slowly getting them fixed. One of those issues is the oil temp overheating on hill climbs longer then about 45 seconds and the engine power being reduced. Mercedes is telling me this is normal, but I can't find anyone else who experiences this on other forums. Has anyone else experienced a loss of power on long hill climbs? I put my center display on the "info" screen and it shows me horsepower, and it will drop to as low as 130HP as the oil temp climbs to 260 or 270. If anyone is going up any long grades in the near future, could you tell me if you see a similar issue? Maybe record the info screen if you could and note the outside air temp and altitude?

Thanks so much!

I would have expected the sprekko to be better.
I have a 2020 Navion with the old v6+7 speed and don't have this problem. I've been through the most Mountainous places and never had an overheating problem, whether fast or slow. I have never tried going faster than 50 though as I would like to stay right side up. I don't tow though. If you are towing something then I suppose it could be normal.

edit: I'm talking about actually steep mountains not those 7% grade highways. Those, I can confirm I can go 65 on, maybe more but again don't want to try.

edit2: Shoutout to the other 2020 Navion owner on here!